Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment Bill 2006

The majority voted in favour of a motion to read the bill for a second time.(Read more about the stages that a bill must pass through before becoming law here. ) This means that the majority agreed with the main idea of the bill and that the members can now discuss it in more detail.

Background to the bill

The bill was introduced to amend the _ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Act 2005_ and the _ Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976_ to:(Read more about the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 here. )

• increase access to Aboriginal land for development, especially exploration and mining;
• facilitate the leasing of Aboriginal land and the mortgaging of leases;
• provide for a tenure system for townships on Aboriginal land that will allow individuals to have property rights;
• devolve decision-making powers to regional Aboriginal communities;
• clarify provisions for the establishment of new Land Councils;
• increase accountability of Land Councils and incorporated bodies which receive payments for the use of Aboriginal land and provide for funding on the basis of workloads; and
• dispose of land claims which cannot be heard or finalised or which are clearly inappropriate to grant.(Read more about the bill here. More information is available in the bills digest.)

According to the bill's explanatory memorandum, this bill implements reforms drawn from three reviews of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 conducted over the last nine years.

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