The Tasmanian government has proposed expanding eligibility for voting in Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania elections as part of its reforms to the state's land returns processes.
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Other proposals include requiring the ALCT to publish annual reports, allow "local" Aboriginal groups to become land manager or co-manager of Aboriginal land, increase access rights to these groups and create a new instrument for transferring large parcels of Crown land.
The ability to object to a person's enrolment on the ALCT roll would be removed.
The expanded eligibility for the ALCT roll will reflect the government's "eligibility policy" which was introduced as part of former premier Will Hodgman's "reset the relationship" agenda in 2016.
Before then, Aboriginality in Tasmania was based on the three-part test: descent, self-identification and community recognition. This was removed, and a person can now claim Aboriginality via a statutory declaration and a statement of confirmation from an Aboriginal organisation, without proof of descent.
The changes angered the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, which is likely to vigorously oppose the government's ALCT reforms. The TAC disputes the credibility of a range of local Aboriginal groups which use the new eligibility criteria.
The reforms follow the government's commitment to updating the Aboriginal Lands Act in 2017. The Act - which establishes the ALCT - was no longer seen to "work for all Tasmanian Aboriginal people".
Aboriginal Affairs Minister Roger Jaensch will publish a consultation paper on Wednesday which includes the government's proposals, based on feedback from Aboriginal groups.
He said the intention was to allow for more land to be returned to Aboriginal people, after the process stalled following 2013 with the failure to return land at larapuna/Eddystone Point.
"This consultation paper has taken that feedback into account and outlines the government's proposed approaches to amend the Act and return more land to Aboriginal people," he said.
"There will, of course, be different views."
The paper highlights the low engagement in ALCT elections. The roll contains 630 people, of which 148 voted in 2018 and 135 in 2021.
In the same period, using the new eligibility criteria, the number of Tasmanians identifying as Aboriginal has significantly increased.
Mr Jaensch intends to introduce legislation to implement the reforms "as soon as possible" once consultation has concluded.
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