Five Years on: Confusion, Illusion and Township Leasing on Aboriginal Land

Property Law Review, Vol. 1, p. 160, 2011

19 Pages Posted: 22 Mar 2012 Last revised: 11 Aug 2016

See all articles by Leon Terrill

Leon Terrill

University of New South Wales (UNSW) - UNSW Law & Justice

Date Written: March 20, 2012

Abstract

In 2006, the Australian Government amended the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (Cth) to enable the grant of township leases over Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory. It was a reform which attracted considerable debate. This article collates information about the two existing township leases, and examines this against the stated aims of township leasing. It is argued that a high level of confusion has characterised the implementation of these reforms, and that one of the risks of township leases is that they give the impression of doing more than they actually do. The article concludes by arguing that the Australian Government needs to pay greater attention to clarifying the rationale for its Aboriginal land reform policies.

Keywords: Aboriginal land, land reform, tenure reform

Suggested Citation

Terrill, Leon, Five Years on: Confusion, Illusion and Township Leasing on Aboriginal Land (March 20, 2012). Property Law Review, Vol. 1, p. 160, 2011, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2026716

Leon Terrill (Contact Author)

University of New South Wales (UNSW) - UNSW Law & Justice ( email )

Kensington, New South Wales 2052
Australia

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
36
Abstract Views
619
PlumX Metrics