The South West Native Title Settlement (Settlement), in the form of six Indigenous Land Use Agreements (ILUA), is the most comprehensive native title agreement negotiated in Australian history.

The Settlement allows for representation of 30,000 Noongar peoples and covers approximately 200,000 square kilometres of the South West region of WA. The Settlement formally commenced on 25 February 2021. Six Noongar regional corporations have been created to represent the six ILUA groups.

As part of the Settlement, Noongar peoples and the department have entered into formal agreements that enable the cooperative management of the South West Conservation Estate. Cooperative management applies to the whole of the South West Conservation Estate and is being undertaken in accordance with Cooperative Management Agreements signed by the department and each of the Noongar Regional Corporations and the establishment of Cooperative Management Committees comprising of representatives of the Regional Corporation and DBCA.

One of the key roles of each Cooperative Management Committee is to identify priority parks or reserves within each ILUA area to be jointly managed.

The Noongar peoples’ strong relationship to their Boodja (Noongar Country) is reflected through their ongoing cultural and spiritual connection to Boodja and their aspirations for it, which are reflected in components of the Settlement, including the creation of the Noongar Land Estate, cooperative and joint management and the recognition, in statute, of the Noongar peoples as the Traditional Owners of the South West region.