Aboriginal Lands Act 1995

Aboriginal Lands Act 1995

This Act may be cited as the Aboriginal Lands Act 1995.

The provisions of this Act commence on a day or days to be proclaimed.

In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears –

Aboriginal land means – land vested in the Council under section 27(1); or any land declared by the Minister to be Aboriginal land under section 35A;

Aboriginal person means a person specified in section 3A;

burdening rights, in relation to land, includes rights, conditions or covenants relating to that land, whether registered or unregistered, legal or registrable, created or implied or existing or capable of existing;

Cape Barren Island group means Cape Barren Island, Long Island, Preservation Island, Passage Island, Forsyth Island, Clarke Island, Badger Island and Mount Chappell Island;

certificate of election means a certificate issued under section 16(1);

Council means the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania established under section 5;

electoral area means any of the following:the south region; the north region; the north-west region; the Flinders Island group; the Cape Barren Island group;

Electoral Commissioner means the Electoral Commissioner appointed under section 14 of the Electoral Act 2004;

eligible elector, in relation to an electoral area, means a person whose name is entered on the Roll for an address within that area at the time and date fixed by the Electoral Commissioner under section 12(2) for the relevant election;

estate, in relation to land, includes all easements, licences, leases, rights of occupation or possession, habitual access or other burdening rights relating to that land;

Flinders Island group means Flinders Island and all islands, except Long Island, Badger Island and Mount Chappell Island, to the north of Cape Barren Island in the Flinders municipal area;

local Aboriginal group, in relation to an area of Aboriginal land, means an Aboriginal group nominated by the Council for that area;

north region means that part of the State comprising the city of Launceston and the municipal areas of Break O'Day, Dorset, George Town, Meander Valley, Northern Midlands and West Tamar;

north-west region means that part of the State comprising the cities of Burnie and Devonport and the municipal areas of Central Coast, Circular Head, Kentish, King Island, Latrobe, Waratah-Wynyard and West Coast;

Preliminary Roll means the Preliminary Roll prepared under section 10(2A);

Register means the register of title to land referred to in section 33 of the Land Titles Act 1980;

regulations means regulations made under this Act;

reserved road means a road (however described) which has been reserved in a land grant or a folio of the Register of title or by the exercise of a power of reservation conferred by or under an Act;

Roll means the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania Electors Roll prepared and maintained under section 8;

south region means that part of the State comprising the cities of Hobart, Clarence and Glenorchy and the municipal areas of Brighton, Central Highlands, Derwent Valley, Glamorgan-Spring Bay, Huon Valley, Kingborough, Sorell, Southern Midlands and Tasman.

An Aboriginal person is a person who satisfies all of the following requirements:Aboriginal ancestry; self-identification as an Aboriginal person; communal recognition by members of the Aboriginal community.

The onus of proving that a person satisfies the requirements referred to in subsection (1) lies on that person.

This Act binds the Crown in right of Tasmania and, so far as the legislative power of Parliament permits, in all its other capacities.

The Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania is established.

The Council – is a body corporate; and has a seal; and may sue and be sued in its corporate name.

The seal is to be kept and used only as authorised by the Council.

All courts and persons acting judicially must take judicial notice of the imprint of the seal on a document and presume that it was duly sealed by the Council.

The Council consists of 8 Aboriginal persons of whom – 2 are to be elected by eligible electors for the south region to represent the south region; and 2 are to be elected by eligible electors for the north region to represent the north region; and 2 are to be elected by eligible electors for the north-west region to represent the north-west region; and one is to be elected by eligible electors for the Flinders Island group to represent the Flinders Island group; and one is to be elected by eligible electors for the Cape Barren Island group to represent the Cape Barren Island group.

Schedule 1 has effect.

Schedule 2 has effect.

The Chief Electoral Officer is to hold the first election of members of the Council as soon as practicable after the commencement of this Act.

The Electoral Commissioner must, in respect of each election of members of the Council, determine the date on which nominations are to be called for that election.

The date determined by the Electoral Commissioner under subsection (2) is to be a date– not sooner than 2 years and 9 months; and not later than 3 years and 3 months– after the date on which nominations were called for the previous election of all members of the Council.

The Electoral Commissioner is to call for nominations for election of members of the Council on the date determined under subsection (2) by notice published in the Gazette and in 3 daily newspapers published and circulating in the State and by such other manner as the Electoral Commissioner considers appropriate.

The Electoral Commissioner is to – prepare and maintain an Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania Electors Roll; and include on the Roll, subject to subsection (2), the address at which each person named on the Roll resides and indicate the electoral area in which each such person is enrolled.

If the Electoral Commissioner is satisfied that there is reason to do so, the Electoral Commissioner may determine that an address, other than the address at which a person resides, is to be shown on the Roll in respect of that person.

As soon as practicable after the commencement of the Aboriginal Lands Amendment Act (No. 2) 2005, the Electoral Commissioner is to prepare the Roll, which is to comprise the names of those persons who were entitled to vote at the election of members of the Council in 2001 and is to be constituted from the material from which the Roll for that election was constituted.

The Electoral Commissioner is to transfer the name of a person to the Roll in accordance with section 10A.

