The Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (ALRA) is Australian federal government legislation that provides the basis upon which Aboriginal Australian people in the Northern Territory 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 Act has been amended 27 times between 1978 and 2021. Significant amendments were the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment Act 2006, and Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment (Economic Empowerment) Act 2021.
History
The results of the 1967 Australian referendum 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.
The Labor government under Gough Whitlam, 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"). Woodward 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, meaning "it could not be acquired, sold, mortgaged or disposed of in any way", and title should be communal. The Liberal government, led by Malcolm Fraser, reintroduced a similar Bill, and this was signed by the Governor-General of Australia on 16 December 1976.
Significance
It was the first law by any Australian government that legally recognised the Aboriginal system of land ownership, legislating the concept of inalienable freehold title, and thus the first of all Aboriginal land rights legislation in Australia. 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, if evidence could be shown. (The South Australian Pitjantjatjara Lands Act 1956 had granted land to the Pitjantjatjara people, but as a one-off, did not provide a basis for future claims by others.)
- 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 VIA—Northern Territory Aboriginal Investment Corporation
- Part VII—Miscellaneous
- Schedules 1–7
Part II: Aboriginal Land Trusts
Aboriginal Land Trusts are established under the Act. Their main functions are:
After examination of the recommendations by various bodies in the following years, the Northern Territory Government 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, Mick Dodson, Galarrwuy Yunupingu, Noel Pearson and others. Tom Calma, as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, 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.
2006 Amendments
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 to the Act.
The government summary of the Amendments includes "to 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.
The most significant amendments enabled Aboriginal groups to more directly manage their land. Two Land Councils (Central and Northern) manage manage mainland NT Aboriginal land. By comparison, New South Wales has 121 Land Councils. These new sections of the Act included Section 19a, which introduced the option of Township Leasing, and Section 28a, which introduced the option of a 'delegation of powers' to a local Aboriginal corporation.
Local decision making
The Act specifies methods for Land Councils to support local Aboriginal groups to make decisions regarding their land, including:
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |Location
! rowspan="2" |Land Council
! rowspan="2" |Towns Included
! colspan="2" |Lease
|-
! Term
! Issue Date
|-
| rowspan="3" |Tiwi Islands
| rowspan="3" |Tiwi LC
|Wurrumiyanga
|99 Years
|20 Aug 2007
|-
|Milikapiti & Wurankuwu
|99 Years
|22 Nov 2011
|-
|Pirlangimpi
|99 Years
|26 Jun 2017
|-
|Groote &
Bickerton Islands
|Anildilyakwa LC
|Anguragu, Umbakumba, & Milyakburra
|40 Years
|4 Dec 2008
|-
|Mutijulu
|Central LC
|Mutijulu (near Uluru)
|67 Years
|16 Mar 2017
|}
See also
- Aboriginal land rights legislation in Australia
- Gove land rights case (1971)
- Indigenous land rights
- Indigenous land rights in Australia
- List of laws concerning Indigenous Australians
- Native title in Australia
- Yirrkala bark petitions (1963)