New South Wales Consolidated Acts

ABORIGINAL LAND RIGHTS ACT 1983 - SECT 48

48 Access permits may be issued by the Court

(1) Where a Local Aboriginal Land Council:

(a) desires to obtain rights of access for any specified Aborigines or group of Aborigines for the purpose of hunting or fishing for, or the gathering of, traditional foods for domestic purposes, being access to land traditionally used for those purposes or to land giving access to any land so used, and

(b) has been unable to negotiate an agreement to obtain those rights,

the Council may apply to the Court for a permit conferring those rights.

(2) An application under subsection (1) shall be:

(a) made as prescribed, and

(b) lodged with the Registrar.

(3) The Registrar shall refer an application lodged with the Registrar under subsection (2) to the Court together with a statement as to who appears to the Registrar to be the owner, occupier or person in control of the land to which the application relates.

(4) The Court shall:

(a) give notice of any application referred to it under subsection (3) to any person who, in its opinion, is likely to be directly affected by the issue of the permit applied for, or to the public generally if it considers it appropriate, and

(b) by that notice, provide that objections against the application may be lodged within the time specified in that notice.

(5) The Court shall consider:

(a) any application referred to it under subsection (3), and

(b) any objections lodged against the application,

and, subject to subsection (6), shall either:

(c) issue a permit conferring such rights of access as it specifies in the permit on Aborigines or any group of Aborigines so specified, or

(d) refuse to issue the permit.

(6) The Court shall issue a permit under subsection (5) in pursuance of an application under subsection (1) only if it is satisfied that the rights applied for are rights of a kind referred to in subsection (1).

(7) A permit issued under subsection (5) (c):

(a) shall be subject to the provisions of any other Act and any rule, by-law, regulation, ordinance or like instrument, and

(b) may be subject to such terms and conditions as the Court thinks fit and are specified in the permit.

(8) Any person who fails to allow access to any person in accordance with a permit issued under this section shall be guilty of an offence against this Act.

Maximum penalty: 10 penalty units.

(9) The Court may, on the application of any person and on reasonable cause being shown, revoke a permit issued under this section.