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The Land Rights Act

About the Act Amendments How the Act works
Changes to the Act Claims View Legislation

Changes to the Act

Several Reviews Amendments Land Council Proposals
Reeves Review

While some mining companies and individual pastoralists have come to appreciate the reality of land rights - and many have successfully negotiated use of Aboriginal land - the opposition of industry lobby groups and conservative politicians continues.

Opponents of land rights do not accept that Aboriginal people have a right to make decisions about their land and resent having to gain Aboriginal approval, and negotiate conditions, for exploration and mining on Aboriginal land. Yet every independent inquiry into land rights in Australia has strongly endorsed the Woodward Commission's finding on the importance of Aboriginal landowners control over mining.

Several Reviews

In response to this continual pressure, the Land Rights Act has been reviewed three times in its short life and Aboriginal people and Land Councils have spent much time and resources defending their achievements.

The policies of the former Country Liberal Party Northern Territory Government and its campaign against Aboriginal control of Aboriginal land ensured that the Land Councils were forced to operate in a hostile environment for most of the period since self government was granted in 1978. However, the election of a Labor Government in August 2001 has provided opportunity for a new climate of co-operation.

Amendments

There have been two significant sets of amendments to the Aboriginal Land Rights Act -

	1987 Mining: The Labor Government's abandonment of its national land rights policy in the face of concerted pressure from mining industry groups left the Northern Territory Land Councils campaigning to prevent amendments to the Land Rights Act which would have emasculated Aboriginal control of their land.
	The compromise negotiated by the Land Councils staved off the worst of the proposals, but the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment Act 1987 meant a weakening of Aboriginal control.
	While the right to say "yes" or "no" to a mining proposal was maintained, a strict time constraint is now put on Aboriginal landowners making the decision - and unless the proposal is specifically rejected within that time, the landowners are deemed to have consented to it. As well, if landowners agree to an exploration proposal, they are also deemed to have agreed to any subsequent mining activity which is consistent with that proposal.
	This means that they must decide in principle whether to allow mining at a time when there is little information about the type and extent of the potential mining project. Prior to this, landowners had the opportunity to say "yes" or "no" at both the exploration and production stages of mining.
	1989 Pastoral Leases: Consistent lobbying by the Land Councils to have the Federal Government amend the Act to give some chance of winning back land for people whose traditional lands were under pastoral lease - and therefore unable to be claimed under the Act - by gaining secure title to small living areas, met with limited success in 1989.
	The Act was amended to allow the transfer to traditional owners of sections of the disused government-owned stock routes that traverse the pastoral leases. However, the Government refused Land Councils demands to provide a mechanism within the Act for small living areas to be excised from pastoral leases. Instead, it was left to the Northern Territory Government to legislate for the provision of Community Living Areas on pastoral leases, and its law has proved to be inadequate.

Land Council Proposals

The Federal Government has refused other proposed amendments to the Land Rights Act which would promote and entrench Aboriginal rights.

In particular, the Land Councils have urged changes to ensure the proper protection of sacred sites, and to allow the Act to function more efficiently.

Reeves Review

In October 1997 the Federal Government appointed Darwin lawyer John Reeves QC to conduct a review of the Land Rights Act.

The Reeves Review made many recommendations which would weaken Aboriginal rights under the Act. These include:

	breaking up the Northern and Central Land Councils,
	giving the NT Government more power over decisions affecting Aboriginal land,
	removing the permit system and
	removing the right of traditional Aboriginal landowners to control development on their land.

Senate response to Reeves:
On 30 August 1999, the House of Representatives Select Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs tabled its report on the Reeves Review.

The Committee largely rejected the recommendations made by Reeves, particularly his proposals to break up the Land Councils and transfer the decision-making power of traditional Aboriginal owners to small Land Councils.

Most significantly, the Committee recommended that no changes should be made to the Land Rights Act without the consent of Aboriginal people. However, the Committee flagged a number of possible areas for change, including the funding of Land Councils and the distribution of royalty payments which may lead to even more reviews.

Although the Federal Government has yet to respond formally to the Committee's report, in May 2002 it released an 'Options Paper' canvassing a series of possible amendments to the Land Rights Act.

Many of the 'options' appear similar to suggested amendments contained in the Reeves Report. The Northern Land Council has since advised the Federal Minister that it hopes to negotiate a cooperative position on beneficial change to the Act with the other three Land Councils and the Northern Territory Government.