Producer: Kirstyn Lindsay
Dr Raymond Kelly, Chair of the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council joins Koori Radio News to talk about the impacts for the community from the recent introduction of the Crown Lands Management Amendment Bill 2026. (Statutory Review)
Dr Kelly says the bill could undermine the Aboriginal Land Rights Act (1983) NSW and block the applications for parcels of land waiting for determination to be approved.
He says these decisions will affect the current reality for communities who already live off country and won’t improve housing and employment opportunities for First Nations people across News South Wales.
The Law Society of New South Wales confirms the state government has deferred proposed laws regarding disused Crown land, to allow for more consultation from stakeholders including members of the New South Wales Land Rights Movement. This can prevent changes made to legislation without consent of the New South Wales and Local Aboriginal Land Councils.
The new legislation changes the definition of land to be claimable under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act (1983), ratified in the Quarry Street High Court judgment last year in 2025.
The proposed amendment to the Crown Land Management Act 2016 (NSW) can overturn the Quarry Street decision influencing practice under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act (1983), through which First Nations communities are able to claim land rights on Crown land that is ‘not lawfully used or occupied’. Lawfully used” under s 36(1)(b) of the ALR Act requires a purposeful interaction with land.
Dr Kelly says, “When we talk about a sense of country we talk about a sense of belonging’ and there are other ways to activate the land, so everyone has a fair go”.
He says the Land Rights Network can start to build some of that regional cohesion, so communities aren’t forced to live in the cities and explains how that can be done through land claims. ‘We are calling for solidarity; we are calling for people to stand together, let’s start talking together”.
The New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council have published a fact sheet if you’d to learn more about the Crown Lands Management Amendment (Statutory Review) Bill 2026 and NSWALC’s position on the Bill. To show your support, sign the petition
