For years, traditional owners and Parks Australia have been locked in a legal battle that went all the way to the high court over the Commonwealth's criminal liability for disturbing a sacred men's rock art site.

At an on-country hearing, with the sound of early wet-season storms rolling across the land, the court was told about the impact of Parks Australia's decision to move a walkway within view of the cultural site. It was the first time the public had returned to the pristine Gunlom Falls as chief judge Elizabeth Morris handed down a landmark decision under the NT Sacred Sites Act.

In a rare opportunity, the court was privy to the story of Gunlom from Bolmo clan senior man Joseph Markham.

"Jawoyn culture has built up laws over thousands of years to protect the Buladjang (sickness country)," he wrote in his victim impact statement.

"If you disturb the Bula, by kicking the ground, disturbing the earth, or breaking rocks, he could wake up....he will bring about the end of this world by fire in order to bring in a new one."

Parks Australia Kakadu director and Djungan man Ronald “Ricky” Archer stood steady with his eyes down, as he muttered a five-letter-word, “guilty”.

Judge Morris ordered Parks Australia to pay a $200,000 fine, which will be absorbed into territory fines revenue with none of it flowing back to traditional owners.

"It is clear to me that denunciation is important because these sacred sites matter," she said in her judgment.

"They matter to those who are entrusted to pass them to their descendants...they matter to the Northern Territory community who cherishes its rich and powerful heritage.

"I note that this defendant should have conduct of the highest order and should be held to a standard that the public expects of one of its national institutions charged with managing our environment."

Parks Australia also paid half-a-million in civil damages to the Jawoyn People.

The judgment has wide-reaching impacts for the rest of Australia, with legal experts saying it has put other entities and governments “on notice”.

"This is now the largest penalty by a long margin for a sacred site defence," Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority crown counsel Lachlan Spargo-Peattie said. It will now be the benchmark for future sentencing matters.

“After the High Court decision, that Commonwealth agencies are bound by this legislation, and the judgment indicates that if there is a breach of that then it will be met with serious consequences,” Mr Spargo-Peattie said.

“For the last five years this case has brought sacred sites protections into greater prominence all around the country.

“And I think people now appreciate that our act is the strongest, and will be trying to emulate that.”

Ms Willika told the court how her people felt betrayed by Parks Australia's actions. “When we stand up on the escarpment at Gunlom, on that country, we can feel them: that wind, the formation of the rocks, we can feel the spirit of our ancestors echoing,” she wrote in her statement to the court.

"This country needs to be healed, just like we gotta make ourselves healthy. The country gotta be healthy - healthy people for healthy country."

"I want to feel Yilk-magku. That means inside my spirit, I need to feel really good, not only be happy, I want my spirit to be happy."

As one of just two jointly managed National Parks in the NT, the other being Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, work to restore the trust between traditional owners and the Commonwealth has begun.

It was a point Mr Archer made as he apologised to the Jawoyn people, vowing to "restore trust" as the traditional owners and Commonwealth work to reopen Gunlom for the 2025 dry season.

"I can only talk directly to the things I've had control," he told reporters following the judgment.

"I have been happy and confident in the level of trust and relationship rebuilding that I've been tasked with, but we still have work to do, and I'll continue to do that work."