The ''Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976'' (ALRA) is Australian federal government legislation that provides the basis upon which

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait I ...

people in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

can claim rights to land based on traditional occupation. It was the first law by any Australian government that legally recognised the Aboriginal system of land ownership, and legislated the concept of inalienable freehold title, as such was a fundamental piece of social reform. Its long title is ''An Act providing for the granting of Traditional Aboriginal Land in the Northern Territory for the benefit of Aboriginals, and for other purposes''. The most significant amendments to the Act were effected by the passing of the ''Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment Bill 2006'', effective 1 July 2007.

History

The results of the

1967 Australian referendum The 1967 Australian referendum occurred on 27 May 1967 under the Holt Government. It contained three topics asked about in two questions, regarding the passage of two bills to alter the Australian Constitution. The first question (''Constitution ...

meant that the Federal Government could make special laws relating to Aboriginal people which could override any state-based legislation; this was seen as a great victory in the struggle for

Aboriginal land rights in Australia Indigenous land rights in Australia, also known as Aboriginal land rights in Australia, relate to the rights and interests in land of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia, and the term may also include the struggle for thos ...

. The

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

government under

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the h ...

, after making land rights one of his election campaign priorities, first introduced a land rights Bill to Parliament. Whitlam chose to establish a precedent in the Northern Territory (NT), which was controlled by the Commonwealth (federal) government, rather than attempt federal legislation first off. He appointed Justice Woodward in February 1973 to head an inquiry into how best to recognise Aboriginal land rights in the NT, called the Aboriginal Land Rights Commission (also known as the "Woodward Royal Commission"). Woodword produced his final report in April 1974, expressing the opinion that one of the main aims of land rights was "The doing of simple justice to a people who have been deprived of their land without their consent and without compensation". He said that Aboriginal land should be granted as inalienable

freehold title In English law, a fee simple or fee simple absolute is an estate in land, a form of freehold ownership. A "fee" is a vested, inheritable, present possessory interest in land. A "fee simple" is real property held without limit of time (i.e., per ...

, meaning "it could not be acquired, sold, mortgaged or disposed of in any way", and title should be communal. The Bill lapsed upon the dismissal of the government in 1975.PDF of original version
/ref> The Liberal government, led by

Malcolm Fraser John Malcolm Fraser (; 21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983, holding office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Fraser was raised on hi ...

, reintroduced a similar Bill, and this was signed by the

Governor-General of Australia The governor-general of Australia is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in Australia.inalienable freehold title, and thus the first of all

Aboriginal land rights legislation in Australia Commonwealth, State, and Territory Parliaments of Australia have passed Aboriginal land rights legislation. ''Pitjantjatjara Lands Act 1956'' (SA) The South Australian ''Pitjantjatjara Lands Act 1956'' granted land to the Pitjantjatjara people, b ...

. ''The Land Rights Act'' is a fundamental piece of social reform. It established the legal basis on which Aboriginal people could claim rights to land based on customary or traditional occupation, also known as

native title Aboriginal title is a common law doctrine that the land rights of indigenous peoples to customary tenure persist after the assumption of sovereignty under settler colonialism. The requirements of proof for the recognition of aboriginal title, ...

, if evidence could be shown. (The South Australian ''

Pitjantjatjara Lands Act 1956 The Pitjantjatjara (; or ) are an Aboriginal people of the Central Australian desert near Uluru. They are closely related to the Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra and their languages are, to a large extent, mutually intelligible (all are vari ...

'' had granted land to the

Pitjantjatjara people The Pitjantjatjara (; or ) are an Aboriginal people of the Central Australian desert near Uluru. They are closely related to the Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra and their languages are, to a large extent, mutually intelligible (all are vari ...

, but as a one-off, did not provide a basis for future claims by others.)

