Neil Evers is a Northern Beaches resident who has publicly asserted a ‘fifth-generation Aboriginal’ identity linked to the historic Carigal peoples of the Sydney region. In recent years, he has assumed high-profile roles as a cultural representative, including delivering Welcome to Country ceremonies on behalf of Hornsby Shire Council and other institutions. However, extensive research by Aboriginal leaders, genealogists, and Land Councils indicates that Evers is not recognised as being Aboriginal and has fabricated his cultural authority. Despite this, he continues to be promoted as a “Traditional Owner,” with the endorsement of local councils such as Hornsby Shire (Hornsby Shire Council, 2024a; Pittwater Online News, 2011). This report critically examines Evers’ false identity claims, their historical development, and the extensive public recriminations from Aboriginal people and organisations, with a focus on the cultural, social, and human rights harm perpetuated by Hornsby Shire Council’s institutional complicity.
Early Identity Claims and Fabrication of Ancestry
Evers’ assertions of Aboriginality began relatively recently. As he stated in a 2011 community profile, “Until about 4 years ago I was unaware of my ancestry. I am a fifth-generation Aboriginal” (Pittwater Online News, 2011). According to his own account, it was only in the early 2000s that a cousin, Bob Waterer, presented him with alleged family documents suggesting distant Aboriginal descent through Sarah Lewis (Pittwater Online News, 2011). This oral genealogy has not been substantiated, nor has the Evers family produced evidence meeting the “three-part test” for Aboriginal identity used by government and community organisations: (1) descent, (2) self-identification, and (3) acceptance by a recognised Aboriginal community (Commonwealth of Australia, 1983).
In 2011, Evers reportedly applied to the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council (MLALC) for a Certificate of Aboriginality. His application was rejected due to a lack of genealogical evidence (Moran, as cited in Nine Network, 2024). Nathan Moran, CEO of MLALC, later told A Current Affair that Evers “is not Aboriginal or doesn’t meet the test to qualify as Aboriginal” and added that “to claim you’re Aboriginal and act the way he does, no one Aboriginal speaks like that” (Nine Network, 2024, 3:52–4:07). Moran described Evers’ claims as a “bastardry of our culture” and noted that the discovery of a distant Indigenous ancestor does not entitle someone to claim contemporary Aboriginal identity, cultural authority, or perform sacred functions such as Welcome to Country (Nine Network, 2024, 4:55–5:15).
Guringai Fabrication and Cultural Appropriation
Central to Evers’ public persona is his use of the term “Guringai” (also stylised as “GuriNgai” or “Garigal”), which he presents as the name of the traditional Aboriginal group of the Northern Beaches and Hornsby Plateau. However, the term “Guringai” is a modern colonial invention with no authentic historical usage by Aboriginal people in the region. It was first applied in 1892 by amateur ethnologist John Fraser, who erroneously constructed large-scale tribal groupings and superimposed them on fragmented historical sources (Aboriginal Heritage Office, 2015). As the Aboriginal Heritage Office (AHO) has clarified:
“The word ‘Guringai’ is not found in any early records and was never used by Aboriginal people of the area. Its origin lies in a late 19th-century academic misunderstanding, which has since been promoted by local non-Aboriginal groups to fill a perceived cultural void.” (AHO, 2015, para. 4)
Despite this, Evers and his supporters have built an entire identity movement around the Guringai label, including organisations such as the Guringai Tribal Link Aboriginal Corporation and the Aboriginal Support Group – Manly Warringah Pittwater. These groups have presented themselves as “Traditional Custodians” despite not being recognised by Aboriginal Land Councils or Elders from the Garigal (Carigal) or Darug clans. In fact, a joint statement issued by seven legitimate Aboriginal Land Councils in 2020, including the Metropolitan, Darkinjung, and Deerubbin LALCs, declared:
“There is no basis for claims made by individuals asserting to be ‘Guringai.’ They are not part of our communities, and they have not been accepted by us as Aboriginal people. Their use of the term is offensive, misleading, and contributes to cultural harm.” (NSW Aboriginal Land Councils, 2020, as cited in Cooke, 2024)
Nevertheless, Hornsby Shire Council continues to officially endorse these claims. Council meeting minutes from 2023 and 2024 show that Evers has been regularly invited to perform Welcome to Country ceremonies under the title “Darug and GuriNgai Traditional Owner” (Hornsby Shire Council, 2024a; 2024b; 2025). Furthermore, Council documents and signage continue to describe the Hornsby Shire area as “Darug and GuriNgai Country” (Hornsby Shire Council, 2022). This stands in direct contradiction to cultural authority protocols, and in opposition to the recommendations of the Aboriginal Heritage Office, which advises councils to name only historically verifiable clans or defer to local LALCs (AHO, 2015).
