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Chapter 1 - Introduction
Background
1.1
On 29 March 2007, the Senate referred the provisions of the Native Title
Amendment (Technical Amendments) Bill 2007 (the Bill) to the Senate Standing
Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, for inquiry and report by 8 May 2007.
1.2
The Bill amends the Native Title Act 1993, and will implement
reforms to certain aspects of the native title system. The proposed reforms
were originally announced in September 2005 by the Attorney-General. The
Attorney-General identified six connected elements of reform:
- an independent review of native title claims resolution
processes;[1]
- technical amendments to the Native Title Act;
- consultation on measures to encourage the effective functioning
of Prescribed Bodies Corporate (PBCs);
- reform of the native title non-claimant (respondents) financial
assistance program to encourage agreement-making rather than litigation;
- measures to improve the effectiveness of
Native Title Representative Bodies (NTRBs); and
- increased dialogue and consultation with state and territory
governments to encourage more transparent practices in the resolution of native
title.[2]
1.3
The first tranche of legislation to implement the reforms identified by
the Attorney-General — the Native Title Amendment Bill 2006 — was passed, with
amendments, by the parliament on 28 March 2007.[3]
This legislation was also referred to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs
Committee for inquiry. The report of the committee on the first tranche of
legislation was presented on 23 February 2007.[4]
Purpose of the Bill
1.4
The Bill proposes a large number of technical and minor amendments to
the Native Title Act, and contains over 40 different measures.[5]
The Bill focuses on changes to the Native Title Act in the following areas:
- technical amendments to the Native Title Act to change some of
the existing processes, and add new processes, for native title litigation and
negotiation;
- measures to alter provisions relating to representative
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander bodies (representative bodies), including
the removal of some corporate governance obligations and changing the process
for reviewing decisions of representative bodies;
- measures to improve the functioning of PBCs, including the
introduction of the ability to charge third-parties fees for costs associated
with negotiations; and
- changes to the Native Title Act consequential to the operation of
the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.[6]
Conduct of the inquiry
1.5
The committee advertised the inquiry in The Australian newspaper
on 4 April, 18 April and 2 May 2007. Submissions were invited by 20 April 2007. Details of the inquiry, the Bill and associated documents were placed on
the committee's website. The committee also wrote to over 60 organisations and
individuals.
1.6
The committee received 12 submissions which are listed at Appendix 1.
Submissions were placed on the committee's website for ease of access by the
public. The committee held a public hearing in Adelaide on 2 May 2007.
Acknowledgment
1.7
The committee thanks those organisations and individuals who made
submissions and gave evidence at the public hearing.
Note of references
1.8
References in this report are to individual submissions as received by
the committee, not to a bound volume, References to the committee Hansard are
to the proof Hansard: page numbers may vary between the proof and the official
Hansard transcript.
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