Indigenous Elders are calling on the NSW government to release an independent report into the reburial process of the remains of Mungo Man and Mungo Lady.
Their 42,000 year-old remains were reinterred in the Willandra Lakes region in the state’s west last year in a controversial decision that faced a legal challenge from a group of elders from the Baakantji-Paakantyi and Mutthi Mutthi tribes.
Elders accused the government of failing to consult with First Nations people about the process, labelling the reburial disrespectful.
Now they are calling for the release of an independent report from August last year which found the reburial was done “accordingly” but was never publicly released.
Paakintyi man Michael Young says he hopes releasing the report will improve how the government consults about ancestral remains in the future.
More than 100 Aboriginal ancestors remains are still stored at the Mungo Visitors Centre pending a decision from the state and federal governments on what will happen to them.
