On 17 April 2019, the High Court of Australia determined that mining leases were not a ‘lease’ under s47B of the Native Title Act 1993. This ruling is important because it means that any extinguishing effect of native title by mining…

The Native Title Legislation Amendment Bill 2019 (‘Bill’) is currently being considered by the Australian Parliament. The Bill was read for a second time in the House of Representatives on 21 February 2019 by the Attorney-General following which debate was adjourned. The next…

Yesterday, in a landmark decision, the High Court of Australia determined the amount of compensation payable to a native title group for both economic and cultural loss. The Northern Territory of Australia was ordered to pay a total of $2,530,350…

On 14 December 2018 the Model Code of Meeting Practice for Local Councils, 2018 Model Code of Conduct and 2018 Procedures for the Administration of the Model Code of Conduct were prescribed. Council’s previous codes are saved until 14 June…

In November 2018, the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department and the Minister for Indigenous Affairs released exposure draft legislation which proposed reforms to the native title system under the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth). The two exposure drafts, the Native Title Amendment…

The Department of Planning and Environment has indicated that it is updating its policies and procedures for the safekeeping, release and monitoring of financial securities for enforcement of obligations under  conditions of development consent and planning agreements (PA’s). It has also…

The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption has published new guidelines for public sector organisations ‘Direct negotiations: guidelines for managing risks‘ (‘2018 Guidelines‘). The 2018 Guidelines replace the guidelines published by the Commission in 2006 (‘2006 Guidelines‘).

On 3 September 2018 the Minister for Local Government (Minister) released the 2018 Model Code of Conduct for Local Councils in NSW (Code), and Procedures for the Administration of the Model Code of Conduct for Local Councils in NSW (Code Procedures)….

At the end of June 2018, the Audit Office of New South Wales published the third  in a series of sector-wide financial and performance audit reports of councils in New South Wales by the Auditor-General. The reports were published between…

A small but significant change to the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (‘EPA Act‘) will take effect on 1 September 2018 removing a restriction on the issuing of occupation certificates where a precondition to the issuing of the certificate contained in…

In the recent case of McCloy Teralba v Lake Macquarie City Council [2017] NSWLEC 1752 the Land and Environment Court refused to allow a development consent to be modified under s96 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (‘EPA Act‘) by replacing…

The Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment Bill 2017 (‘Bill‘) was today passed by the Legislative Assembly. This follows the passage of the Bill through the Legislative Council on Tuesday. The Bill now awaits Royal Assent.  Section 2 of the Bill provides that the new…