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WorldLII >> Categories >> Countries >> Australia >> By Subject >> Aboriginals & Torres Strait Islanders >> Legislation >> Commonwealth

• Aboriginal Affairs (Arrangements with the States) Act 1973 (Cth)
  Enabled staff employed in Aboriginal affairs by the states to join the Australian Public Service (APS) as federal employees, was enacted in response to 1967 constitutional amendment which gave power to the Commonwealth parliament to legislate for Aboriginal people in the states (on AustLII)
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Queensland Reserves and Communities Self Management) Act 1978 (Cth)
  Established Councils with responsibility to their communities for governance and service provision in Aboriginal and Islander reserves and communities (on AustLII)
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Act 2005 (Cth)
  After ATSIC was abolished, the old ATSIC Act 1989 was renamed, and provided for establishment of Indigenous Land Corporation (ILC)Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA) and Indigenous Business Australia (IBA)(on AustLII)
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission Act 1989 (Cth)
  Established the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC)as an elected Indigenous body responsible for Indigenous programs, services and input to government policy decisions, which was abolished 2005(on AustLII)
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commissions Amendment Act 2005 (Cth)
  Abolished the elected Indigenous repesentative body, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), services for Indigenous Australian now to be mainstreamed (on AustLII)
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 (Cth)
  First Act of its type since Cth got power to legislate for Aboriginal people in 1967. Intended to be used only where State or Territory laws do not adequately protect Aboriginal objects and sites (on AustLII)
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Amendment Act 1987 (Cth)
  Enacted at Victoria's request, this Act amended the principal Act to avoiding excluding operation of Victorain heritage laws (on AustLII)
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (Queensland Discriminatory Laws) Act 1975 (Cth)
  This Act prevents discrimination to Aborigines or Islanders on reserves in Queensland, previously allowed under Qld laws about wages and employment conditions, property ownership, access to, and conduct, residency and legal proceedings on reserves(on AustLII)
• Aboriginal Councils and Associations Act 1976 (Cth)
  Provided for establishment of Indigenous councils and incorporation of Aboriginal associations, is to be repealed by Act No. 125 of 2006 on 1 July 2007 (on AustLII)
• Aboriginal Education Supplementary Assistance Act 1989 (Cth)
  Repealed by Indigenous Education (Targeted Assistance) Amendment Act 2004(Cth)(on AustLII)
• Aboriginal Land (Lake Condah and Framlingham Forest) Act 1987 (Cth)
  Vests ownership in an Aboriginal Corporation for each area with powers over mining and community government (on AustLII)
• Aboriginal Land Grant (Jervis Bay Territory) Act 1986 (Cth)
  Established Wreck Bay Aboriginal Council, and granted land in Jervis Bay Territory to Aboriginal community (on AustLII)
• Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (Cth)
  The first statute to recognise Aboriginal systems of land ownership, it resulted from the Woodward Inquiry’s report on Aboriginal land rights. Provides for land grants as inalienable freehold, also established Aboriginal Land Councils and procedures for negotiating mining agreements (on AustLII)
• Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment Act 2006 (Cth)
  This amendment makes for easier and simpler processes for mining on Aboriginal land. And it facilitates the leasing of Aboriginal land and the mortgaging of leases, and it also inserts a new s19A, a provision for 99-year leases over townships on Aboriginal land. It removes guaranteed funding for land councils, in order to improve accountability (on AustLII)
• Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment Bill 1996: Bills Digest [Search]
  (on Parliament of Australia)
• Australia Act 1986 (Cth)
  Removed British power to legislate for Australia and removed Privy Council as last court of appeal for Australia (on AustLII)
• Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Act 1989 (Cth)
  Established the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) (on AustLII)
• Bills Digest: Human Rights (Mandatory Sentencing of Juvenile Offenders) Bill 1999 (Cth) [Search]
  Bill introduced by Sen. Bob Brown to override the mandatory sentencing laws in WA and NT. Led to Senate Inquiry into mandatory sentencing and national and international attention being focussed upon the issue (on Parliament of Australia website)
• Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006
  This Act replaces the Aboriginal Councils and Associations Act 1976 (Cth) with a new regime to regulate Indigenous corporations. It is a long, complex Act, with strong accountability requirements. It allows for non-indigenous directors of Indigenous organsations; divides corporations into categories depending on their size and the Registrar's discretion; and includes over 100 strict liability offences for breaches of the Act's requirements (on AustLII)
• Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation Act 1991 (Cth)
  Established the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (CAR) to promote formal reconciliation, ceased in 2001 (on AustLII)
• Crimes (Investigation of Commonwealth Offences) Amendment Act 1991 (Cth)
  Guidelines for the detention and questioning of Indigenous persons in relation to Cth offences, now included at s23 Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) (on AustLII)
• Equal Employment Opportunity (Commonwealth Authorities) Act 1987 (Cth)
  (on AustLII)
• Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (Northern Territory National Emergency Response and Other Measures) Act 2007 (Cth)
  This Act is part of the 2007 Intervention by the Commonwealth into NT Aboriginal communitites. It includes major changes to rules of access to Aboriginal land, including partial removal of the permit system, new bans on possessing pornography on Aboriginal land. Increased policing powers are given to the Australian Crime Commission and the Australian Federal Police (on AustLII)
• Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), section 60CC [Search]
  Statutory provision to guide the court's determination of what is in the best interest of a child. Sub sections 60CC(3)(h) and 60CC(6), which replace the old 68F(2)(f) and give weight to the need for an Indigenous child to live in an Indigenous community (on AustLII)
• Hindmarsh Island Bridge Act 1997 (Cth)
  Prevents Heritage Protection Act from effecting the building of Hindmarsh Island Bridge (on AustLII)
• Hindmarsh Island Bridge Bill 1996: Bills Digest [Search]
  (Department of the Parliamentary Library)
• Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986 (Cth)
  Establishes the Commission (HREOC) to make determinations on complaints of discrimination, including the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) (on AustLII)
• Indigenous Education (Targeted Assistance) Act 2000 (Cth)
  Governs funding for the Indigenous Education Strategic Initiatives Programme (IESIP) and allows the Minister to make agreements with an education provider or other person or body (on AustLII)
• Land Fund and Indigenous Land Corporation (ATSIC Amendment Act) 1995 (Cth)
  Established Indigenous Land Corporation (ILC) to help Aboriginal groups manage their land. Disallowed lands purchased from fund in NT from being converted from leasehold into Aboriginal freehold (on AustLII)
• Native Title Act 1993 (Cth)
  This major reform was the Keating govt's response to the decisons of the High Court in Mabo (No 2). It contains a scheme for obtaining a determination from the Federal Court as to whether native title exists in relation to a defined area and anarbitration mechanism for processing development applications in relation to land which is the subject of a native title claim (on AustLII)
• Native Title Amendment Act 1998 (Cth)
  The Howard government released its 10 Point Plan in response to concerns that Wik would mean that Indigenous rights were too much in favour at common law, and it was enacted in this amendment. It includes harder registration tests, less right to negotiate, easier approval for mines, easier extinguishment, increased power to states and territories and makes determination process more legalistic. New provisions for Indigenous Land Use Agreements (on AustLII)
• Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act 2007 (Cth)
  This Act is part of the Commonwealth Government's 2007 Intervention into NT Aboriginal communities. It introduces alcohol prohibitions and strict rules for filtering and auditing of computers, as well as granting 5 year leases over any Aboriginal land or town camp to the Comonwealth, and takes over some Community Councils. This Act also includes new criminal offences which apply ionly on Aboriginal land, and changes bail and sentencing rules so that cultural practice cannnot be taken into account (on AustLII)
• Petermann Aboriginal Land Trust (Boundaries) Act 1985 (Cth)
  Redefined the boundaries of Petermann Aboriginal Land, scheduled in Aboriginal Land Rights (NT) Act 1976 (Cth), to remove small overlap with area of Uluru National Park, proclaimed in 1977 (on AustLII)
• Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth)
  Gives effect to Australia’s obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and is administered by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC). Defines racial discrimination as less-favourable treatment based on race, which is unlawful, but allows for special measures, which are distinctions made for affirmative action (on AustLII)
• Racial Hatred Act 1995 (Cth)
  Amended the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) by making offensive behaviour based on race unlawful (on AustLII)
• Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Welfare Payment Reform) Act 2007 (Cth)
  This Act is part of the 2007 NT Intervention, and it introduces an Income management regime which includes ending the CDEP and quarantining of pensions, family payments, CDEP transition payments and baby bonus payments (on AustLII)
• States Grants (Aboriginal Assistance) Act 1976 (Cth)
  Repealed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) Act 1989 (Cth)(on AustLII)