Commonwealth Numbered Acts

ABORIGINAL LAND RIGHTS (NORTHERN TERRITORY) ACT 1976 No. 191 of 1976 - SECT 19

19. (1) Except as provided by this section or section 20, a Land Trust shall
not deal with or dispose of, or agree to deal with or dispose of, any estate
or interest in land vested in it.

(2) At the direction, in writing, of the relevant Land Council, a Land Trust
may, subject to sub-section (7), grant a lease or licence in respect of land
vested in it to an Aboriginal, an Aboriginal Council or an Incorporated
Aboriginal Association-

   (a)  for use for residential purposes by-

        (i)    the Aboriginal and his family; or

        (ii)   an employee of the Aboriginal or the Council or Association, as
               the case may be;

   (b)  for use in the conduct of a business by the Aboriginal, the Council or
        Association, not being a business in which a person who is not an
        Aboriginal has an interest that entitles him 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) At the direction, in writing, of the relevant Land Council, a Land Trust
may, subject to sub-section (7), grant a lease or licence in respect of land
vested in it to the Commonwealth or an Authority for any public purpose or to
a mission for any mission purpose.

(4) With the consent, in writing, of the Minister and at the direction, in
writing, of the relevant Land Council, a Land Trust may-

   (a)  grant a lease or licence in respect of the whole, or any part of, the
        land vested in it to any person for any purpose; and

   (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.

(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 proposed grant of a lease or licence-the terms and
        conditions of that lease or licence 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
sub-section (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) Except with the consent, in writing, of the Minister-

   (a)  the term of a lease or licence granted under sub-section (2) for a
        purpose referred to in paragraph (2) (b) or (c) shall not exceed 10
        years; and

   (b)  the term of a lease or licence granted under sub-section (3) shall not
        exceed 5 years.

(8) The grantee of a lease or licence under this section is not empowered to
transfer his interest as such grantee to another person, or to grant to
another person an interest dependent upon his 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 lease or licence to the
grantee, the consent, in writing, of the Minister.

(9) Where a grant of a lease or licence is invalidated, by virtue of
sub-section (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 lease or licence or been granted an interest
dependent upon that lease or licence.
(10) In this section, ''relevant Land Council'', in relation to land, means
the Land Council for the area in which the land is situated.