Recent Cases

La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council v Quarry Street Pty Ltd [2025] HCA 32 (03 September 2025) (Gageler CJ; Gordon, Edelman, Steward and Jagot JJ)


Catchwords:


Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples – Land rights – Claimable Crown lands – Where land claimed under s 36(2) of Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (NSW) (“Act”) subject to lease granted by Crown – Where lessee had not undertaken purposeful activity on land – Where “claimable Crown lands” in s 36(1) of Act means lands vested in Crown that are “not lawfully used” – Whether land “lawfully used” for purpose of s 36(1)(b) of Act merely because land subject to existing lease from Crown.

Words and phrases – “actual use”, “claimable Crown lands”, “constructive use”, “Crown lands”, “doctrine of concurrent leases”, “estate or interest in land”, “exploitation of rights to land”, “land”, “land claim”, “land vested”, “lands”, “lands vested”, “lawfully used or occupied”, “lease”, “occupation”, “occupied”, “physical area”, “possession”, “purposeful interaction”, “remedial or beneficial legislation”, “reversionary interest”, “rights to land”, “rights to the physical area”, “used”, “vested”.