Native Title Act 1993

If the application for registration of the agreement contained a statement as mentioned in paragraph 24CG(3)(b) to the effect that certain requirements have been met (in summary, relating to identifying native title holders and ensuring that they have authorised the making of the agreement), and the conditions in subsections (2) and (3) of this section are satisfied, the Registrar must register the agreement. If the conditions are not satisfied, the Registrar must not register the agreement.

The first condition is that the following are parties to the agreement:

any person who is, at the end of the notice period, a registered native title body corporate in relation to any of the land or waters in the area covered by the agreement; and

any applicant who is, at the end of the notice period, a registered native title claimant in relation to any of the land or waters in the area covered by the agreement; and

any applicant who, after the end of the notice period, becomes a registered native title claimant in relation to any of the land or waters in the area covered by the agreement, where the application containing the claim was made before the end of the notice period and:

the claim is accepted by the Registrar for registration under subsection 190A(6) or is (otherwise than on appeal or review) found to satisfy conditions equivalent to those set out in sections 190B and 190C under a law of a State or Territory; or

the claim is accepted by the Registrar for registration as a result of an application under subsection 190F(1), where the application was made not more than 28 days after the notice under subsection 190D(1) was given; or

the claim is accepted by the Registrar for registration as a result of notification given to the Registrar by the NNTT under section 190E on application under that section, where the application was made not more than 28 days after the notice under subsection 190D(1) was given; or

the claim is found to satisfy conditions equivalent to those set out in sections 190B and 190C under a provision of a law of a State or Territory to similar effect as section 190E or 190F, and the application under that provision was made within a time period corresponding to that set out in subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph.

The requirement that an applicant who is or becomes a registered native title claimant be a party to the agreement is satisfied if:

a majority of the persons who comprise the registered native title claimant are parties to the agreement, unless paragraph (b) applies; or

if conditions under section 251BA on the authority of the registered native title claimant provide for the persons who must become a party to the agreement—those persons are parties to the agreement.

The persons in the majority must notify the other persons who comprise the registered native title claimant within a reasonable period after becoming parties to the agreement as mentioned in paragraph (2A)(a). A failure to comply with this subsection does not invalidate the agreement.

The second condition is that the Registrar considers that the requirements in paragraph 24CG(3)(b) (in summary, relating to identifying native title holders and ensuring that they have authorised the making of the agreement) have been met.

In deciding whether the requirements have been met, the Registrar must take into account:

the statements in the application; and

any information the Registrar is given on the matter by any representative Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander body or by any other body or person;