Are Government Departments Above the Laws They Pass?

Federal authorities were sued for damage to a sacred Indigenous site in the Northern Territory.

This picture taken on Aug. 27, 2023 shows a rock escarpment at Ubirr in the world heritage site of Kakadu National Park, located 280 kilometres east of the Northern Territory capital city of Darwin. David Gray/AFP via Getty Images

A federal government official has been found liable under Northern Territory (NT) law for damage to a sacred Indigenous site, in a decision that could set a precedent for how sacred sites are protected.

The case centred around damage allegedly caused by Parks Australia while building a walkway close to a sacred men’s site near Gunlom Falls in Kakadu National Park in 2019.