✦ Plain-English Summary

Native Title Legislation Amendment Bill 2019

What it does

This law makes changes to how native title claims work in Australia — the legal process where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples can claim land rights based on traditional ownership. It updates rules about who can represent claimant groups, how agreements over land are made, and how Indigenous corporations that own native title land operate.

Why it matters

Native title affects which groups can use and manage land, and these changes make the process clearer and more flexible. For Indigenous communities pursuing land claims, it means different rules about who speaks for the group and how decisions get made — which can speed things up or change outcomes.

Key details

• Who represents the group: Changes how applicants (the people representing a native title claimant group) are chosen and replaced, and gives them clearer authority to make decisions on behalf of the group.

• Land agreements: Updates rules for Indigenous land use agreements — deals made between native title claimants and other parties (like governments or miners) about how land gets used.

• Compensation: Allows the registered Indigenous corporation that owns native title land to apply for compensation if the government takes or restricts their land rights — previously only the claimant group could do this.

• Staggered rollout: Most changes start at different times over 6+ months, giving Indigenous groups and the National Native Title Tribunal time to prepare.

Official Description

Amends the: Native Title Act 1993 to: allow a native title claim or compensation group to impose conditions on the authority of its authorised applicant and require public notification of any such conditions; clarify the duties of the applicant to the claim group; allow the applicant to act by majority as the default position; allow the composition of the applicant to be changed without further authorisation in certain circumstances; allow the claim group to put in place succession-planning arrangements for individual members of the applicant; allow body corporate Indigenous Land Use Agreements (ILUAs) to cover areas where native title has been extinguished; remove the requirement for the Native Title Registrar to notify an area ILUA unless satisfied it meets the ILUA requirements; allow minor amendments to be made to an ILUA without a new registration process; specify that the removal of an ILUA from the register does not invalidate future acts subject to that ILUA; extend the circumstances in which historical extinguishment can be disregarded to areas of national, state or territory parks, and certain pastoral leases; allow a registered native title body corporate to bring a compensation application over an area where native title has been extinguished; require the registrar to create and maintain a public record of section 31 agreements; and make a number of technical amendments; and Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (CATSI Act) to: require registered native title bodies corporate (RNTBC) constitutions to include dispute resolution pathways for persons who are or who claim to be common law holders, and provide for all the common law holders to be directly or indirectly represented in the RNTBC; limit the grounds for cancelling the membership of a member of a RNTBC to certain grounds; remove the discretion of directors of RNTBCs to refuse certain membership applications; specify that the registrar may place a RNTBC under special administration in certain circumstances; and ensure that proceedings in respect of a civil matter arising under the Act that relate to a RNTBC are to be instituted and determined exclusively in the Federal Court, unless transferred to another court with jurisdiction; confirm the validity of certain section 31 agreements; and provide that a person would be entitled to compensation if the bill effects the acquisition of property of a person other than on just terms (within the meaning of paragraph 51(xxxi) of the Constitution).

Committee Referrals

Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee; Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills; Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights

No formal division recorded

This bill passed by voice vote — parliament agreed without calling a formal count. A division is only recorded when a member explicitly requests one.

No votes yet.

No votes were recorded for this bill.