ARTICLE · 12 OCTOBER 2016

Intestacy Rules for Indigenous Australians

Carroll & O'Dea

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These mark the next step for NSW in implementing the recommendations of the National Committee on Uniform Succession Law.

AustraliaFamily and Matrimonial

Maithri Panagoda AM

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In 2009, the New South Wales Parliament passed the Succession Amendment (Intestacy) Act (Amendment Act), an Act to amend the Succession Act 2006 (NSW) (Succession Act) and the Probate and Administration Act 1898.

Prior to the amendments, there was no separate legislative provision for the operation of the intestacy rules for indigenous people in New South Wales.

The amendments

Section 101 of the Succession Act, defines an Indigenous person as "a person who:

is of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent, and
identifies as an Aboriginal person or Torres Strait Islander, and
is accepted as an Aboriginal person by an Aboriginal community or as a Torres Strait Islander by a Torres Strait Islander community.

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