Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) Except as provided by this section or section 19A or 20, a Land Trust must not deal with or dispose of, or agree to deal with or dispose of:
(a) any estate or interest in land vested in it; or
(b) the land described under the heading "JABIRU" in Part 4 of Schedule 1.
(1A) Subsection (1) does not prevent a dealing with, or disposal of, an estate or interest in land, being land to which the condition referred to in subsection 12(2B) or (2C) relates, in accordance with an agreement entered into in compliance with that condition.
(2) With the consent, in writing, of the Minister, and at the direction, in writing, of the relevant Land Council, a Land Trust may, subject to subsection (7), grant an estate or interest in land vested in it to an Aboriginal or an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation:
(a) for use for residential purposes by:
(i) the Aboriginal and his or her family; or
(ii) an employee of the Aboriginal or the corporation, as the case may be;
(b) for use in the conduct of a business by the Aboriginal or the corporation, not being a business in which a person who is not an Aboriginal has an interest that entitles him or her to a share in, or to a payment that varies in accordance with, the profits of the business; or
(c) for any community purpose of the Aboriginal community or group for whose benefit the Land Trust holds the land.
(3) With the consent, in writing, of the Minister, and at the direction, in writing, of the relevant Land Council, a Land Trust may, subject to subsection (7), grant an estate or interest in land vested in it to the Commonwealth, the Northern Territory or an Authority for any public purpose or to a mission for any mission purpose.
(3A) If a Land Trust is considering granting a lease under subsection (3), the relevant Land Council may, by notice in writing given to the Minister, request that, if the Land Trust and the Commonwealth intend to enter into the lease, the Executive Director:
(a) enter into the lease on behalf of the Commonwealth; and
(3B) If the Minister receives a request under subsection (3A), the Minister must, by notice in writing given to the relevant Land Council, agree or refuse to agree to the request.
(3C) A notice given under subsection (3A) or (3B) is not a legislative instrument.
(3D) A lease under this section granted by the Kakadu Aboriginal Land Trust to the Director may be varied to cover the land described in paragraphs (a) and (c) under the heading "JABIRU" in Part 4 of Schedule 1, despite a deed of grant of an estate in fee simple in that land to that Land Trust not having been delivered to that Land Trust. The variation must be expressed to take effect on the date that such a deed of grant is delivered to that Land Trust.
(4) With the consent, in writing, of the Minister and at the direction, in writing, of the relevant Land Council, a Land Trust may:
(b) transfer to another Land Trust, or surrender to the Crown, the whole of its estate or interest in the whole, or any part of, the land vested in it.
Note: See also section 20A (which deals with the application of the law of the Northern Territory relating to the transfer of land).
(4AA) Any right, title or other interest in land transferred under subsection (4) that existed immediately before the transfer is preserved as a right, title or interest in that land after the transfer.
(4AB) Any agreement in respect of land transferred under subsection (4) that was entered into by the transferor Land Trust and that is in force immediately before the transfer is taken to have the same force and effect, after the transfer, as the agreement would have had if it had been entered into by the transferee Land Trust.
(4A) With the consent, in writing, of the Minister, and at the direction, in writing, of the relevant Land Council, a Land Trust may, subject to subsection (7), grant an estate or interest in the whole, or any part, of the land vested in it to any person for any purpose.
(5) A Land Council shall not give a direction under this section for the grant, transfer or surrender of an estate or interest in land unless the Land Council is satisfied that:
(a) the traditional Aboriginal owners (if any) of that land understand the nature and purpose of the proposed grant, transfer or surrender and, as a group, consent to it;
(b) any Aboriginal community or group that may be affected by the proposed grant, transfer or surrender has been consulted and has had adequate opportunity to express its view to the Land Council; and
(c) in the case of a grant of an estate or interest--the terms and conditions on which the grant is to be made are reasonable.
(6) Where a Land Council, in giving a direction for a proposed grant, transfer or surrender of an estate or interest in land, fails to comply with subsection (5), that failure does not invalidate that grant, transfer or surrender unless the person to whom the grant, transfer or surrender was made procured the direction of the Land Council by fraud.
(7) The consent of the Minister is not required for the grant under subsection (2), (3) or (4A) of an estate or interest the term of which does not exceed 40 years.
(8) The grantee of an estate or interest under this section is not empowered to transfer his or her interest as such grantee to another person, or to grant to another person an interest dependent upon his or her interest as such grantee, except with the consent, in writing, of the relevant Land Council and, if the consent of the Minister was required to the grant of that estate or interest to the grantee, the consent, in writing, of the Minister.
(8A) A Land Council may give a consent under subsection (8) at the time it gives a direction under subsection (2), (3) or (4A) or at any later time.
(8B) The Minister may give a consent under subsection (8) at the time he or she gives a consent under subsection (2), (3) or (4A) or at any later time.
(8C) A consent of the Minister or a Land Council under subsection (8) relating to a transfer or grant may:
(b) be expressed to be limited to a specified person or a person included in a specified class.
(9) Where a grant of an estate or interest is invalidated, by virtue of subsection (6), on account of fraud, that invalidity does not affect the rights of a person who has, for value and without notice of the fraud, accepted the transfer of that estate or interest or been granted an interest dependent upon that estate or interest.
(9A) When the Minister is satisfied that a Land Council has refused, or is unwilling, to give a direction under subsection 11A(5) to a Land Trust to grant an estate or interest in land in accordance with an agreement entered into by the Land Council under subsection 11A(2), the Minister shall, in the name of, and on behalf of, that Land Council, give the Land Trust that direction.
(9B) Where the Minister is satisfied that a Land Trust has refused, or is unwilling, to comply with a direction given under subsection 11A(5), or subsection (9A) of this section, to grant an estate or interest in particular land on particular terms and conditions, the Minister shall, in the name of, and on behalf of, that Land Trust, grant that estate or interest in relation to that land on those terms and conditions.
(10) In this section, relevant Land Council , in relation to land, means the Land Council for the area in which the land is situated.
(11) A reference in this section to an estate or interest in land includes:
(a) a reference to a licence granted in respect of that land including, but without limiting the generality of the foregoing, a licence granted under a law of the Northern Territory relating to exploration for, or the mining or development of, extractive mineral deposits; or
(b) a reference to a lease or other interest in that land, or a right granted in respect of that land, under such a law.
(12) The preceding provisions of this section do not authorise the grant by a Land Trust of the fee simple in land vested in it except in the circumstances referred to in paragraph (4)(b).
(13) If a Land Trust grants an estate or interest in Aboriginal land under this section, then, at the direction, in writing, of the relevant Land Council, the Land Trust may, in writing, authorise a specified person, or any person included in a specified class of persons, to enter or remain on the land for a specified purpose that is related to that estate or interest.
Note: Section 70 will not apply to a person who enters or remains on the land in accordance with such an authorisation: see subsection 70(2B).
(14) A direction or an authorisation under subsection
(13) is not a legislative instrument.