This report from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Tom Calma, examines some of the issues that have arisen during the debate around the National Indigenous Council Land Tenure Principles and proposed changes to the communal nature of land interests to promote individual home ownership. The report assesses the proposal to lease Indigenous communally owned land against human rights standards, existing land rights regimes and economic factors that will influence the effectiveness of the principles.

The report makes a number of recommendations aimed at improving economic development on Indigenous land that respect and uphold Australia's human rights obligations, including further development and implementation of the principles for economic and social development as set out in the Native Title Report 2004.