A Human Rights Commission hearing is yet to find a resolution to calls from an Indigenous group that wants a say on a proposed nuclear waste dump in regional South Australia.
The Barngarla people have gone to court seeking to be included in a vote of Kimba residents on a proposal to possibly locate the federal government's dump on land within the district.
They have argued that to exclude native-title owners from the ballot because they do not live in the area is discriminatory.
The SA Supreme Court recently referred the matter to the Human Rights Commission, with a conciliation conference held this week.
The federal Department of Industry, Innovation and Science said the government remained hopeful that a resolution to the dispute could be reached.
"All parties have agreed to continue to work together on a way forward that facilitates the views of all community members being heard, and allows a decision (on the dump) to be made this year," it said in a statement on Friday.
After last month's Supreme Court hearing, Barngarla woman Linda Dare said there was an issue of fairness involved.
"It's not fair that my ancestors, that have walked the country, and my family that still walk the country don't have a say in anything," she said.
"Everybody else gets to have a say - the government and everybody else, the Kimba residents - but it's my family that's missing out.
"It's depressing that we don't get to have a say over our country."
Ballots for the vote in Kimba were to be sent out in late August, but the court action stalled the process.
Two sites near the town, on SA's Eyre Peninsula, have been short-listed as potential locations for a low-level radioactive waste storage facility, while a third is near the Flinders Ranges town of Hawker.
A similar vote at Hawker was also put on hold to await a decision in the Barngarla case.
Ms Dare said the Barngarla were looking to express their resounding opposition to the dump.
"Nobody wants it. We don't want the waste dump at all," she said.
AAP
