EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Select Legislative Instrument 2010 No. 170

Issued by the Authority of the Attorney-General

 

Native Title Act 1993

 

Native Title (Tribunal) Amendment Regulations 2010 (No. 1)

 

Subsection 215(1) of the Native Title Act 1993 (the Act) provides that the Governor‑General may make regulations prescribing matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act. Subparagraph 215(2)(b)(i) of the Act provides that regulations may make provision prescribing fees to be paid in relation to applications to the Native Title Registrar.

 

Section 76 of the Act requires that right to negotiate applications (defined in section 75 of the Act), which are made to the National Native Title Tribunal comply with certain requirements, including being accompanied by any prescribed fee. The Native Title (Tribunal) Regulations 1993 (the Principal Regulations) currently prescribe the fee payable.

The amendments reflect the biennial fee increases required by Regulation 16 of the Principal Regulations. The biennial increase is calculated in accordance with the formula specified in Regulation 17 of the Principal Regulations. Regulation 16 of the Principal Regulations requires the increase to take place on each biennial anniversary of 1 July 1996. The next increase is to take place on 1 July 2010.

The fee amounts listed in the Principal Regulations are not up-to date, due to the effect of past biennial increases that have not been recorded in the Principal Regulations. The fee amounts listed in the Commonwealth Government Notices Gazette, No. GN 21, 28 May 2008 are the actual fees in force until 1 July 2010. The fee increases have therefore been applied to the gazetted fee amounts, rather than the fee amounts in the Principal Regulations.

 

The Act does not specify any conditions that need to be satisfied before the power to make the Regulations may be exercised.

 

The Regulations are a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.

 

The Regulations commence on 1 July 2010.

 

Consultation was not required given that the Regulations reflect changes required by the Principal Regulations.