Under the Native Title Act, the Registrar must keep a record of section 31 agreements that the Registrar receives from an arbitral body, such as the National Native Title Tribunal. This requirement applies to agreements received on or after 25 March 2021.
A section 31 agreement records the agreement of the parties to the doing of a future act (for example, the grant of a mining tenement) to which the ‘right to negotiate’ applies. Often some or all of the parties will also enter into another written agreement, known as an ‘ancillary agreement.’
The entry for each section 31 agreement must include, to the extent known to the Registrar:
- a description of the area of land or waters to which the agreement relates;
- the name of each party to the agreement and the address at which the party can be contacted;
- if the agreement specifies the period during which it will operate – that period; and
- whether or not there is any other written agreement made between some or all of the parties to the agreement in connection with the doing of the act to which the agreement relates.
If a party to the agreement notifies the Registrar that it does not wish some or all of the information to be made available, the Registrar must not make that information available. If there is any change to the information required to be included in the entry, a party to the agreement must notify the Registrar and the Registrar must update the entry to reflect any changes.
If you are a party to an agreement and would
like to request that the Registrar withhold some or all of the information
recorded in the related entry, or wish to advise the Registrar of changes to
any of the information included on the entry, please contact the Tribunal at FADeeds.Notices@nntt.gov.au.
The Registrar is not required to keep a record, or provide information, in relation to an agreement that has expired.