Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) In this Division, unless the contrary intention appears:
"Aboriginals Benefit Account" means the Aboriginals Benefit Account continued in existence by section 62 of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 .
"distributing body" means:
(a) an Aboriginal Land Council established by or under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 ;
(b) a corporation registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 ; or
(d) any other incorporated body that:
(i) is established by or under provisions of a law of the Commonwealth or of a State or Territory that relate to Indigenous persons; and
(ii) is empowered or required (whether under that law or otherwise) to pay moneys received by the body to Indigenous persons or to apply such moneys for the benefit of Indigenous persons, either directly or indirectly.
"mineral royalties" means royalties payable in respect of the mining of minerals.
"minerals" means:
(a) gold, silver, copper, tin and other metals;
(b) coal, shale, petroleum (within the meaning of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 ) and valuable earths and substances;
(c) mineral substances;
(d) gems and precious stones; and
(e) ores and other substances containing minerals;
whether suspended in water or not, and includes water.
"miner's right" means a miner's right or other authority issued or granted under a law of the Commonwealth or of a State or Territory relating to mining of minerals, being a right or authority that empowers the holders to take possession of, mine or occupy land or take any other action in relation to land for any purpose in connection with mining.
"mining" includes the obtaining of minerals from alluvial or surface deposits.
"mining interests" , in relation to any land, means any lease or other interest in the land (including a right to prospect or explore for minerals in or on the land) issued or granted under a law of the Commonwealth or of a State or Territory relating to mining of minerals.
"mining payment" means a payment made to a distributing body or made to, or applied for the benefit of, an Indigenous person or persons, being:
(a) a payment made on or after 1 July 1979 and before the day that the Financial Management Legislation Amendment Act 1999 commenced, out of the Aboriginals Benefit Reserve to the extent that the payment represents money paid into the Aboriginals Benefit Reserve on or after 1 July 1979 in pursuance of subsection 63(2) or (4) of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 ; and
(aa) a payment made on or after the day that the Financial Management Legislation Amendment Act 1999 commenced by the Commonwealth in respect of a debit from the Aboriginals Benefit Account to the extent that the payment represents an amount credited to the Aboriginals Benefit Account in pursuance of subsection 63(1) or (4) of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 ; and
(b) any payment made on or after 1 July 1979 that is of the kind referred to in subsection 44 (1) or (2) of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 ; and
(c) any other payment made on or after 1 July 1979 under provisions of a law of the Commonwealth or of a State or Territory that relate to Indigenous persons or under an agreement made in accordance with such provisions, being a payment made:
(i) in consideration of the issuing, granting or renewal of a miner's right or mining interest in respect of Indigenous land;
(ii) in consideration of the granting of permission to a person to enter or remain on Indigenous land or to do any act on Indigenous land in relation to prospecting or exploring for, or mining of, minerals; or
(iii) by way of payment of mineral royalties payable in respect of the mining of minerals on Indigenous land or by way of payment of an amount determined by reference to an amount of mineral royalties received by the Commonwealth, a State or the Northern Territory in respect of the mining of minerals on Indigenous land;
but does not include:
(d) a payment made by a distributing body; or
(e) a native title benefit (within the meaning of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 ).
(2) In section 260, income tax or tax includes mining withholding tax.
(3) For the purposes of this Division, a mining payment is taken to include any amount that has been, or purports to have been, withheld from the mining payment for the purposes of section 12 - 320 in Schedule 1 to the Taxation Administration Act 1953 .
(4) For the purposes of the succeeding provisions of this Division, where a mining payment (in this subsection referred to as the relevant mining payment ) is made to, or applied for the benefit of, 2 or more persons, there shall be deemed to have been made to, or applied for the benefit of, each of those persons, a mining payment of an amount equal to so much of the relevant mining payment as bears to the relevant mining payment the same proportion as 1 bears to the number of persons to whom the relevant mining payment was made or for whose benefit the relevant mining payment was applied, as the case may be.