Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976
Parliament of Australia
An Act providing for the granting of Traditional Aboriginal Land in the Northern Territory for the benefit of Aboriginals, and for other purposes
Citation	No. 191, 1976
Date of Royal Assent	16 December 1976

The Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (often called ALRA) is a special law from the Australian national government. It helps Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory claim rights to land based on their traditional connection to it.

This law was the first of its kind in Australia. It officially recognised the Aboriginal way of owning land. It also introduced the idea of "inalienable freehold title," which means the land cannot be sold or taken away. This made the ALRA a very important step in social reform for Aboriginal people.

The law's full name 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 important changes to this law happened in 2006, coming into effect on 1 July 2007.

How Did the Land Rights Act Start?

The journey to the ALRA began with the 1967 Australian referendum. After this vote, the national government gained the power to make special laws for Aboriginal people. These laws could even overrule state laws. This was a big win for those fighting for Aboriginal land rights in Australia.

The Whitlam Government's Role

Gough Whitlam, who was the Prime Minister from the Labor government, made land rights a key promise during his election campaign. He wanted to start with the Northern Territory because the national government directly controlled it.

In February 1973, Prime Minister Whitlam asked a judge named Justice Woodward to lead a study. This study, called the Aboriginal Land Rights Commission, looked into the best ways to recognise Aboriginal land rights in the Northern Territory.

Justice Woodward finished his report in April 1974. He believed that a main goal 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 suggested that Aboriginal land should be granted as "inalienable freehold title." This meant the land could not be bought, sold, or mortgaged. He also said that the land should be owned by the whole community, not by individuals.

Passing the Law

The original land rights Bill (a proposed law) did not pass because the government was dismissed in 1975. However, the next government, led by Malcolm Fraser from the Liberal party, brought in a similar Bill. This new law was officially signed by the Governor-General of Australia on 16 December 1976.

Why Is This Law Important?

The Land Rights Act was the first law by any Australian government to legally recognise the Aboriginal system of land ownership. It made the idea of "inalienable freehold title" a legal concept. This means the land could not be sold or taken away. It was also the first of all Aboriginal land rights legislation in Australia.

This law created a legal way for Aboriginal people to claim rights to land based on their traditional or customary occupation. This is also known as native title. They needed to show evidence of their connection to the land. While the South Australian Pitjantjatjara Lands Act 1956 had given land to the Pitjantjatjara people, it was a one-off act. The ALRA, however, set up a system for future claims by other groups.

What Does the Act Do?

The main goal of the Act is to give back ownership of traditional Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory to Aboriginal people. It allows for the grant of "inalienable freehold title" for Aboriginal land. This means the land cannot be bought or taken, even by laws made in the Northern Territory.

Originally, claims could only be made for certain types of land that were not already owned by others. The Act also set a deadline of June 1997 for claims to be made.

Today, about half of the Northern Territory's land and 85% of its coastline are owned by Aboriginal communities.

Since 1976, the Act has been changed many times. As of 2020, the law has several main parts:

• Part I—Preliminary (Introduction)
• 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 (Other important rules)
• Schedules 1–7 (Lists and details)

Part II: Aboriginal Land Trusts

The Act sets up Aboriginal Land Trusts. Their main jobs are:

• To hold the legal ownership of land given to them by this Act.
• To use their powers as land owners to benefit the Aboriginal people connected to that land.

These Land Trusts hold the title (ownership) to the land granted under the Act. As of 2020, there are 151 Aboriginal Land Trusts. Each one is managed by a Land Council, depending on where the trust's land is located.

Part III: Land Councils

The Act said that at least two Land Councils must be created. The Central Land Council (for the southern NT) and the Northern Land Council (for the northern NT) were set up by the Act.

Later, two more Land Councils were created from parts of the Northern Land Council:

• The Tiwi Land Council, covering Bathurst and Melville Islands near Darwin.
• The Anindilyakwa Land Council, covering Groote Eylandt and Bickerton Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

The Act allows for new Land Councils to be created. Section 23 of the Act explains what Land Councils do. The four original Land Councils continue to operate today.

