An Office of the Registrar has existed since the beginning of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act in NSW in 1983.
The functions of the Registrar are set out in section 165 of the Act. These functions include registering land claims and maintaining the Register of Aboriginal Land Claims, maintaining the Register of Aboriginal Owners, approving the rules of Aboriginal Land Councils, issuing compliance directions, investigating complaints and mediating disputes.
The role of Registrar of the Aboriginal Land Right Act 1983 (ORALRA) includes:
The team at the Office of the Registrar of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act has been working to improve access to our services, including updating the process for making Aboriginal Land Claims.
The Office of the Registrar's Strategic Plan 2021—24 has been distributed throughout the Aboriginal land council network and relevant Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal organisations; it is available here for your reference. If you would like to comment on the Plan, please contact us through the email address given below.
We look forward to contiuning to work with all Local Aboriginal Land Councils across NSW in the future. We can be contacted on by phone on 02 8633 1266, or by email to adminofficer@oralra.nsw.gov.au.
Download Membership, Land Claims, Voting, Register of Aboriginal Owners, Codes of Conduct and Eligibility Forms & Resources.
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If you have a complaint about the conduct of staff, consultants and/or Board members of a NSW Local Aboriginal Land Council, or staff and/or councillors of the NSW Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC), we're keen to hear from you.
Our legislation limits what we can investigate. The Office of the Registrar, ALRA (ORALRA) can handle complaints about matters directly related to provisions of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 and Aboriginal Land Rights Regulations 2014.
We can investigate the conduct of:
We cannot investigate the conduct of:
We also cannot handle complaints about:
The ORALRA acts impartially and independently of both the Land Councils and the complainant. We do not act as advocates and do not provide legal advice.
We have developed guidelines and other resources to assist our stakeholders and our staff are available to provide advice and guidance on how policies, procedures and complaint handling processes can be improved.
We also have an important role in relation to dealing with public interest disclosures and can provide support and training for staff and Board on complaint handling and governance.
If you wish to register a complaint with us, we can be contacted on by phone on 02 8633 1266, or by email at adminofficer@oralra.nsw.gov.au.