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........

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