The Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority (AAPA) is an independent

statutory authority A statutory body or statutory authority is a body set up by law (statute) that is authorised to implement certain legislation on behalf of the relevant country or state, sometimes by being Primary and secondary legislation, empowered or deleg ...

established under the ''Northern Territory Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act 1989''. Its function is to protect

Aboriginal sacred site Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

s within the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

of Australia. The 1989 Act originated in a 1977 bill, signed into law as the ''Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act 1978'' in November 1978, soon after the NT achieved self-government, and the Aboriginal Sacred Sites Authority was created. The legislation became a subject of controversy among developers, the

Northern Territory Government The Government of the Northern Territory of Australia, also referred to as the Northern Territory Government, is the Australian territorial democratic administrative authority of the Northern Territory. The Government of Northern Territory wa ...

and the new Authority. Numerous amendments were proposed and debated, including its compatibility with the ''

Land Rights Act 1976 The ''Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976'' (ALRA) is Australian federal government legislation that provides the basis upon which Aboriginal Australian people in the Northern Territory can claim rights to land based on traditi ...

'', before the ''Northern Territory Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act 1989'' was passed on 26 May 1989, coming into force on 15 August 1989. This Act created the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority, which included new functions and expanded its work, and also introduced various measures to increase accountability. AAPA works with

traditional owners Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...

to record "sites of physical, spiritual and cultural significance" on its Register of Sacred Sites. Prospective land developers are legally obliged to apply for an Authority Certificate through AAPA. It is governed by a board of 12 people, mostly senior Aboriginal custodians. The Authority Board is made up of two members appointed by the NT Government, and five male and five female Aboriginal custodians nominated by the four NT Aboriginal Land Councils.

References

External links

*{{official, https://www.aapant.org.au/ Indigenous Australians in the Northern Territory Sacred natural sites Organisations serving Indigenous Australians Northern Territory legislation 1989 establishments in Australia