Woolner / Mary River Region Land Claim No. 192 Report

This Report presents the findings and recommendations of the Aboriginal Land Commissioner (Commissioner) following an inquiry into the Woolner / Mary River Region Land Claim (No. 192), a traditional Aboriginal land claim application which was made by the Northern Land Council under section 50(1)(a) of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 on 27 May 1997. The Report was provided to the Minister for Indigenous Australians and the Administrator of the Northern Territory on 22 December 2021.

The Commissioner recommends the grant to the traditional Aboriginal owners of the land subject to claim in the Woolner / Mary River Region Land Claim. The areas recommended for grant in the Woolner / Mary River Region Land Claim do not include some areas in the original application that were previously determined to be unavailable for claim, being either alienated Crown land or land seaward of the low water mark.

During the course of the inquiry an issue was raised in relation to the geographical extent of the claim areas, with reference to a purported withdrawal of some of the claim areas by the Northern Land Council. The Report includes the Commissioner’s ruling that the relevant land was not withdrawn, and is therefore available for claim.

Disclaimer: The different page numbering between the word and pdf versions of the Report reflects formatting differences between the documents.