The New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC) lodged a racial discrimination complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on April 14.
It is concerned that the NSW Labor government has quietly introduced legislation, disguised as minor procedural amendments, which seek to drastically weaken Aboriginal land rights and ensure prime real estate remains in private wealthy hands.
The Crown Land Management Amendment (Statutory Review) Bill 2026 was introduced in March but has been shelved since the NSWALC discovered the attack on the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (NSW), via amendments to other laws.
NSW’s Aboriginal land rights laws are the most formidable in the country. They allow Aboriginal land councils to claim “unused and unneeded Crown land”.
NSW land and property minister Steve Kamper was caught out trying to ensure that prime real estate cannot end up in Aboriginal hands, hence no consultation with Aboriginal Land Councils.
The NSWALC AHRC claim asserts that the bill undermines Aboriginal land rights and, despite a lengthy cabinet process to develop it, councils weren’t consulted. The Minns government misleadingly claimed the reforms are “minor” and “technical”. They are not; they are substantial.
“We will simply not just sit by while our state government proposes amendments that will hollow out our rights in this state forever,” said NSWALC chair Dr Raymond Kelly on April 22. He said NSW Labor had chosen to tear away at Aboriginal land rights in a climate of rising “racial inequality and hostility” which specifically targets First Peoples.
Threat to land return laws
“We have been working to support our people through Aboriginal land rights in NSW for more than 40 years, and that work doesn’t stop here,” Kelly said. “The way this bill was introduced was completely unacceptable and without consultation under the guise of a ‘minor amendment’.”
“Aboriginal people living in NSW are not shocked at this level of mistreatment from the government,” Kelly underscored.
“We have experienced it for generations. But the direct impact this bill will have on our community is proof that our government will stop at nothing when their own interests are at stake. The reality is that what is at stake for our people is far worse.”
The NSW Wran Labor government enacted the Aboriginal Land Rights Act. It helps Aboriginal land councils apply for Aboriginal Land Agreements if a parcel of Crown land is unused and, from there, if the minister finds that the land is lying dormant and is not serving any public purpose, it will be transferred to that Aboriginal land council.
The Australian reported in late March that the government appears concerned that prime real estate, such as the Paddington Bowls Club, Talus Street Reserve, Cronulla Marina and the Matraville Fire Station, have already been transferred to Aboriginal land councils.
Kamper argues that such sites were never meant to be captured under the Act. The High Court ruled that this was wrong last September, when it determined that the then minister was correct in finding that La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council had the right to claim the site of Paddington Bowls Club, because despite a lease over that land, it had never been used.
The Minns government appears to be trying to undermine that court’s ruling.
“While the bill has been delayed for further consultation, we know the government will stop at nothing to sneak this bill through in May,” Kelly said. He added that the network of land councils “remains united in our complete opposition to the bill in its entirety”.
Racial discrimination complaint
The NSWALC, the state’s peak body statutory body representing the network of Aboriginal Land Councils in NSW, has lodged its complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission.
The complaint cites racial discrimination against the Minns government due to it being locked out of any discussions and the government’s attempt to hoodwink all NSW First Nations peoples from changes directly affecting them.
The complaint to the AHRC states that NSW Labor is taking advantage of the “broader environment of racial inequality and hostility” to attempt to hollow out the most robust system of Aboriginal land rights in the country.
There are many examples which support this claim. These include the Boorloo/Perth attempted terror attack on the January 26 Invasion Day protest, the neo-Nazi attack on sacred site Camp Sovereignty in Naarm/Melbourne last August and the racist heckling of Aboriginal speakers at various Anzac Day dawn services.
The NSWALC is also arguing that the NSW government has undertaken actions which have directly led to “Aboriginal people being unable to enjoy property rights on an equal basis with others because their specific rights are uniquely constrained”.
NSW Labor’s public explanation of its changes have masked the negative impact on First Nations people’s rights its laws would have.
After lodging the NSWALC’s racial discrimination complaint against the state of NSW, the AHRC will undertake a conciliation process. If that is not possible then each party has 60 days to lodge a complaint with the Federal Court of Australia.
Kamper has claimed that because there are more than 43,000 outstanding applications for proposed Aboriginal Land Agreements, the Aboriginal Land Rights Act needs an overhaul.
He told the Murdoch media that “the proposed changes we have put forward are there to address a minute number of edge cases that were never intended to be claimable in the spirit of the Act”.
However, Kelly claims that just one of the amendments in the bill would impact around 3000 parcels of land which are currently under claim.
“The bill represents a substantial threat to the land claim and land return process, weakening a system designed to provide economic and cultural redress for Aboriginal communities,” Kelly continued.
“By excluding the NSWALC and failing to engage in genuine consultation, the NSW government is quietly removing the power of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act.
“As the body representing the network, we want to make it clear that our rights are under attack … we demand that action be taken.”
[Paul Gregoire writes for Sydney Criminal Lawyers where this article was first published.]