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and/or the establishment of regional authorities. 2 Alternatively, it may take the form ofcommunity constitutions. It can cover a range of areas including matters dealing withchildren and juveniles. 3 There are many possibilities from the exercise of localgovernment style powers through to the development of State-like powers within thefederal structure.The Northern Land Council provided the Inquiry with a view of selfdeterminationwhich implied full self-government.By self-determination we mean far more than the forms of quasi-control allowed throughcertain government institutions such as ATSIC or community government councils in theNT. This may include special funding arrangements with Commonwealth, states and territorygovernments (submission 765 page 16).Some communities or regions may see the transfer of jurisdiction coveringjuvenile justice, welfare and adoption as central to exercising self-government. Othersmay wish to work within the existing structure modified to provide legislativerecognition of the right of Indigenous organisations to have the key role in thedecision-making processes. The level of responsibility for children which Indigenouscommunities wish to take must be negotiated by the communities themselves.Many submissions to the Inquiry supported this approach.Self-determination [is] the right of Aboriginal people to build mechanisms within our owncommunities for dealing with a range of issues that everybody else deals with at the momenton our behalf.Even if a child commits an offence within the city area or the community, we are not sayingthat nothing should be done with that child, but we do believe that whatever punishment, orwhatever outcome of that child being picked up by police or authorities, is not a matter forthe authorities or the police or the courts to deal with. It is really a matter for the Aboriginalcommunity. Unless we are given the right and we are entrusted and given the opportunity tobuild up the mechanisms within our community to deal with these issues there is no end insight …If we are going to break down that system there has got to be a beginning where theAboriginal community is able to build up the mechanisms. One of the reasons why we cannotdeal with it at the moment is that we have never been given the chance and we have neverbeen resourced, we have never been given the trust, and never really had the opportunity …[There are] some ad hoc arrangements that take place here and elsewhere in Australia, wherethe department does not know what to do with our kids, when the police do not know what todo with our lads on the street, they dump them on us. Now, we try as best we can to copewith that issue, but if it was done more formally and a structure set up so the Aboriginalcommunity can build up over a period of time our ability and our mechanisms to deal withthis issue then … It does not matter which Aboriginal child is taken away from its parents, orpicked up by police or the authorities, you take them to the Aboriginal community to be dealtwith and you exclude the operation of the general law.