ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER COMMISSION ACT 1989 No. 150 of 1989 - SECT 91 Regions

ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER COMMISSION ACT 1989 No. 150 of 1989 - SECT 91

91.(1) For the purposes of this Act, Australia is divided into 60 regions:

   (a)  each of which includes the place or places set out in a single line of
        column B of Schedule 1, and does not include any place set out in any
        other line of that column; and

   (b)  the boundaries of which are as determined from time to time by the
        Minister by notice published in the Gazette.

(2) The Minister shall not change boundaries under subsection (1) without
inviting the Commission to provide him or her with written advice about the
proposed new boundaries.

(3) The Minister shall not change boundaries under subsection (1) between 31
March and 31 December in a Regional Council election year.

(4) The Minister shall include, in a notice changing boundaries under
subsection (1):

   (a)  a statement setting out, in respect of each region whose boundaries
        are changed, the amount (if any) in the Land Fund that is to be taken,
        for the purpose of subsection 68 (5), to have been paid into the
        Land Fund by virtue of Regional Council estimates for that region;

   (b)  an estimate by the Minister, made after consulting the Australian
        Electoral Commission, in relation to each region whose boundaries are
        changed, of:

        (i)    the number of persons who will be entitled to vote at the next
               Regional Council election for that region; and

        (ii)   the number of persons living in that region who are Aboriginal
               persons or Torres Strait Islanders; and

   (c)  any provisions that the Minister thinks necessary transferring assets
        or liabilities between Regional Councils for regions whose boundaries
        are changed.

(5) The Minister shall consult the Commission and any Regional Council that
would be affected before including provisions referred to in paragraph (4) (c)
in a notice under subsection (1).

(6) Provisions made under paragraph (4) (c) have effect according to their
terms.

(7) A notice changing boundaries under subsection (1):

   (a)  has effect for the purposes of Regional Council elections held after
        the date of the notice; and

   (b)  takes effect, for all other purposes, at the end of the
        election period in relation to the first round of
        Regional Council elections held after the date of the notice.