Five-Year leases: The Australian Government committed to making fair payments to the Aboriginal land owners of land subject to a five-year lease and to consider a reduction of five-year lease boundaries.
The Northern Territory Valuer-General has been requested to determine a reasonable amount of rent in accordance with section 62 of the NTNER Act 2007. Once this determination is made, the Government will pay that amount to land owners.
On 1 April 2009, the five-year lease boundaries were substantially reduced (an overall reduction of approximately 50 per cent) by excluding areas not essential for service delivery.
Permit system: The Australian Government undertook to reinstate the permit system for common areas of townships on Aboriginal land as part of its election commitments. Legislation to this effect was introduced in February 2008. The Opposition failed to support this legislation when it came to the vote in the Senate in November 2008, ignoring the overwhelming desire of Aboriginal people to have the permit system reinstated. Members of the public are still required to obtain a permit to enter the vast majority of Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory.