Access to certain areas of Aboriginal land
113 Access to certain areas of Aboriginal land
Where there is no practical way of gaining access to an area of
Aboriginal land described in Part 2 or 3 of Schedule 1 of the
Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 of the
Commonwealth otherwise than by crossing over a pastoral lease, a person is entitled, for the purpose of gaining access to the area, to cross over the pastoral lease by:
a route that has been agreed on between each person (in this section called the lessee) having an estate or interest in the pastoral lease and the relevant Land Council; or
if no agreement has been reached in respect of such a route –
a route determined by the Tribunal.
A person having a right of access to Aboriginal land referred to in subsection (1) may, in writing, apply to the Tribunal for the
Tribunal to determine a route for the purposes of this section and in the application the person shall indicate the steps he or she has taken in an effort to agree on a route with the lessee of the relevant pastoral lease and the results of the effort.
For the purposes of this section, the Tribunal shall be constituted by the Chairperson alone who, subject to subsection (4), shall act as an arbitrator in the matter in such manner as he or she thinks fit.
In making a determination under subsection (1)(b), the Tribunal shall as far as possible try to ensure that, while the route provides reasonable access to the Aboriginal land, it does not unduly interfere with a lessee's legitimate use or enjoyment of the land over which it passes.
A route that may be used, by virtue of an agreement or determination under subsection (1), to gain access to an area of
Aboriginal land referred to in that subsection is not to be taken to be a route on or over which the public has a right of way.
This Act’s bill:Second reading speech
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