Quall v Northern Land Council [2018] FCA 989

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Quall v Northern Land Council [2018] FCA 989 File numbers: NTD 45 of 2017 NTD 54 of 2017

Judge: REEVES J

Date of judgment: 29 June 2018

Catchwords: NATIVE TITLE – application for review of a representative body's decision to certify an application for registration of an Indigenous Land Use Agreement under s 203BE of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) (the NTA) – the history of amendments to the functions of representative bodies under the NTA – whether the certification function under s 203BE(1)(b) of the NTA is delegable – whether the power in s 203BK of the NTA operated to allow a valid delegation of the certification function – whether this certification function had been validly delegated in circumstances where the delegation occurred before the certification function came into existence – whether a certification was a valid certification for the purposes of s 24CG(3)(a) of the NTA

Legislation: Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (Cth) Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (Cth) Acts Interpretation Amendment Act 1911 (Cth) Australian Securities Commission Act 1989 (Cth) Corporations Law Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) Clean Air Act 1961 (NSW) Explanatory Memorandum, Acts Interpretation Amendment Bill 2011

Cases cited: Alcan (NT) Alumina Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Territory Revenue (Northern Territory) (2009) 239 CLR 27; [2009] HCA 41 Australian Chemical Refiners Pty Ltd v Bradwell (unreported, New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal, Street CJ, Slattery and Finlay JJ, 28 February 1986) Carltona Ltd v Commissioners of Works [1943] 2 All ER 560 Colin R Price & Associates Pty Ltd v Four Oaks Pty Ltd (2017) 251 FCR 404; [2017] FCAFC 75 Commissioner of Taxation of the Commonwealth of Australia v Consolidated Media Holdings Ltd (2012) 250 CLR 503; [2012] HCA 55 Mercantile Mutual Life Insurance Co Limited v Australian Securities Commission (1993) 40 FCR 409 Newcrest Mining Limited v Thornton (2012) 248 CLR 555; [2012] HCA 60 Northside Developments Proprietary Limited v Registrar-General (1990) 170 CLR 146 O'Reilly v State Bank of Victoria Commissioners (1983) 153 CLR 1 Re Reference under section 11 of Ombudsman Act 1976 for an advisory opinion; Ex parte Director-General of Social Services (1979) 2 ALD 86 Thiess v Collector of Customs (2014) 250 CLR 664; [2014] HCA 12 Bartlett, RH Native Title in Australia (3rd ed, LexisNexis Butterworths, 2015)