Aboriginal Land Act 1991

Subject to section 72, if a claim by a group of Aboriginal people for an area of claimable land is established, the Land Tribunal must recommend to the Minister that the land be granted in fee simple to the group.

When the tribunal makes a recommendation under subsection (1), the tribunal must also make recommendations to the Minister as to the entity, or the persons who are to be represented by an entity, that should be appointed to be the grantee of the land as trustee for the benefit of the group of Aboriginal people concerned.

In making recommendations under subsection (2), the tribunal must, unless it is satisfied that exceptional circumstances exist that require it to do otherwise, act in a manner that is consistent with—

any Aboriginal tradition applicable to the land; and

the views of the group of Aboriginal people concerned so far as they are not inconsistent with any such Aboriginal tradition.

When the tribunal makes a recommendation under subsection (1), the tribunal must advise the Minister, in writing, in relation to each of the following matters—

the number of Aborigines who will be advantaged by a grant of the land, and the nature and extent of the advantage that will accrue to them;

the responsibilities in relation to the land that the group of Aboriginal people concerned agree to assume if the land is granted because of the claim, and how those responsibilities should be expressed in any deed of grant for the land;

the detriment to persons or communities (including other Aboriginal groups and Torres Strait Islanders) that might result from a grant of the land;

the effect (if any) that a grant of the land is likely to have on the existing and proposed patterns of land usage in the region of the land.

In this section—Minister means the Minister administering the Land Act.