Future acts regime reform

Future Acts

The NNTC is advocating for reforms to the future acts regime to uphold the right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent and to ensure adequate resourcing for PBCs.

The “future acts regime” is a framework in the Native Title Act outlining the procedures that need to be followed before proposed developments or activities impacting native title lands and waters can proceed. The grant of a mining lease or construction of public infrastructure are examples of “future acts”.

The future acts regime currently does not empower Traditional Owners to decide what happens on their Country and places significant strain on the limited resources of PBCs. The regime entrenches power imbalances between native title holders and project proponents by providing weak procedural rights that result in projects going ahead without consent, and suboptimal compensation and benefit sharing outcomes.

We are closely engaging with an Inquiry by the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC), which will develop recommendations for how the regime can be improved, including to rectify inequality or unfairness in how it operates. The NNTC’s response to the ALRC’s Issues paper can be access here. The ALRC will provide its final report to the Attorney-General by 8 December 2025.

Native Title Compensation

Native Title Holders can seek compensation when their native title rights are extinguished or impaired. However, the Native Title Act provides little guidance on how compensation should be valued. To help address this, the NNTC is developing a National Compensation Strategy. This strategy promotes negotiated settlements over lengthy, costly, and often traumatic litigation processes.

The NNTC also plays a leading role in key native title compensation forums, working closely with key stakeholders, including the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department, NIAA, and State and Territory Governments.

What a future act is

A future act is any proposed activity — a mining tenement, a pipeline, a public work, a lease — that would affect native title rights and interests over land or waters where those rights exist or are claimed.

The Native Title Act sets out what must happen before such an act can proceed. Depending on the type of act, that ranges from a simple notification through to a right to negotiate, but in almost no case does it amount to a right to say no.

The right to negotiate, and its limits

The right to negotiate applies to a defined class of acts and runs for a set period. If the parties do not reach agreement, either can apply to the National Native Title Tribunal for a determination — and the Tribunal has almost always determined that the act may proceed.

The practical effect is that Traditional Owners negotiate in the knowledge that refusal is not an available outcome, which shapes every agreement made under the regime.

The ALRC review

The Australian Law Reform Commission reviewed the future acts regime across 2025 and 2026, and its final report — Fulfilling the Promise of Mabo — was tabled in Parliament in June 2026.

The NNTC is working with members on the sector’s response, focusing on procedural rights, the resourcing PBCs need to participate properly, and the case for benefit-sharing that reflects the value of what is agreed.