Joint Management, and the Closing of the Climb

Uluru and Kata Tjuta sit in Anangu country, and the modern history of the place is a history of who decides. The area was declared a national park under Australian administration, and freehold title was handed back to the Anangu traditional owners in 1985 on the condition that the land be leased back and jointly managed. The park's board of management has an Anangu majority, and the management plan is a legal document produced in both English and Pitjantjatjara.

The most visible decision that structure produced concerns climbing Uluru. Anangu had asked visitors not to climb for decades, on the ground that the route runs along a way that carries significance and that the traditional owners hold themselves responsible for the safety of anyone on it. The board resolved in 2017 to close the climb, and it closed in October 2019.

The park also administers photography restrictions covering particular sites, requested by the traditional owners and applied to commercial and general photography alike. The Songlines exhibition, developed with Anangu, Ngaanyatjarra and Yankunytjatjara custodians and toured internationally, is the model the atlas follows: material is presented with the consent and the framing of the people who hold it, and what is not released stays where it is.