Aboriginal Lands Trust Act 2013 (SA)

The Aboriginal Lands Trust Act 2013 (SA) (the Act) was created after a South Australian Government review of the Aboriginal Lands Trust Act 1966 (SA) (ALTA). The Act made updates to better reflect how the role of the Aboriginal Lands Trust has evolved over time (Department of Premier and Cabinet, 2019). 

The Aboriginal Lands Trust continues to hold land in trust for the benefit of the Indigenous people of South Australia under s 9 of the Act. 

In 2008, the South Australian Government undertook a review of the Aboriginal Lands Trust Act 1966 (SA) (ALTA). This review resulted in the creation of the Aboriginal Lands Trust Act 2013 (SA) (the Act) in order to resolve the following issues:

• the outdated nature of the ALTA, which was 47 years old;
• the style of the ALTA, which had unclear objects and functions; and
• a need to modernise the governance of the Aboriginal Land Trust, which previously required ministerial approval for individual dealings with land

(Aboriginal Lands Trust, 2016, p. 4).

The Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, in his second reading speech introducing the proposed Act stating:

"After 46 years of operations the Act is now in need of fundamental change to reflect the contemporary circumstances and aspirations of Aboriginal South Australians. The Aboriginal Lands Trust is not just a historic relic of our earlier attempts to repair the damaging results of colonialism and racism... [it is] a means to better empower Aboriginal people" (Hunter, 2013).

Some of the key features of the Act that reform the Aboriginal Lands Trust's structure and focus include: 

• reducing the Minister's role to be more administrative in nature; 
• including guiding principles for operational policies and decision making, under s 6; 
• requiring consultation with persons affected by the Trust's decisions, under s 8; 
• establishing the Commercial Development Advisory Committee (CDAC), under Part 3; 
• providing the Board with full responsibility and control of decisions on matters relating to Trust land, under Part 4; and
• improving clarity about native title and mining operations on Trust land, under Part 7

(Aboriginal Lands Trust, 2016, p. 4).

The Chief Executive of the Aboriginal Lands Trust, Kerry Colbung, regards the Act as enabling the Trust to 'test new economic and commercial models for success' (Aboriginal Lands Trust, 2016, p. 2).

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