The National Native Title Tribunal (NNTT) is an independent body established under the ''

Native Title Act 1993 The ''Native Title Act 1993'' (Cth) is an act of the Australian Parliament, the purpose of which is "to provide a national system for the recognition and protection of native title and for its co-existence with the national land management sys ...

'' in Australia as a special measure for the advancement and protection of

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

peoples (Indigenous Australians). It manages applications for and administration of

native title in Australia Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title righ ...

Description

The National Native Title Tribunal comprises a President and Members appointed by the Governor-General of Australia under the Act to make decisions, conduct inquiries, reviews and mediations, and assist various parties with native title applications in Australia, and

Indigenous land use agreement Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title right ...

s (ILUAs). Text was copied from this source, which is available under
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
licence (as pe
this page
. The NNTT is supported by the Native Title Registrar, also appointed by the Governor-General. The statutory office-holders of the Tribunal each have separate and specific functions and responsibilities to perform under the Act. It is a

Commonwealth Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the prime ...

agency, which helps people reach native title outcomes by agreement. The

Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indictable (mo ...

makes determinations on whether native title exists, or not. Since July 2012 the Federal Court has had responsibility for the corporate administration of the NNTT. Text was copied from this source, which is available under
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
licence (as pe
this page
. The President and Members of the Tribunal, assisted by the Registrar, under delegation from the Registrar of the Federal Court of Australia (the Court) are responsible for managing the administrative affairs of the NNTT.

Organisational structure

The President is responsible for managing the Tribunal's administrative affairs. The Governor-General appoints the President and Tribunal Members for specific terms of not longer than five years. Members are involved in: *providing assistance and information *helping people to understand native title and its processes *

negotiations and future act hearings and processes. The Registrar has specific responsibilities under the ''Native Title Act 1993'' and is responsible for the management of employees.

Role and functions

The Tribunal's role is to: *Assist parties to come to agreements over some proposed activities or developments, called future acts, and makes arbitral decisions about these matters. *Apply the registration test to all new native title claimant applications. All new claims must satisfy this set of conditions to be given certain procedural rights over the area claimed. *Notify the public when native title applications have been registered. Notification involves placing advertisements in newspapers as well as sending letters directly to people and organisations with a registered interest in the specific area. *Maintain three registers which hold detailed information about native title in Australia: the Register of Native Title Claims, the National Native Title Register and the Register of Indigenous Land Use Agreements. *Negotiate other types of agreements, such as Indigenous Land Use Agreements. On request, the Tribunal can also provide assistance and information to people involved in the native title process.

Locations

The Tribunal has offices in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

PBCs, RNTBCs, RATSIBs, NTRBs and NTSPs

When an Aboriginal or

Torres Strait Islander Torres Strait Islanders ( ) are the Indigenous Melanesians, Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal peoples of the res ...

body registers a claim with the NNTT, they are referred to as a prescribed body corporate (PBC) until such time as a determination is made, when they become a

Registered Native Title Body Corporate A Registered Native Title Body Corporate (RNTBC) is a corporation nominated by a group of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people for the purposes of native title in Australia, to represent their native title rights and interests, once t ...

, or RNTBC, registered with the

Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations The Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (ORIC) assists the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations in administering the ''Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006'' ("CATSI Act") and in supporting and regulatin ...

(ORIC) under the ''Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006'' (Cwth). A "representative Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander body", or RATSIB, is a body recognised by the Commonwealth under s 203AD of the ''Native Title Act'' "to represent native title holders and persons who may hold native title, and to consult with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons within a specified area". There is a network of native title representative bodies (NTRBs) and native title service providers (NTSPs) to assist native title claimants and holders, of which the

National Indigenous Australians Agency The National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) is an Australian Public Service agency of the Australian Government. It is responsible for whole-of-government coordination of policy development, program design, and service delivery for Abori ...

(NIAA) funds 14. These include

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 and RNTBCs. Text was copied from this source, which is available under
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

References

External links

* (Latest version as of July 2020) * {{Authority control Australian property law Australian constitutional law Native title in Australia Organisations serving Indigenous Australians 1993 establishments in Australia Courts and tribunals established in 1993