(a)

the place has outstanding heritage value because of the place's importance in the course, or pattern, of Australia's natural or cultural history.

The Wave Hill Walk-Off developed as a wholesale rejection of the governmental and industrial framework applying to Aboriginal pastoral workers. Conditions of Aboriginal pastoral workers and their families on remote cattle stations were well below those enjoyed and accepted by the vast majority of Australians. The Walk-Off was not resolved as an industrial matter. Instead, the Gurindji proceeded to establish an Aboriginal community on Aboriginal terms on their traditional lands at Daguragu. By taking this action, the Gurindji showed the vitality of Aboriginal aspirations to achieve a way of life that respected their Aboriginal identity, their traditions and their rights to their traditional lands. Their example, combining Aboriginal autonomy and land rights, influenced the direction of government policy following the 1967 referendum, which granted new powers to the Commonwealth Government to make laws for Aboriginal people.
 
The Gurindji were the first Aboriginal community to have land returned to them by the Commonwealth Government. The ceremony of the handover was conducted in a manner to highlight this historic precedent in the relationship between the Commonwealth Government and Aboriginal people over land rights. The evident intent of then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam was to communicate a new approach to Aboriginal policy based on a respectful recognition of the Aboriginal relationship to the land through a simple gesture of passing a handful of sand to Vincent Lingiari. The Gurindji hand over ceremony was the occasion for this message because the actions that the Gurindji initiated by walking off Wave Hill Station and by later establishing a new community at Daguragu led the way for this change of policy.
 
The Wave Hill Walk-Off Route includes the location of key stages in these events, including the Station homestead area from which the Gurindji walked off on 23 August 1966, the fence line they followed and a remembered resting point, the camps near Wave Hill Welfare Settlement where many important meetings were held, a key place in the establishment of Daguragu in March 1967 and the site where Gurindji received the historic handover of the title to their land on 16 August 1975.

(h)

the place has outstanding heritage value to the nation because of the place's special association with the life or works of a person, or group of persons, of importance in Australia's natural or cultural history.

Vincent Lingiari OAM is an important figure in Australian history because of his role in the Wave Hill Walk-Off and subsequent events that contributed to the fundamental shift of Aboriginal policy following the 1967 referendum, towards Aboriginal self-determination and land rights. Vincent Lingiari combined leadership on industrial issues, with high authority in Aboriginal tradition, and dignity in impoverished circumstances to exemplify the Australian notion of ‘a fair go’.
 
In 1977, Vincent Lingiari was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to his people.
 
At every stage of the Route, Vincent Lingiari had a key leadership role.  This includes his role in initiating the walk-off, in leading his people to Wave Hill Welfare Settlement, in the important meetings at the camps near Wave Hill Welfare Settlement, in the decision to establish the community at Daguragu and as the recipient of lands on behalf of the Gurindji, which took place at Daguragu.