Majority rules! Parliament acts to make Indigenous land use agreements viable again

What has just happened?

The Senate has today passed legislation that will enable Indigenous land use agreements (ILUAs) to be registered even if they have not been executed by all of the members of an affected registered native title claimant (RNTC) - provided the ILUA has the support of the broader native title claim group. The new legislation was passed in response to the decision of the Full Court of the Federal Court in McGlade v Native Title Registrar [2017] FCAFC 10 (McGlade Decision).

The new legislation, on its commencement, will:

• remove any doubt about the lawfulness of the potentially hundreds of ILUAs that were registered before the McGlade Decision on the strength of existing judicial precedent, which did not require unanimity among the members of an affected RNTC;