Media Release

Tuesday, 24 March 2026

Proposed law threatens NSW Aboriginal land rights

Legislation that could affect land rights claims over disused Crown lands should be withdrawn immediately before it results in further potential injustice to NSW Aboriginal communities.

President of the Law Society of NSW Ronan MacSweeney said one provision in the Crown Land Management Amendment (Statutory Review) Bill 2026 (NSW), presently before NSW Parliament, could significantly affect land rights claims under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (NSW) (ALRA).

“This legislation fundamentally alters what has been long understood to be land claimable under the ALRA, and reconfirmed in the Quarry Street High Court judgment last year,” Mr MacSweeney said.

“The proposed amendment to the Crown Land Management Act 2016 (NSW) (CLMA) appears to overturn the Quarry Street decision and override longstanding practice under the ALRA, through which Aboriginal communities are able to claim land rights on Crown land that is ‘not lawfully used or occupied’. It is important to note that the ALRA is intended to be remedial and beneficial legislation designed to compensate Aboriginal people for historic dispossession.”

The proposed new section s 5.20B(4) of the CLMA would deem the mere granting of a lease under that Act as ‘lawful use for the purposes of another Act’. This could enable the Government to ‘bank’ any Crown land simply by granting a lease and ‘sit’ on that land without using it.

Mr MacSweeney said that this subsection was included in the Bill among a number of provisions which responded to a recent, though rushed statutory review of the CLMA.

“The Law Society is concerned that this proposed section, which has the potential to thwart otherwise valid claims by Aboriginal communities to disused Crown land, was not a recommendation of the statutory review. It was not subject to consultation before being introduced without notice”, Mr MacSweeney said.  

“The lack of consultation with affected stakeholders on this provision is exacerbated by the publication of the statutory review two days after the amending legislation was introduced. The Law Society is concerned that proposed s 5.20B has been inserted into this Bill, rather than via direct amendment to the ALRA itself, to avoid scrutiny of a measure which would undermine the purpose and operation of the ALRA.”

“The Law Society calls on the NSW Government to withdraw the provision and refer the remainder of the amending legislation to a parliamentary inquiry,” Mr MacSweeney said.

Media contact
Damien Smith  |  Director, Media and Public Relations
The Law Society of New South Wales
M: +61 417 788 947
E: [email protected]