Native Title Act 1993

Before the act is done, the Government party must give notice of the act in accordance with this section.

The Government party must give notice to:

any registered native title body corporate (a native title party) in relation to any of the land or waters that will be affected by the act; and

unless there are one or more registered native title bodies corporate in relation to all of the land or waters that will be affected by the act:

any registered native title claimant (also a native title party); and

A registered native title claimant is a person or group of persons whose name or names appear on the Register of Native Title Claims as the applicant in relation to a claim to hold native title: see the definition of registered native title claimant in section 253.

any representative Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander body;

if the doing of the act has been requested or applied for by a person (for example, where it is the issue of a licence or the grant of a lease for which the person has applied)—that person (a grantee party); and

the registrar or other proper officer of the arbitral body in relation to the act.

Before the act is done, the Government party or the grantee party must also notify the public in the determined way (see section 252) of the act, unless there is a registered native title body corporate in relation to all of the land or waters that will be affected by the act.

The notice given under subsection (2) or (3) must:

specify a day as the notification day for the act; and

contain a statement to the effect that, under section 30, persons have until 3 months after the notification day to take certain steps to become native title parties in relation to the notice; and

be accompanied by any prescribed documents and include any prescribed information.

Each such notice in relation to the act must specify the same day as the notification day.

That day must be a day by which, in the Government party’s opinion, it is reasonable to assume that all notices under subsections (2) and (3) in relation to the act will have been received by, or will otherwise have come to the attention of, the persons who must be notified under those subsections.

The notices under this section may include a statement that the Government party considers the act is an act attracting the expedited procedure.

The Commonwealth Minister may, by legislative instrument, determine the circumstances and manner in which notice to a person under subsection (2) of 2 or more acts to which this Subdivision applies may be given in the same notice.

Notice to the public under subsection (3) of 2 or more acts to which this Subdivision applies may be given in the same notice.

If such a notice is given and:

the notice identifies a project to be carried on in a specified area; and

the 2 or more acts constitute or form part of the project (whether or not the notice separately specifies the area that each act will affect); and

the arbitral body is the same for each of the acts; and

the notice states that the acts are project acts for the purposes of this Subdivision;

Section 42A provides that this Subdivision applies to project acts in a modified way.

However, the notice must not include a statement that the Government party considers any of the project acts is an act attracting the expedited procedure.