Description

The main purpose of the Act is "to reinstate ownership of traditional Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory to Aboriginal people" ( Austrade). It provides for the grant of inalienable freehold title for Aboriginal land, meaning that the land cannot be bought or otherwise acquired, including by any NT law. In the original Act, only claims to unalienated

Crown land Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it ...

in the NT were permissible, under three district sections, and the Act specified an end date of June 1997 by which claims had to be lodged. The Act allows for a claim of Australian native title if claimants can provide evidence of their traditional association with land. About 50% of the Northern Territory land and 85% of its coastline are owned communally by Aboriginal peoples. Since 1976, many amendments to the Act have been passed. , the most recent compilation (No. 41) came into force on 4 April 2019. , the major sections of the Act are: * Part I—Preliminary * Part II—Grants of land to Aboriginal Land Trusts * Part IIA—Executive Director of Township Leasing * Part III—Aboriginal Land Councils * Part IV—Mining * Part V—Aboriginal Land Commissioners * Part VI—Aboriginals Benefit Account * Part VII—Miscellaneous * Schedules 1–7

Part II: Aboriginal Land Trusts

Aboriginal Land Trusts are established under the Act. Their main functions are: * to hold title to land vested in it in accordance with this Act; and * to exercise its powers as owner of land for the benefit of the Aboriginal people concerned. Title to the land granted under the Act is held by these land trusts; , there are 151 Aboriginal land trusts, each administered by the a land council, dependent on location of the trust.

Part III: Land Councils

The Act specified that at least two

Land Council Land councils, also known as Aboriginal land councils, or land and sea councils, are Australian community organisations, generally organised by region, that are commonly formed to represent the Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australians ...

s must be created. The

Central Land Council The Central Land Council (CLC) is a land council that represents the Aboriginal peoples of the southern half of the Northern Territory of Australia (NT), predominantly with regard to land issues. it is one of four land councils in the Northern T ...

, covering the southern part of the NT, and the Northern Land Council, covering the northern part of the NT, were created by the Act. The Tiwi Land Council, covering Bathurst and Melville Islands north of Darwin, and the Anindilyakwa Land Council, covering

Groote Eylandt Groote Eylandt ( Anindilyakwa: ''Ayangkidarrba'' meaning "island" ) is the largest island in the Gulf of Carpentaria and the fourth largest island in Australia. It was named by the explorer Abel Tasman in 1644 and is Dutch for "Large Island" i ...

and

Bickerton Island Bickerton Island is 13 km west of Groote Eylandt and 8 km east of the mouth of Blue Mud Bay in eastern Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is about 21 by 21 kilometres in size, with deep bays and indentations, and ...

in the

Gulf of Carpentaria The Gulf of Carpentaria (, ) is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea (the body of water that lies between Australia and New Guinea). The northern boundary i ...

, were later created from parts of the Northern Land Council. New Land Councils can be created under the Act: Section 23 of the Act specifies the functions of Land Councils; however, the four original land councils continue to exist .

Part IV: Mining

Land development, including exploration and mining activities, on Aboriginal land are undertaken through negotiations with traditional owners groups and facilitated by land councils. Various types of payment for the land, other financial and non-financial benefits may be included in negotiations. The Act prescribes how the land councils and land trusts may grant usage rights and access, but in some circumstances a federal or NT Minister's approval is also required. Income received for the use of the land is distributed by the land councils according to the agreements with the traditional owners and as the Act provides. Royalties paid to the NT and Federal governments for the use of the land are processed and directed to the Aboriginals Benefit Account (ABA) (Part VI of the Act) and the funds are to be used for certain purposes prescribed by the Act which benefit Aboriginal peoples in the NT.

Part VII: Miscellaneous

Sacred sites

Section 69 (under "Part VII - Miscellaneous") of the Act defines a special category of land, the

sacred site Sacred space, sacred ground, sacred place, sacred temple, holy ground, or holy place refers to a location which is deemed to be sacred or hallowed. The sacredness of a natural feature may accrue through tradition or be granted through a bless ...

, which is a site of significance according to Aboriginal tradition. It prohibits a person from entering a sacred site, with penalties of a fine or prison sentence. (There is also additional protection for sacred sites in the NT under the '' Northern Territory Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act 1989''.)

