Native Title Act 1993

Before making a determination under section 36A, the relevant Minister must give notice in accordance with subsection (2), and with subsection (3), of this section.

The relevant Minister must give written notice to the arbitral body requiring it, by the end of the day specified in the notice, to give the Minister and each negotiation party a summary of material that has been presented to the arbitral body in the course of the arbitral body considering whether to make a determination under section 38 in relation to the act.

The relevant Minister must give written notice to each negotiation party that the Minister is considering making the determination and that each negotiation party:

may, by the end of the day specified in the notice, give the Minister any submission or other material that the negotiation party wants the Minister to take into account in deciding whether to make the determination and, if so, its terms; and

if the negotiation party does so—must also give each of the other negotiation parties a copy of the submission or other material; and

may, within 7 days after the specified day, in response to any submission or other material given by any other negotiation party or the arbitral body, give the Minister any further submission or other material that the negotiation party wants the Minister to take into account as mentioned in paragraph (a).

The day specified under subsection (2) or (3) must be the same in all of the notices given under the subsections. It must be a day by which, in the relevant Minister’s opinion, it is reasonable to assume that all of the notices so given will have been received by, or will otherwise have come to the attention of, the persons who must be so notified.

If the relevant Minister complies with subsection (1), there is no requirement for any person to be given any further hearing before the relevant Minister makes the determination.

In making the determination, the relevant Minister:

must take into account:

any submission or material provided by any of the negotiation parties in accordance with subsection (3), but only if the negotiation party has complied with the requirements of paragraph (3)(b); and

any report provided by the arbitral body; and

any consultations with the Commonwealth Minister as mentioned in subsection 36A(1A); and

may, but need not, take into account any other matter or thing.

The fact that no submission or other material of the kind mentioned in subsection (3) has been given to the Minister before the end of the day specified in the notice does not prevent the Minister from making the determination.