1Short title
This Act may be cited as the
Northern Territory
Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act 1989.
Bills and explanatory statements from legislation.nt.gov.au; second reading speeches from the NT Parliamentary Record (Territory Stories). Links open the official source in a new tab.
Bill homepage (legislation.nt.gov.au)This Act may be cited as the
Northern Territory
Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act 1989.
This Act shall come into operation on a date to be fixed by the Administrator by notice in the
Gazette.
In this Act:
Aboriginal means a person who is a member of the Aboriginal race of Australia.
Aboriginal member means a member of the Authority appointed from a panel of persons nominated by the Land Councils or as provided in section 6(6).
Aboriginal tradition has the same meaning as in the Land Rights Act.
Authority means the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority established by section 5(1).
Authority Certificate means a certificate issued under section 22(1).
Chairman means the Chairman of the Authority and includes a member appointed under section 9(1) to act in the place of the Chairman.
Chief Executive Officer means the Chief Executive Officer appointed under section 15(1) and includes a person appointed under section 16 to act as the Chief Executive Officer while so acting.
custodian, in relation to a sacred site, means an Aboriginal who, by Aboriginal tradition, has responsibility for that site and, in Part II, includes a custodian of any sacred site.
enforceable undertaking, see section 39B(1).
land includes land covered by water (including such land in the Territorial sea) and the water covering land.
Land Council has the same meaning as in the Land Rights Act.
Land Rights Act means the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 of the Commonwealth as amended from time to time.
member means a member of the Authority and includes a person appointed under section 9(2) to act in the place of a member.
Minister's Certificate means a certificate issued under section 32(1)(b).
owner, in relation to land, means a person having a legal or equitable proprietary interest in the land:
including a person:
(i) who holds a mineral title under the Mineral Titles Act 2010 authorising the person to conduct mining for minerals or extractive minerals on the land; or
(ii) who may exercise rights on the land under a non‑compliant existing interest as defined in section 204(1) of that Act; but
(b) not including a person who holds a mineral title under that Act authorising the person to conduct only exploration for minerals or extractive minerals on the land.
recorded party, for an Authority Certificate, means a person who is specified in the Certificate as a recorded party for the Certificate.
Register means the Register of Sacred Sites kept in pursuance of section 10(d).
repealed Acts means the Acts and provisions repealed by section 50.
sacred site means a sacred site within the meaning of the Land Rights Act.
Note for section 3
The Interpretation Act 1978 contains definitions and other provisions that may be relevant to this Act.
(1) This Act binds the Territory Crown and, to the extent the legislative power of the Legislative Assembly permits, the Crown in all its other capacities.
(2) If the Territory Crown in any of its capacities commits an offence against this Act, the Territory Crown is liable in that capacity to be prosecuted for the offence as if it were a body corporate.
(3) This section does not affect any liability of an officer, employee or agent of the Territory Crown to be prosecuted for an offence.
In this section:
Territory Crown means the Crown in right of the Territory and includes:
an Agency; and
(b) an authority or instrumentality of the Territory Crown.
(1) There is hereby established an Authority by the name of the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority.
The Authority:
(a) is a body corporate with perpetual succession;
(b) shall have a common seal; and
(c) is capable, in its corporate name, of acquiring, holding and disposing of real (including leasehold) and personal property and of suing and being sued.
(3) All courts, judges and persons acting judicially shall take judicial notice of the common seal of the Authority affixed to a document and shall assume that it was duly affixed.
(5) The Authority, in the performance of its functions and the exercise of its powers, other than a function or power under section 17, 43 or 51 or Part III or IV, is subject to the direction of the Minister.
(1) The Authority consists of
12 members appointed by the Administrator by notice in the Gazette.
(2) Ten members of the
Authority are to be custodians of sacred sites appointed in equal number from a panel of 10 male custodians and 10 female custodians nominated by the Land Councils, or otherwise as provided in subsection (5) or (6).
(2A) Two members of the
Authority are to be persons appointed on the nomination of the
Minister.
(3) The Administrator must, on the nomination of the members of the Authority, appoint an
Aboriginal member to be the Chairman of the Authority and another, of the opposite sex to the person appointed as the Chairman, to be its
Deputy Chairman.
(4) A member holds office as a member for such period, not exceeding 3 years, as is specified in the instrument of his or her appointment but is eligible for reappointment.
(5) The Minister must, when the occasion for the appointment of the Aboriginal members arises, by written notice to the Land Councils, request them to nominate a panel of 10 male custodians, and another panel of 10 female custodians, from which the Administrator may appoint 5 Aboriginal members of each sex or, where there is a vacancy in the office of an Aboriginal member (including a vacancy caused by a member's term of office expiring), to nominate a panel of twice the number of custodians of the relevant sex as the number of vacancies from which the
Administrator may appoint the required number of members to fill the vacancy or vacancies.
(6) If the Land Councils do not, within 60 days after being requested to do so, nominate a panel of the required number of qualified persons under subsection (5), the
Administrator may appoint such custodians of the appropriate sex as the Administrator thinks fit to be the Aboriginal members or to fill the vacancy or vacancies, whether or not those Aboriginals may have been included in a panel of persons nominated by the Land Councils or a Land Council.