Local Decision Making

The Act specifies methods for Land Councils to support local Aboriginal groups to make decisions regarding their land, including: * Part II (Grants of Land to Aboriginal Land Trusts): Section 19A: Land Trust may grant headlease over township * Part III (Aboriginal Land Councils), Section 28A: Delegation of a Land Council’s functions or powers to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation

1997 ''Reeves Report'' and 2006 Amendments

A significant review of the Act (referred to as ALRA) was undertaken from October 1997, when the government appointed barrister John Reeves to examine its effectiveness, operation of aspects relating to mining and the Aboriginal Benefits Trust Account, and the role of the Land Councils. The ''Reeves Report'' concluded that the ALRA had been very effective in granting traditional Aboriginal land in the NT, with benefits exceeding their costs for the Aboriginal people, but it also made many recommendations for change. After examination of the recommendations by various bodies in the following years, the

Northern Territory Government The Government of the Northern Territory of Australia, also referred to as the Northern Territory Government, is the Australian territorial democratic administrative authority of the Northern Territory. The Government of Northern Territory wa ...

and the Land Councils produced a joint response in June 2003, in their ''Detailed Joint Submission to the Commonwealth - Workability Reforms of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (ALRA)''. Over some years, the issue of private versus communal ownership of Aboriginal land was considered and debated by many parties, including

Warren Mundine Nyunggai Warren Stephen Mundine is an Australian Aboriginal leader and politician. He was the National President of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), but quit the party in 2012. Mundine was appointed chairman of the Coalition government's Indig ...

Mick Dodson Michael James Dodson (born 10 April 1950) is an Aboriginal Australian barrister, academic, and member of the Yawuru people in the Broome area of the southern Kimberley region of Western Australia. His brother is Pat Dodson, also a noted ...

, Galarrwuy Yunupingu,

Noel Pearson Noel or Noël may refer to: Christmas * , French for Christmas * Noel is another name for a Christmas carol Places * Noel, Missouri, United States, a city * Noel, Nova Scotia, Canada, a community * 1563 Noël, an asteroid * Mount Noel, Brit ...

and others. Tom Calma, as

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

, said in his ''Native Title Report 2005'' that it was "not necessary to put the communal tenure of Indigenous land at risk" by converting to individual freehold titles. It was agreed that there were benefits in the new proposals, but various details were debated at length. Following the Government making changes to the ALRA in 2005,

Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR) is an independent, national non-government, not-for-profit, community-based organisation founded in 1997 which advocates for the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in A ...

(ANTaR) expressed concern about Land Council funding and function changes and the establishment of new Land Councils. Tom Calma commented at length in July 2006, starting with three main concerns: that the amendments had been made without the full understanding and consent of traditional owners and Indigenous Northern Territorians; that the intention of the amendments was to reduce the capacity for Indigenous people to have decision making influence over their lands; and that it was likely that the amendments would have a range of negative impacts on Indigenous peoples’ rights and interests. On 17 August 2006, the Howard Government amended the Act. The ''Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment Bill 2006'', in effect from 1 July 2007, added several clauses intended to promote economic development in remote townships. Among these, low-interest loans were provided to promote private home ownership. The amendment does away with communal ownership of certain parcels of lands previously vested as parts of inalienable Aboriginal Land Trusts. The summary of the amendments includes the following effects of the amendments: they "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", and change the provisions governing land councils to increase accountability. Before the amendments, land in the NT was owned communally through the local Land Council, and people rented properties from the Council. The amendments meant that the land would be moved into private ownership. The Amendment also allowed for the fast-tracking of mining negotiations between corporations and Indigenous communities, making the processing of agreements on royalties to be completed more quickly. This meant that communities would get paid sooner and new mines will get into production more easily.

References

External links

* {{Indigenous Australians Aboriginal land rights in Australia 1976 in Australian law Acts of the Parliament of Australia