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Senate passes amendments to the Native Title Act

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The Senate passed amendments to the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) (NTA) on 14 June 2017.

The Native Title Amendment (Indigenous Land Use Agreements) Bill 2017 (Cth) is the Commonwealth’s response to the decision in McGlade v Native Title Registrar [2017] FCAFC 10 (McGlade). The Bill was passed by the House of Representatives on 16 February 2017. The Senate commenced its debate in May, and continued debate in June before passing the Bill with minor amendments.

The Bill as passed by the Senate will allow for:

  • the validation of area ILUAs made on or before 2 February 2017 where not all of the persons comprising the registered native title claimant/s (RNTC) were parties, provided that at least one person was a party
  • the validation of area ILUAs where no person comprising the RNTC/s was a party, but only if the ILUA was registered before 2 February 2017.

For future ILUAs, the Bill would allow:

  • a native title claim group to nominate one or more of the persons comprising the relevant RNTC to be party to the ILUA, or to specify a process for determining who should be a party; and
  • where this has not occurred, that a majority of the persons comprising the RNTC/s as parties to the ILUA will be sufficient.

We understand that the Bill will now be returned to the House of Representatives and is expected to be passed. The amendments to the NTA will be enacted upon Royal Assent.