Confirmation of Aboriginality

The NSW Aboriginal Land Council does not issue letters of Confirmation of Aboriginality or Certificates of Aboriginality.

Not all Local Aboriginal Land Councils (LALCs) issue Confirmations of Aboriginality but may issue you a Confirmation of Membership after a period of active membership. You’ll need to speak with your LALC about this.

Click here for more on becoming a Local Aboriginal Land Council member.

A LALC should not write a letter of confirmation of membership for a person, if the person is not first a Member of the LALC.

The NSW Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (as amended) states that to be a Member of a LALC you must be an Aboriginal person and that a person wishing to join a LALC must:

  • identify as a person of Aboriginal descent.
  • present documentation identifying their family’s Aboriginal descent.
  • be accepted by their local Aboriginal community as a person of Aboriginal descent.

A person is qualified for membership if:

  • the person is an adult Aboriginal person who resides within the area of the Local Aboriginal Land Council concerned and is accepted as being qualified on that basis to be a member by a meeting of the Council, or
  • the person is an adult Aboriginal person who has a sufficient association with the area of the Local Aboriginal Land Council concerned (as determined by the voting members of the Council at a meeting of the Council) and is accepted as being qualified on that basis to be a member by a meeting of the Council, or
  • the person is an Aboriginal owner in relation to land within the area of the Local Aboriginal Land Council concerned and has made a written application for membership in accordance with subsection (3).

Under the NSW Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (as amended) your application for membership of a LALC is presented at a meeting of the relevant LALC for discussion, and its acceptance will be be put to a vote. A majority vote either way will decide your membership application acceptance or rejection.

When a person seeks to become a Member of a LALC, the members of a LALC must be satisfied that the person is in fact Aboriginal and must make a resolution to accept the person as a Member, before a LALC Chief Executive Officer can enter their name on a membership roll.

For further information please contact the relevant NSWALC Zone Office that your LALC falls under.