NSW law blocks Indigenous land claims, Aboriginal Council warns
NSW amendments let the lands minister retroactively block Indigenous Crown land claims.
NSW parliament has passed amendments to Crown land law that limit Indigenous land claims. The changes let the lands minister mark old or faulty leases as valid by saying the land is in use.
Once land is marked as occupied, Aboriginal Land Councils cannot claim it. The NSW Aboriginal Land Council calls the amendments a step backwards from the original intent of the law.
Council chair Raymond Kelly said the minister can now make claims not on the table by pen stroke. More than 43,000 land claims remain unresolved in NSW, some dating back to the 1980s.
Premier Chris Minns described the law as "hugely important" but said its structure needs to be altered to prevent unintended impacts.
- More than 43,000
- Unresolved claims in NSW
- Dating back to 1980s
- Age of oldest claims
- Raymond Kelly
- NSW Aboriginal Land Council chair
Why it mattersIndigenous groups seeking Crown land have fewer tools to fight government blocking, potentially stalling thousands of cases.
AustraliaIndigenous Australians in NSW may find it harder to claim Crown land they are entitled to, with 43,000 queued claims facing longer delays.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 8 d ago
