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Judgment date
Case number
S121/2024
Before
Gageler CJ, Gordon, Edelman, Steward, Jagot JJ
Catchwords
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples – Land rights – Claimable Crown lands – Where land claimed under s 36(2) of Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (NSW) ("Act") subject to lease granted by Crown – Where lessee had not undertaken purposeful activity on land – Where "claimable Crown lands" in s 36(1) of Act means lands vested in Crown that are "not lawfully used" – Whether land "lawfully used" for purpose of s 36(1)(b) of Act merely because land subject to existing lease from Crown.
Words and phrases – "actual use", "claimable Crown lands", "constructive use", "Crown lands", "doctrine of concurrent leases", "estate or interest in land", "exploitation of rights to land", "land", "land claim", "land vested", "lands", "lands vested", "lawfully used or occupied", "lease", "occupation", "occupied", "physical area", "possession", "purposeful interaction", "remedial or beneficial legislation", "reversionary interest", "rights to land", "rights to the physical area", "used", "vested".
Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (NSW), Pt 2, ss 4(1), 36, Sch 4, cl 8.
Conveyancing Act 1919 (NSW), ss 7(1), 117, 118, 119.
Crown Land Management Act 2016 (NSW), ss 1.5(1), 1.7(a), 1.10, 1.12, 3.3, 3.13(1).
Crown Lands Act 1989 (NSW), ss 3(1), 80(1), 87(1), Sch 7.
Crown Lands Consolidation Act 1913 (NSW), s 5(1).
Interpretation Act 1987 (NSW), ss 3(3), 5, 6, 8(c), 13, 68(3), Sch 4.
Native Title Act 1993 (Cth), ss 10, 184, 186(1)(e), 223(1), 225, 253.
Real Property Act 1900 (NSW), ss 3(1)(a), 13(2), 13D, 13J, 40(3), 42(1), 46C.