(1) A member may resign office by writing signed by or on behalf of him or her and delivered to the Administrator.
(2) A resignation by a member delivered in accordance with subsection (1) does not have effect until it is accepted by the Administrator.
(3) The Administrator may terminate the appointment of an Aboriginal member on the grounds of incompetence or misbehaviour.
(3A) The Minister may, at any time and at the Minister's discretion, make a written recommendation to the Administrator for the termination of the appointment of a member who was appointed on the Minister's nomination under section
6(2A).
(3B) On the Minister's recommendation under subsection (3A), the Administrator may terminate the appointment of the member nominated by the Minister.
(4) The Administrator must terminate the appointment of a member if the member:
(a) becomes bankrupt, applies to take the benefit of a law for the relief of bankrupt or insolvent debtors, compounds with his or her creditors or makes an assignment of his or her remuneration for their benefit;
(b) is, without leave granted by the Authority, absent from 3 consecutive meetings of the
Authority of which reasonable notice has been given personally or in the ordinary course of post;
(c) is the subject of a report of the Chief Health Officer, based on advice from 2 medical practitioners, that as a result of the member's mental illness, as defined in the Mental
Health and Related Services Act 1998, he or she has become incapable of performing his or her duties as a member and is unlikely to be able to perform them for the remainder of his or her term of appointment; or
(d) becomes permanently incapable of performing his or her duties as a member.
The Authority may grant leave of absence to a member.
Where:
(a) the Chairman is absent from duty; or
(b) the position of Chairman is vacant,
the Minister may appoint an Aboriginal member to act in the place of the Chairman during the period of absence or the vacancy.
(2) Where a member is absent from duty with leave, the Minister may, if the Authority so requests, appoint a person to act in the place of the member during the period of absence.
The functions of the Authority are:
(a) to facilitate discussions between custodians of sacred sites and persons performing or proposing to perform work on or use land comprised in or in the vicinity of a sacred site, with a view to their agreeing on an appropriate means of sites avoidance and protection of sacred sites;
(b) to carry out research and keep records necessary to enable it to efficiently carry out its functions;
(c) to establish such committees (including executive and regional committees), consisting of such members and other persons, as are necessary to enable it to carry out its functions;
(d) to establish and maintain a register to be known as the Register of Sacred Sites and such other registers and records as required by or under this Act;
(e) to examine and evaluate applications made under sections 19B and 27;
(f) after considering an application under section 19B, and in accordance with Division 1 of Part III, to issue or refuse to issue an Authority Certificate;
(g) to make available for public inspection the Register and records of all agreements, certificates and refusals except to the extent that such availability would disclose sensitive commercial information or matters required by Aboriginal tradition to be kept secret;
(h) to make such recommendations to the Minister on the administration of this Act as it thinks fit;
(j) to perform such other functions as are imposed on it by or under this or any other Act, or as directed by the Minister; and
to enforce this Act.
The Authority has such powers as are necessary to enable it to perform its functions and exercise its powers.
(1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), the Chairman shall call such meetings of the Authority and committees of the Authority as are necessary for the performance of the functions of the Authority.
(2) The Chairman shall call not less than 4 meetings of the Authority in each full calendar year of its operation.
(3) The Chairman shall call a meeting of the Authority or a committee of the Authority if required to do so by the Minister.
(4) The Chairman shall determine the times and places of the meetings of the Authority and its committees.
(5) Subject to subsection (6), the Chairman shall preside at all meetings of the Authority at which he or she is present and in the absence of the Chairman the
Deputy Chairman shall preside. In the absence of the Chairman and
Deputy Chairman the members present shall elect one of their number to preside.
(6) Neither the Chairman nor the Deputy Chairman shall preside or continue to preside at a meeting of the Authority if the Authority is of the opinion that, in accordance with Aboriginal tradition, it would not be appropriate for him or her to do so.
(7) At a meeting of the
Authority:
(a) seven members, not less than 2 of whom are male Aboriginal members and not less than 2 of whom are female Aboriginal members, constitute a quorum;
(b) questions arising shall be determined by a majority of the votes of the members present and voting and in the event of an equality of votes the person presiding at the meeting shall have a casting vote in addition to his or her deliberative vote; and
(c) subject to this Act, the
Authority shall determine the procedure to be followed at or in connection with the meeting.
(8) The quorum and proceedings at a meeting of a committee of the Authority shall be as determined by the Authority.
(9) The Authority shall cause minutes to be kept of its meetings and of the meetings of its committees.
(10) An Aboriginal member may require the Authority or a committee of the Authority of which the
Aboriginal member is a member to admit to a meeting of the Authority or committee, as the case may be, a person who in accordance with
Aboriginal tradition is able to assist the member to participate more fully in the deliberations at the meeting and may require the
Authority or committee to allow the person to address the meeting on the member's behalf, and the Authority or committee shall comply with the requirement.
(11) A person admitted to a meeting pursuant to subsection (10) shall not vote on any matter at the meeting.
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