Technical amendments to the Native Title Act

The Native Title Amendment (Technical Amendments) Act 2007 came into force on 20 July 2007. Schedule 1 of the Act contains a series of minor and technical amendments to the Native Title Act, all of which are now in effect. These amendments are designed to improve the workability of the Native Title Act.

What amendments have been made?

Most of the amendments clarify or improve existing provisions in the Native Title Act, although some provide for new processes. For example, they:

improve the process for notifying Indigenous Land Use Agreements
enable assistance to be provided by the Native Title Registrar to parties seeking to register an Indigenous Land Use Agreement
amend notification provisions to ensure appropriate parties are notified of new or amended claims
exempt amended claims from going through the registration test where the amendments would not affect the interests of other parties, such as where the rights and interests being claimed are reduced
provide for de novo review of registration decisions by a member of the National Native Title Tribunal (NNTT) in addition to the existing provision for review by the Court
restrict the use of information obtained by the NNTT in exercising its assistance function, and
clarify when information is added to, amended or removed from the registers setting out details of native title claims, determinations and Indigenous Land Use Agreements.

The amendments have been designed to fine-tune the operation of the native title system, with a view to achieving better outcomes for all parties.

Were stakeholders consulted about the amendments?

There was extensive consultation with stakeholders about the technical amendments to the Native Title Act. In November 2005, stakeholders were invited to comment on an initial discussion paper which outlined a number of proposed amendments. A second discussion paper was released in November 2006. This discussion paper incorporated additional amendment proposals suggested by stakeholders, as well as amendment proposals from the first discussion paper that were modified or discontinued as a result of consultation. The discussion papers can be accessed by following the links in the table on this page. The technical amendments in the Act reflect the feedback received from stakeholders during the consultation process.