Aboriginal Affairs Planning Authority Amendment Bill 2026

Background

The State Government is working on amendments to the Aboriginal Affairs Planning Authority Act 1972 (AAPA Act), which will enable greater social, cultural and economic opportunities for Aboriginal people by removing barriers to the divestment of the Aboriginal Lands Trust (ALT) estate.

The amendments to the AAPA Act will only impact land within the ALT estate, which is land currently owned or managed by the Aboriginal Lands Trust and the Aboriginal Affairs Planning Authority on behalf of Aboriginal people.

The ALT estate comprises 285 properties covering around 21.9 million hectares, or 8.7 per cent of Western Australia's landmass. Please see the ALT Estate maps under Key Documents.

The proposed amendments will:

• Modernise the AAPA Act to better reflect the modern-day objectives of the State Government and Aboriginal people, align the AAPA Act with the requirements of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) and the rights of native title holders and claimants in any divestment outcome.
• Allow Part 3 reserves to be divested to an Aboriginal corporation while keeping existing protections, including trespass offences by non-Aboriginal people, permit requirements and treatment under the Mining Act 1978.
• Enable the Minister to delegate Aboriginal corporations the power to grant permits over divested Part 3 reserves.
• Streamline the process for divesting Part 3 reserves in other tenure.
• Streamline the process for changing the boundaries of Part 3 reserves to remove public utilities and roads allowing them to be managed by relevant agencies responsible for them.
• Clarify the ALT’s consultation duties by defining ‘Aboriginal stakeholders’ that must be consulted, in line with current practice.
• Strengthen the enforcement of offences under the AAPA Act.
• Update the penalties for committing an offence under the AAPA Act.

The process to date

Have Your Say

You can have your say on the Amendment Bill by:

• completing the online feedback form below
• attending an information session at one of the locations mentioned under 'Key Dates' on the right. Please register by sending an email to aapa-act@dplh.wa.gov.au
• emailing aapa-act@dplh.wa.gov.au, or
• mailing your submission to: AAPA Act Amendments – Project Team, Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage, 140 William Street, Perth WA 6000.

Feedback/submissions on the Amendment Bill is open until Friday 4 September 2026.