Native Title Act

Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) ‘Review of the Future Acts Regime‘

This inquiry forms part of the Australian Government’s response to the Joint Standing Committee on Northern Australia’s A Way Forward report.

In undertaking this inquiry, the ALRC will consider recommendations arising from the A Way Forward report and have regard to the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.

The Terms of Reference for this inquiry ask the ALRC to also consider:

• the operation of the Native Title Act and the future acts regime for over 30 years;
• the passage of almost a decade since the last review of the Native Title Act (Connection to Country: Review of the Native Title Act 1993 (ALRC Report 126));
• the significance of the Native Title Act, with native title having now been determined to exist in exclusive and non-exclusive form over a substantial proportion of the Australian land mass, with almost 500 claims determined and a more than 100 claims ongoing;
• the deep connections of First Nations Australians to Country that are recognised through a determination of native title, and the considerable processes that native title holders have undergone to achieve this legal recognition;
• the opportunity for the native title system to contribute significantly to social, cultural, environmental and economic outcomes for First Nations people, businesses, organisations and communities;
• the role of the future acts regime as a precursor to economic and other activities on native title land;
• the importance of the future acts regime being appropriately designed for Australia’s current and future social and economic development, in a way that respects the rights and interests of native title holders; and
• the Australian Government’s agreement in principle with Recommendation 4 of the former Joint Standing Committee on Northern Australia in its report, A Way Forward, released in October 2021.

The ALRC has been asked to provide its final report to the Attorney-General by Monday, 8 December 2025, which will be informed by a staged engagement and consultation process.

To enable PBCs in our representative regions to provide direct input to the review, YMAC has organised an in-person consultation to be held at the State Library of Western Australia in Perth on Tuesday, 18 February 2025.

The consultation is open to staff and directors from all PBCs operating within YMAC’s representative regions who wish to share their insights to challenges faced in the existing future acts regime, and how it can be improved to work more effectively, equally and fairly.

For more information about the consultation, visit our events page here.

Changes to the Native Title Act

The Native Title Legislation Amendment Act 2021 (Amendment Act), passed by the Federal Government in February 2021 and coming into effect on 25 March 2021, has made several changes to the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) (NTA).

The Amendment Act has implemented a range of improvements to ensure the ongoing effectiveness of native title claims resolution and agreement‑making, as well as the sustainable management of native title land, to:

• give greater flexibility to native title claim groups to set their internal processes.
• streamline and improve native title claims resolution and agreement-making.
• allow historical extinguishment over areas of national and state parks to be disregarded where the parties agree.
• increase the transparency and accountability of Registered Native Title Bodies Corporate (RNTBCs) and Prescribed Bodies Corporate (PBCs).
• create new pathways to address native title-related disputes arising following a native title determination.

To support the Amendment Act, the Federal Government has also passed the Registered Native Title Bodies Corporate Legislation Amendment Regulations 2021, which has resulted in changes to:

• Native Title (Indigenous Land Use Agreements) Regulations 2009.
• Native Title (Prescribed Body Corporates) Regulations 2009.

Read more about Key changes in the Native Title Act.