Editors --- "Aboriginal Lands Amendment Act (No 2) 2005 (Tas) - Digest" [2005] AUIndigLawRpr 50; (2005) 9(3) Australian Indigenous Law Reporter 76

• ABORIGINAL LANDS AMENDMENT ACT (NO 2) 2005 (TAS)
• Introduction
• Aboriginal Lands Amendment Act (No 2) 2005 (Tas)
• 3. Principal Act
• 5. Section 3A inserted
• 6. Section 8 amended (Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania Electors Roll)
• 7. Section 9 amended (Who is entitled to be on the Roll)

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ABORIGINAL LANDS AMENDMENT ACT (NO 2) 2005 (TAS)

Act No 25 of 2005

Assented to 24 June 2005

Introduction

The Aboriginal Lands Act 1995 (Tas) (‘the Act’) is an ‘Act to promote reconciliation with the Tasmanian Aboriginal community by granting to Aboriginal people certain parcels of land of historic or cultural significance’. The Act acknowledges the dispossession of the Indigenous people of Tasmania and provides for the establishment of an elected Aboriginal Land Council to hold and manage lands of cultural and historical significance.

The Aboriginal Lands Amendment Act 2004 (Tas) was passed for the purpose of ‘granting to Aboriginal people certain parcels of land of historic or cultural significance’. These areas include the Clarke Island Nature Reserve, an area of land on Goose Island, and areas of land on Cape Barren Island, all of which are located in the Bass Strait.

The most significant change that the Aboriginal Lands Amendment Act (No 2) 2005 (Tas) makes is with respect to the definition of ‘Aboriginal Person’ at s 3A. Changes are also made to the functioning of the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania Electors Roll. The new Amendment Act has been criticised for imposing too great a burden of proof on Aboriginal Tasmanians wishing to establish their Aboriginal heritage.

Aboriginal Lands Amendment Act (No 2) 2005 (Tas)

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3. Principal Act

In this Part, the Aboriginal Lands Act 1995 is referred to as the Principal Act.

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5. Section 3A inserted

After section 3 of the Principal Act, the following section is inserted in Part 1:

3A. Aboriginal person

(1) An Aboriginal person is a person who satisfies all of the following requirements:

(a) Aboriginal ancestry;
(b) self-identification as an Aboriginal person;
(c) communal recognition by members of the Aboriginal community.

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

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6. Section 8 amended (Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania Electors Roll)

Section 8 of the Principal Act is amended by omitting subsections (1) and (2) and substituting the following subsections:

(1) The Electoral Commissioner is to –

(a) prepare and maintain an Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania Electors Roll; and
(b) 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.

(2) 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.

(2A) 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.

(2B) The Electoral Commissioner is to transfer the name of a person to the Roll in accordance with section 10A.

(2C) The Electoral Commissioner may remove the name of a person from the Roll if –

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

(2D) 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).

(2E) 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).

(2F) 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.

7. Section 9 amended (Who is entitled to be on the Roll)

Section 9(3) of the Principal Act is amended by omitting ‘the eligibility of a person to have his or her name entered on the Roll on the basis that the person is or is not an Aboriginal person’ and substituting ‘the requirements referred to in section 3A’.

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