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There may be legal, financial or policy restraints
on government officers which will limit the
range of what is negotiable and their own
powers of delegation may be limited or a
problem. If ministerial approval is required, for
example, this needs to be made known to the
Aboriginal people and community.
Community representatives may also have limits
on their negotiating power.
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Consultation and negotiation processes may
proceed more smoothly with a facilitator or
chairperson who is impartial and able to obtain
the agreement of those participating in a
meeting to some basic behavioural, procedural
and substantive ground rules. Behavioural rules
such as not interrupting, taking turns, not
abusing other parties and respecting others
views even if you disagree are basic but
important rules to gain agreement on before
starting.
Procedural rules such as clarifying to the
satisfaction of the meeting the roles of the
facilitator or chairperson, the role of experts and
sponsors, the presence and speaking rights of
observers and the role of absent parties are
important.
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In order for government programs to be tailored
to meet community needs, there should be
community ownership, and problems dealt with
before they develop rather than putting out fires
afterwards. Creative solutions can be developed
with the government and community working in
partnership.
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The impact of past government policies is vivid
in the minds and lives of many Aboriginal
people. Therefore, it is always important to
remember that to a large proportion of
Aboriginal people public servants are often
perceived as representatives of a large, powerful,
unfriendly and uncaring bureaucracy due to the
historical factors discussed earlier and are often
viewed negatively, no matter how informal or
friendly they appear. The sooner this all too
common perception by Aboriginal people can be
countered the sounder the base will be to begin
to build rapport and establish credibility.
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Every community will have some common
ground and similarities which needs to be
acknowledged for future reference. However, the
more important point is to remember to be
aware of the differences and that each
community has their own protocols that should
be followed.
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There are a lot of different views about what
protocol is when dealing with Aboriginal
peoples and communities. Protocol simply
means following the customs and lores of the
people or community you are working with and
communicating in a way that is relevant to them.
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protocols regarding consultation and negotiation
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Pr o t o c o l s f o r Co n s u l t a t i o n a n d Ne g o t i a t i o n w i t h Ab o r i g i n a l Pe o p l e