Part IV: Mining on Aboriginal Land

When companies want to explore or mine on Aboriginal land, they must talk with the traditional owners of that land. Land Councils help with these discussions.

These talks can include payments for using the land, and other financial or non-financial benefits. The Act explains how Land Councils and Land Trusts can allow access and usage rights. Sometimes, a national or Northern Territory Minister's approval is also needed.

Money received for using the land is given out by the Land Councils. This is done according to agreements with the traditional owners and as the Act says.

Royalties (payments) from mining that go to the Northern Territory and national governments are sent to the Aboriginals Benefit Account (ABA). This account is explained in Part VI of the Act. The money from the ABA must be used for purposes that benefit Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory.

Part VII: Miscellaneous - Sacred Sites

Section 69 of the Act (under "Part VII - Miscellaneous") talks about a special type of land called a sacred site. These are places that are very important according to Aboriginal traditions.

The Act makes it illegal for anyone to enter a sacred site without permission. If someone does, they can face fines or even prison time. Sacred sites in the Northern Territory also have extra protection under another law, the Northern Territory Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act 1989.

Local Decision Making

The Act provides ways for Land Councils to help local Aboriginal groups make decisions about their land. This includes:

• Part II (Grants of Land to Aboriginal Land Trusts): Section 19A allows a Land Trust to grant a main lease over a township.
• Part III (Aboriginal Land Councils): Section 28A allows a Land Council to give some of its jobs or powers to an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation.

Changes to the Act: The 2006 Amendments

In October 1997, a major review of the ALRA began. A lawyer named John Reeves was asked to study how well the Act was working, especially regarding mining and the Aboriginal Benefits Trust Account. He also looked at the role of the Land Councils.

The Reeves Report found that the ALRA had been very successful in giving traditional Aboriginal land back in the Northern Territory. The benefits for Aboriginal people were greater than the costs. However, the report also suggested many changes.

Over the next few years, different groups looked at these suggestions. In June 2003, the Northern Territory Government and the Land Councils wrote a joint response. They called it their Detailed Joint Submission to the Commonwealth - Workability Reforms of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (ALRA).

For several years, there was a big discussion about whether Aboriginal land should be owned by the community or by individuals. Many important Aboriginal leaders, like Warren Mundine, Mick Dodson, Galarrwuy Yunupingu, and Noel Pearson, shared their views. Tom Calma, who was the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, said in 2005 that it was "not necessary to put the communal tenure of Indigenous land at risk" by changing it to individual ownership.

While there were benefits to the new ideas, many details were debated for a long time. After the government made some changes to the ALRA in 2005, a group called Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR) worried about how Land Councils would be funded and how their roles might change.

In July 2006, Tom Calma spoke at length about three main concerns:

• The changes were made without the full understanding and agreement of traditional owners and Indigenous people in the Northern Territory.
• The changes seemed designed to reduce how much Indigenous people could influence decisions about their land.
• The changes would likely have many negative effects on Indigenous peoples' rights and interests.

On 17 August 2006, the Howard Government changed the Act. The Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment Bill 2006 came into effect on 1 July 2007. It added new rules to help with economic development in remote Aboriginal townships. For example, it offered low-interest loans to encourage private home ownership.

These changes also ended communal ownership for some parts of land that were previously held by Aboriginal Land Trusts.

In summary, the amendments aimed to:

• Make it easier to access Aboriginal land for development, especially for exploration and mining.
• Make it easier to lease Aboriginal land and use those leases as security for loans.
• Create a system for townships on Aboriginal land that allows individuals to have property rights.
• Give more decision-making power to regional Aboriginal communities.
• Change the rules for Land Councils to increase their accountability.

Before these changes, land in the Northern Territory was owned by the community through the local Land Council. People would rent properties from the Council. The amendments meant that some land could be moved into private ownership. The changes also sped up mining negotiations between companies and Indigenous communities. This meant communities would get paid sooner, and new mines could start production more quickly.

See also

• Indigenous land rights in Australia
• Aboriginal land rights legislation in Australia
• Indigenous land rights
• List of laws concerning Indigenous Australians