Public Recriminations from Aboriginal Elders and Organisations
In 2023 and 2024, Aboriginal resistance to Neil Evers’ claims intensified. Local Elders, Aboriginal Land Councils, and cultural authorities publicly condemned both his individual assertions and the broader “GuriNgai” movement. One of the most significant formal responses came in the form of public statements from Nathan Moran, CEO of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council (MLALC), who has consistently and unequivocally rejected Evers’ claims. Speaking on A Current Affair in August 2024, Moran stated:
“This person is not Aboriginal, or doesn’t meet the test to qualify as Aboriginal. He has not lived as an Aboriginal man, he’s not known as an Aboriginal man, he’s not accepted as an Aboriginal man. He is not us.” (Nine Network, 2024, 4:05)
Moran explained that Evers’ application to MLALC for recognition had been rejected over a decade earlier due to a complete absence of genealogical proof. Moran further stressed the ethical and statistical damage caused by identity fraud, stating that the inclusion of unverified individuals in Aboriginal data sets corrupts public policy, health targets, and community trust (Nine Network, 2024).
In a related community forum, JD Cooke—Marramarra Garigal man and verified descendant of Bungaree and Matora—issued a widely circulated open letter in June 2024. He condemned Evers as one of “a group of non-Aboriginal charlatans who have stolen our stories, corrupted our family lines, and now stand in the way of our cultural authority” (Cooke, 2024, para. 6). Cooke explained that the Guringai identity is “a harmful lie,” and stated that Hornsby Shire Council had “repeatedly empowered white imposters to speak over the very people whose Country they claim to acknowledge” (Cooke, 2024, paras. 4, 9). His call for accountability urged the immediate removal of all Guringai references and demanded that Council cease its association with Evers and similar identity fabricators.
These public criticisms are consistent with formal Aboriginal institutional positions. In 2020, the Guringay People—whose language is Gathang and whose Country lies north of the Hunter River—issued a joint statement denouncing the use of “Guringai” in the Sydney region. They affirmed that “Guringai” was not their name, and that misuse of this term in Hornsby and the Northern Beaches was “deeply offensive” (Lissarrague & Syron, 2024). Similarly, the Aboriginal Heritage Office concluded in its research report Filling a Void that:
“The word ‘Guringai’ was never used by the people of this area. Its continued use does not reflect the historical reality and disrespects the authority of surviving families who retain cultural knowledge and lineage” (Aboriginal Heritage Office, 2015, para. 7).
Hornsby Shire Council’s Institutional Complicity
Despite these clear and repeated objections, Hornsby Shire Council has continued to invite Evers to perform ceremonial roles and has upheld references to the discredited “Guringai” name. Council meeting minutes from at least September 2023 through March 2025 list Evers as the Darug and GuriNgai Traditional Owner performing Welcome to Country at General Meetings (Hornsby Shire Council, 2024a; 2024b; 2025). Council’s official reconciliation policy and public signage reinforce this fabricated identity, despite receiving multiple complaints and formal submissions from Aboriginal people, including Cooke (Cooke, 2024; Hornsby Shire Council, 2024c).
The problem is not ceremonial alone. In 2024, Hornsby Shire Council adopted an “Aboriginal Heritage Study” that had been produced in collaboration with, or consultation with, members of the non-Aboriginal Guringai group, including Evers. This study was adopted despite formal warnings from Aboriginal communities that its foundational premises were flawed and lacked proper cultural authority (Hornsby Shire Council, 2024c). In a public statement, Cooke argued that this process constitutes a human rights breach:
“You have chosen white imposters to speak for us. You continue to prioritise settlers who have never lived as Aboriginal people, who cannot be verified as Aboriginal, and who profit off our dispossession… Council has ignored evidence, dismissed the cries of Elders, and aligned itself with frauds” (Cooke, 2024, paras. 7–8).
Such actions by Hornsby Shire Council violate Australia’s commitments under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), particularly Article 33, which affirms the right of Indigenous peoples to determine their own identity and community membership (United Nations, 2007). Furthermore, it undermines the NSW Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983, which reserves cultural authority for Local Aboriginal Land Councils and recognised Elders—not self-appointed individuals lacking genealogical evidence.
