NORTHERN TERRITORY ABORIGINAL SACRED SITES ACT 1989 - SECT 47 Access to sacred sites across other land
NORTHERN TERRITORY ABORIGINAL SACRED SITES ACT 1989 - SECT 47
Access to sacred sites across other land(1) Notwithstanding any Act or rule of law to the contrary, a person with the express approval of the custodian of a sacred site, the Authority or the Minister may, for a purpose:
(a) permitted by Aboriginal tradition;
(b) reasonably necessary for or in connection with the performance of a function or the exercising a power under this Act; or
(c) reasonably necessary for or in connection with the preparation of an application under this Act or the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 of the Commonwealth or the preparation or hearing of a claim under the Land Rights Act,
by reasonable means and by the most direct practical route between a place of public access and the sacred site (or between sacred sites), after giving reasonable notice to the owner of the land he or she proposes to cross, but subject to subsection (2), cross any land to that sacred site or between sacred sites.
(2) Where the owner of land given notice under subsection (1) requests that an alternative route across the land be taken so as not to obstruct the owner's normal activities on the land, a person to whom subsection (1) applies shall not cross the land except by that alternative route.
Maximum penalty: In the case of a natural person – 200 penalty units or imprisonment for 12 months.
In the case of a body corporate – 1 000 penalty units.
(3) Nothing in subsection (1) shall be taken to authorize a person to whom it applies to camp or otherwise reside on the land which under that subsection he or she may cross.
(4) A person who prevents a person from or obstructs a person exercising a right under subsection (1) is guilty of an offence.
Maximum penalty: In the case of a natural person – 200 penalty units or imprisonment for 12 months.
In the case of a body corporate – 1 000 penalty units.