The Electoral Commissioner may remove the name of a person from the Roll if – the Electoral Commissioner is satisfied that the person has ceased to be entitled under section 9(1)(b); or that person has applied in writing to have his or her name removed from the Roll.

A person whose name has been removed from the Roll under subsection (2C) may apply in writing to the Electoral Commissioner to have his or her name reinstated to the Roll if that person is entitled under section 9(1)(b).

On receipt of an application under subsection (2D), the Electoral Commissioner is to reinstate the name of a person to the Roll if the Electoral Commissioner is satisfied that the person is entitled under section 9(1)(b).

The Electoral Commissioner may change the address shown on the Roll in respect of a person if the Electoral Commissioner is satisfied that the person has changed the address at which he or she resides.

The Roll may be kept by electronic means or any similar means.

The forms to be used for the purposes of the Roll are to be as approved by the Electoral Commissioner.

A person is entitled to have his or her name entered on the Roll if the person – is an Aboriginal person; and resides in the electoral area in respect of which the person applies to have his or her name entered on the Roll; and has attained the age of 18 years.

A person is taken to have satisfied paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (1) if – the person's name is entered on the State roll for an address within the electoral area in respect of which the person applies to have his or her name entered on the Roll; or the person is entitled to have his or her name entered on the State roll for an address within the electoral area in respect of which the person applies to have his or her name entered on the Roll; or the person verifies the matters referred to in those paragraphs in such manner as the Electoral Commissioner may determine.

The Electoral Commissioner, in consultation with such persons as the Electoral Commissioner considers necessary, is to prepare guidelines concerning the requirements referred to in section 3A.

The Electoral Commissioner is to make the guidelines available to a person who requests them.

A person who is entitled to and wishes to have his or her name entered on the Roll must lodge with the Electoral Commissioner an enrolment form in a form approved by the Electoral Commissioner.

In this section, State roll has the same meaning as in the Electoral Act 2004.

The Electoral Commissioner is to cause to be published in the Gazette and in 3 daily newspapers published and circulating in the State and by such other manner as the Electoral Commissioner considers appropriate, at least 120 days before nominations are called for election of members of the Council, a notice– seeking applications for enrolment on the Roll; and specifying the date and time at which applications for enrolment on the Roll close, being a date not later than 60 days before nominations are called for that election; and specifying the vacancies in the membership of the Council to be filled; and specifying details of entitlement to vote at the election; and specifying any other matter which the Electoral Commissioner considers appropriate.

In each year in which nominations for an election of members of the Council are to be called, the Electoral Commissioner is to prepare a Preliminary Roll.

The Electoral Commissioner is to enter on the Preliminary Roll the names of all persons who – have lodged a properly completed enrolment form with the Electoral Commissioner – after the commencement of the Aboriginal Lands Amendment Act (No. 2) 2005 and before the close of applications for enrolment on the Roll in the year 2005; or in any other year after the year 2005 in which nominations for an election of members of the Council are to be called, after the close of applications for enrolment on the Roll in the previous year in which nominations for an election of members of the Council were called and before the close of applications for enrolment on the Roll in that other year; and have been determined by the Electoral Commissioner as meeting the requirements in section 9(1)(b) and (c).

The Electoral Commissioner is to cause to be published in the Gazette and in 3 daily newspapers published and circulating in the State and by such other manner as the Electoral Commissioner considers appropriate, at least 60 days before nominations are called for election of members of the Council, a notice– stating that a Preliminary Roll has been prepared for the purposes of the election; and stating that the Preliminary Roll may be inspected and specifying the times and places at which the Preliminary Roll may be inspected; and stating that objections to the transfer of the name of a person from the Preliminary Roll to the Roll on the basis that the person is not an Aboriginal person may be lodged with the Electoral Commissioner before such date as is specified in the notice, being a date not earlier than 28 days after the publication of the notice; and specifying any other matter which the Electoral Commissioner considers appropriate.

In order to properly consider any objection, the Electoral Commissioner– may request the advice of such persons as the Electoral Commissioner considers necessary; and in the case of an objection to the name of a person being transferred from the Preliminary Roll to the Roll, must give that person an opportunity to make submissions to the Electoral Commissioner in relation to the matter.

Before rejecting an objection, the Electoral Commissioner must be satisfied that the person to whom the objection relates has satisfied the requirements referred to in section 3A(1)(a), (b) and (c).

The Electoral Commissioner must accept the objection or reject the objection not later than 21 days before nominations are called for election of members of the Council and– by notice in writing served on a person who lodged an objection under this section and the person to whom the objection related, must notify those persons of the Electoral Commissioner's decision.

No action or proceeding may be brought in respect of a decision of the Electoral Commissioner as to whether a person is or is not an Aboriginal person except as prescribed in subsection (7).

A person who lodged an objection under this section, or a person to whom an objection related, who is aggrieved by the decision of the Electoral Commissioner may, in accordance with the Rules of the Supreme Court, appeal to the Supreme Court, within 7 days after the date on which notice was served on that person under subsection (5), on the ground that procedures that are required by law to be observed relating to the making of the decision have not been observed.