Cultural and Human Rights Implications
The repeated endorsement of Neil Evers by Hornsby Shire Council is emblematic of a broader phenomenon: the colonial reinvention of Indigenous identity by settlers who claim Aboriginality without verifiable descent, community acceptance, or lived experience. As Bodkin-Andrews and Carlson (2016) argue, such false identities often emerge in contexts where white institutions reward cultural performance over cultural truth. These identity appropriators are frequently accepted by councils and schools because they are “easier” to work with, and because their narratives are palatable to non-Indigenous Australians (Carlson, 2016).
The psychological and cultural harm caused by this practice is profound. As Carlson (2017) has documented in The Politics of Identity, many Aboriginal people experience grief, exclusion, and institutional betrayal when fraudulent identities are validated while legitimate voices are ignored. Evers’ claims displace Aboriginal descendants of Bungaree and the Carigal clan, as well as the wider Aboriginal community, further erasing us from public discourse, land use consultation, and symbolic recognition. In such cases, “settler self-Indigenisation” functions as a modern form of colonisation—a mimicry of Aboriginality that sustains white control over Indigenous culture, representation, and resources (Leroux, 2019).
The actions of Hornsby Shire Council in continuing to endorse Evers, and its failure to consult with recognised Aboriginal organisations such as the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council or the Darkinjung LALC, reveal a systemic problem. As Moran made clear, the failure to verify identity—especially when councils use “fake Aboriginals” in official ceremonies—constitutes “bastardisation” and leads to the distortion of government policy, social services, and community trust (Nine Network, 2024, 4:40–5:00).
Conclusion
Neil Evers has constructed a public identity as a “Guringai Elder” despite lacking verifiable Aboriginal ancestry, legitimate cultural recognition, or genealogical connection to Bungaree and the Carigal people. His role as a cultural authority has been consistently rejected by Aboriginal communities, including the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council, Guringay representatives, and numerous verified descendants of the Marramarra Carigal clan. Despite this, Hornsby Shire Council continues to platform him, institutionalise the discredited “Guringai” label, and consult with illegitimate groups while ignoring legitimate Aboriginal families and Land Councils. This has caused measurable harm: not only does it distort the historical record, it displaces rightful cultural authority, erodes community trust, and violates Indigenous rights under national and international frameworks.
Until councils such as Hornsby develop clear protocols for verifying Aboriginal identity—rooted in community validation, genealogical documentation, and respect for cultural authority—they will continue to contribute to the dispossession they purport to remedy.
References
Aboriginal Heritage Office. (2015). Filling a void: A history of the word “Guringai”. https://www.aboriginalheritage.org/history/filling-a-void-history-of-word-guringai
Bodkin-Andrews, G., & Carlson, B. (2016). The legacy of racism and Indigenous identity within education. Race Ethnicity and Education, 19(4), 784–807. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2014.969224
Carlson, B. (2016). The politics of identity: Who counts as Aboriginal today? Aboriginal Studies Press.
Cooke, J. (2024, June 13). An open letter to Hornsby Shire Council on the GuriNgai fraud. guringai.org. https://guringai.org/2024/06/13/an-open-letter-to-hornsby-shire-council
Hornsby Shire Council. (2022, October 12). Aboriginal Reconciliation Statement of Commitment (POL00165). https://businesspapers.hornsby.nsw.gov.au/Open/2022/10/GM_12102022_AGN.HTM
Hornsby Shire Council. (2024a, March 13). Minutes of General Meeting. https://businesspapers.hornsby.nsw.gov.au/Open/2024/03/GM_13032024_MIN.HTM
Hornsby Shire Council. (2024b, July 10). Minutes of General Meeting. https://businesspapers.hornsby.nsw.gov.au/Open/2024/07/GM_10072024_MIN.HTM
Hornsby Shire Council. (2024c, June 12). Item PC10/24 – Report on Submissions – Aboriginal Heritage Study. https://businesspapers.hornsby.nsw.gov.au/Open/2024/06/GM_12062024_ATT.PDF
Hornsby Shire Council. (2025, March 12). Minutes of General Meeting. https://businesspapers.hornsby.nsw.gov.au/Open/2025/03/GM_12032025_MIN.HTM
Leroux, D. (2019). Distorted descent: White claims to Indigenous identity. University of Manitoba Press.
Lissarrague, A., & Syron, L. (2024). Guringaygupa Djuyal Barray: Guringay Country and Language Report. https://hunterlivinghistories.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Guringaygupa-djuyal-barray05-11-2024.pdf
Nine Network. (2024, August 30). Welcome to Country performer not Aboriginal, says Land Council. A Current Affair [Television broadcast]. https://9now.nine.com.au/a-current-affair
Pittwater Online News. (2011, December 11–17). Profile of the week: Neil Evers. https://www.pittwateronlinenews.com/neil-evers-profile.php
United Nations. (2007). United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html
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