Changes to the registration test

Changes to the Native Title Act 1993 (Cwlth) became law on Sunday 15 April 2007. Among the changes are important new provisions relating to the registration test.

The registration test is applied by the Native Title Registrar to native title determination applications. If an application meets the conditions of the test, applicants gain procedural rights over certain future acts, including the right to negotiate over some proposed developments on the area covered by their application.

Some applications will now need to be put through the registration test again, as a result of the changes to the Act. Other applications, lodged with the Tribunal before 1998, will need to be put through the test for the first time.

In close cooperation with the representative Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander bodies around Australia and the Federal Court, the Native Title Registrar will be communicating with all applicants whose applications may be affected.

For more information see the attached document Important new information relating to the registration test.

Anyone with queries related to these changes should contact the Tribunal's state manager in their capital city on freecall 1800 640 501 or email registrar@nntt.gov.au.

( /whatsnew/files/Important_New_Information_Relating_totheRegistrationTest.pdf )

List all subjects