Community Living Area Land Reform in the Northern Territory

The Australian Government has made a 10-year commitment to work with Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory to build strong, independent lives where communities, families and children are safe and healthy.

In 2011, Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory consultations reported on specific barriers to economic development that needed to be overcome, including through continued land reform.

The Australian Government is committed to reforming land tenure arrangements for community-titled Indigenous held land across Australia, including providing land owners with the opportunity to voluntarily develop and consider options for economic development and home ownership.

There are more than 100 Aboriginal communities on community living area land in the Northern Territory. A community living area is a small portion of land granted out of a pastoral lease as conditional freehold to an Aboriginal community or family for residential purposes, where Aboriginal people did not benefit from land granted under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976.

Consultations

The Australian Government is committed to working in partnership with community living area land owners, community members, the Northern Territory Government, the Northern Territory Land Councils, the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association and other relevant and interested stakeholders to achieve comprehensive and sustainable reforms for community living area land.

A discussion paper on community living area land reform in the Northern Territory was released in March to mark the start of consultation by the Australian Government.

The purpose of the paper was to encourage discussions, through written feedback and in-community meetings in the Northern Territory. The Australian Government wanted to hear views on dealing with community living area land and how it should be used in the future to benefit community living area communities.

Australian Government officials visited selected community living area communities in April and May to talk about these reforms.

Outcomes paper

A summary of these discussions and written feedback will be presented in an outcomes paper that the Australian Government will release publicly.

Written feedback and submissions will be made public at the time of the release of the outcomes paper.

Find out more

For more information on community living area land reform in the Northern Territory, email: CLAlandreform@fahcsia.gov.au