Native Title
What is Native Title?
Native title is a concept established by the Native Title Act (Commonwealth) that recognises in certain cases there was and is a continued beneficial legal interest in land held by local indigenous Australians, which survived the acquisition of title to the land by the Crown at the time that the Crown acquired sovereignty of Australia.
Native title can co-exist with non-indigenous proprietary rights and in some cases different indigenous groups can exercise their native title over the same land.
The National Native Title Tribunal (NNTT) is the body that investigates and mediates claims made by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Native title determinations are made by the Federal Court of Australia. Appeals against these determinations can be made to a full sitting of the Federal Court and then to the High Court of Australia. The National Native Title Register (NNTR) is a register of approved determinations and is maintained by the NNTT.
If the Crown wishes to alienate or otherwise deal with Crown land and there has not been any event that has extinguished native title, the provisions of the Native Title Act must be considered regardless of whether or not there is a native title application over the area. There is an application for determination of native title over the town of Katherine.
Native title can be extinguished by a negotiated Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) or acquisition. The Territory Government’s stated preference is to negotiate an ILUA. However, recent litigation in regard to the acquisition of native title in Timber Creek has confirmed the acquisition process is valid.
The acquisition process includes a requirement to consult with any native title parties and there is no statutory timeframe in which negotiations must be concluded.
Where there has not been a determination of native title the Northern Land Council is the prescribed body that represents the native title parties.
Native title was acquired over an area of approximately 50ha in Katherine East and an area in the Katherine East industrial area in 2001.
Further information is available at: