Review of the Future Acts Regime

Australian Law Reform Commission ‘Review of the Future Acts Regime’

The current Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) ‘Review of the Future Acts Regime’ 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 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:

2. Development of Issues Paper. Following initial consultations, the ALRC developed an issues paper that is currently out for comment. Submissions for this are due Friday, 21 February 2025. You may wish to provide a separate response to the issues paper. However, please know that feedback provided at the consultation session YMAC has organised will be considered by ALRC the same as if it were provided in writing, and/or YMAC can capture your input provided on the day as part of its written submission to the ALRC.
3. Development of Discussion Paper. The ALRC expect to release a follow up discussion paper in mid-2025, which will also be open for comment upon publication. YMAC will help to circulate this document once it is published. Again, you will be able to provide your own submission in response to the paper, and/or you may like to contact YMAC following its release to provide input to our intended written submission when the time comes.

The Terms of Reference for this inquiry ask the ALRC to 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.

To enable Prescribed Bodies Corporate (PBCs) in our representative regions to provide direct input to the current review, YMAC hosted an in-person consultation in Perth on Tuesday, 18 February 2025. The consultation was open to staff and directors from all PBCs operating within YMAC’s representative regions, and resulted in a good turnout on the day.

Insights shared by attendees on the challenges faced in the existing future acts regime, and how it can be improved to work more effectively, equally and fairly, were documented by both YMAC and the ALRC. This information helped inform the ALRC’s review overall, as well as provide important context to YMAC’s final submission to the review.

For more information about our related advocacy activities, please visit our submissions and media pages.