NSW Parliament has passed a law allowing the Lands Minister to declare invalid or defective Crown land leases and licences valid, backdated to when the error occurred, including on land covered by Aboriginal land claims the state has not yet decided. The Legislative Assembly passed the Crown Land Management Amendment (Statutory Review) Bill 2026 on Wednesday afternoon, the day after it cleared the Legislative Council 28 votes to six.
The Minns Labor Government and the Coalition supported the bill. The Greens opposed it in both houses. Sydney independent Alex Greenwich said he would not oppose it, while telling the Assembly the new powers were unnecessary.
Under amendments the government moved to its own bill, the minister can declare a lease or licence valid if "reasonably satisfied" it is in the public interest and there is a community benefit. The declaration is made by Gazette notice and can take effect from a date before the notice is published. Where an undetermined claim exists, the land council must get at least 28 days' notice and written reasons. Its consent is not required.
“These powers provide the discretion to reinstate certainty for tenure holders and the community by declaring the holding to be valid or varying the tenure to correct an error, and for this validation or variation to take effect from the time the error or issue occurred," Lands and Property Minister Steve Kamper told the Assembly.”
The bill answers a High Court ruling from September last year over the Paddington Bowling Club site. In La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council v Quarry Street, the court held that Crown land is not "lawfully used" under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act simply because a lease exists over it. Land in lawful use cannot be claimed, so the existence of a lease alone no longer shields a site from a claim.
Premier Chris Minns has framed the change around community facilities. "If the community land is transferred out of government ownership to other forms of ownership, either its use can be changed ... for example, from a tennis club to housing, or the rent can go up," he told the ABC.
The powers sit on top of a claims system that is years behind. Greenwich told the Assembly the backlog stood at 38,200 claims when the NSW Auditor-General examined it in 2022 and "has now swelled to 43,500". The NSW Aboriginal Land Council puts the figure above 44,000, and says no claim has been determined since 3 June.
"The Government created the backlog. Instead of fixing their system, determining claims or negotiating with the Land Rights Network, Labor changed the law and weakened our rights," land council chairperson Raymond Kelly said after the vote.
The government disputes the pace. "The largest processing of land claims has occurred in the past three years," Kamper said by interjection. Finance Minister Courtney Houssos told the Legislative Council more than 13,500 hectares, worth more than $200 million, had been granted over the past four financial years.
Two amendments seeking more oversight were defeated in the upper house on Tuesday night. A Greens amendment requiring the agreement of the Aboriginal Affairs minister before any declaration was lost 8 votes to 27. An amendment from Libertarian MLC John Ruddick, who told the chamber venue operators were learning of claims over their sites through the media, sought a public map of land claims and notice to councils and occupiers. It was also negatived.
Beyond the notice and reasons requirements, the final bill adds an annual report on declarations made over claimed land, with its contents left to regulations, and a rule that the minister cannot delegate the power.
The land council withdrew from the NSW Closing the Gap framework earlier this month and will end its partnership grant agreement on 31 October. The bill now awaits assent.
