National Native Title Tribunal
The National Native Title Tribunal is an independent body established under the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) as a special measure for the advancement and protection of Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders (Indigenous Australians) See native title in Australia.
It is a Commonwealth Government agency and is part of the Attorney-General's portfolio. It works closely with the Federal Court of Australia to help people reach native tile outcomes by agreement. The Court makes determinations on whether native title exists, or not. Decisions of the Tribunal may be appealed to this Court.
Role and functions
The Tribunal's role is to:
- Assist parties to come to agreements over some proposed activities or developments, called future acts, and makes arbitral decisions about these matters.
- Apply the registration test to all new native title claimant applications. All new claims must satisfy this set of conditions to be given certain procedural rights over the area claimed.
- Notify the public when native title applications have been registered. Notification involves placing advertisements in newspapers as well as sending letters directly to people and organisations with a registered interest in the specific area.
- Maintain three registers which hold detailed information about native title in Australia: the Register of Native Title Claims, the National Native Title Register and the Register of Indigenous Land Use Agreements.
- Negotiate other types of agreements, such as indigenous land use agreements.
On request, the Tribunal can also provide assistance and information to people involved in the native title process.
Locations
The Tribunal has offices in Perth, Cairns, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
Organisational structure
The President is responsible for managing the Tribunal's administrative affairs. The Governor-General appoints the President and Tribunal Members for specific terms of not longer than five years. Members are involved in:
- providing assistance and information
- helping people to understand native title and its processes
- indigenous land use agreement (ILUA) negotiations and future act hearings and processes.
The Registrar has specific responsibilities under the Native Title Act 1993 and is responsible for the management of employees.