Agreement making is critical to nation building and economic empowerment of Traditional Owners. The work of the Mabo Centre will provide resources for Traditional Owners to make better agreements to realise their own ambitions.

The Agreements, Treaties and Negotiated Settlements (ATNS) database provides an online portal for people seeking information on agreements with Indigenous peoples. The project aims to promote knowledge and transparency by capturing the range and variety of agreement making occurring in Australia and other parts of the world.

Information is gathered and reviewed from publicly available academic sources, online materials and documents provided by the organisations and agencies involved in agreement-making processes. No confidential material is published. The ATNS database began in 2002 as a research project focusing on treaties and agreement making with Indigenous Australians. Since then, the ATNS team has continued to investigate agreement making and maintain the ATNS database.