{"id":"northern-territory-land-corporation-act-1986","name":"Northern Territory Land Corporation Act 1986","slug":"northern-territory-land-corporation-act-1986","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"nt","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":30335,"registerId":"nt-northern-territory-land-corporation-act-1986-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-01","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Northern Territory Land Corporation Act 1986","content":"NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA\nNORTHERN TERRITORY LAND CORPORATION ACT 1986\nAs in force at 28 August 2013\nTable of provisions\nPart I Preliminary\n1 Short title ......................................................................................... 1\n2 Commencement .............................................................................. 1\n3 Definitions ........................................................................................ 1\nPart II Northern Territory Land Corporation\n4 Corporation ...................................................................................... 1\n5 Common seal .................................................................................. 2\n6 Status of Corporation ....................................................................... 2\n7 Members.......................................................................................... 2\n8 Removal of member ........................................................................ 3\n9 Chairman ......................................................................................... 3\n10 Appointments ................................................................................... 3\n11 Protection of member, &c. ............................................................... 3\n12 Confidentiality .................................................................................. 4\n13 Disclosure of interests ..................................................................... 4\n14 Procedures ...................................................................................... 4\n15 Corporation to acquire, &c., land ..................................................... 4\n16 Administrator may vest land, &c. ..................................................... 5\nPart III Transitional\n17 Chairman and members .................................................................. 6\n18 Certain Registers and documents to be amended........................... 6\nENDNOTES\n\n\n\nNORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA\n____________________\nAs in force at 28 August 2013\n____________________\nNORTHERN TERRITORY LAND CORPORATION ACT 1986\nAn Act to provide for the continuation of the Northern Territory\nDevelopment Land Corporation as the Northern Territory Land\nCorporation to hold certain land in the Northern Territory, and for related\npurposes\nPart I Preliminary\n1 Short title\nThis Act may be cited as the Northern Territory Land Corporation\nAct 1986.\n2 Commencement\n(1) Sections 1 and 2 shall come into operation on the day on which the\nAdministrator's assent to this Act is declared.\n(2) The remaining provisions of this Act shall come into operation on a\ndate to be fixed by the Administrator by notice in the Gazette.\n3 Definitions\nIn this Act:\nCorporation means the Northern Territory Development Land\nCorporation continued in existence as the Northern Territory Land\nCorporation by this Act.\nmember means a member of the Corporation.\nPart II Northern Territory Land Corporation\n4 Corporation\n(1) Notwithstanding the repeals effected by section 4 of the Territory\nLoans Management Corporation Act 1986, the Northern Territory\nDevelopment Land Corporation that was, immediately before the\ncommencement of this Act (other than sections 1 and 2), in\nexistence by virtue of the Territory Development Act 1978 as then\n\nPart II Northern Territory Land Corporation\nNorthern Territory Land Corporation Act 1986 2\nin force, is continued in existence and shall be known as the\nNorthern Territory Land Corporation.\n(2) The Corporation is:\n(a) a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common\nseal; and\n(b) capable, in its corporate name, of:\n(i) subject to this Act, acquiring, holding and disposing of\nreal (including leasehold) and personal property; and\n(ii) suing and being sued.\n5 Common seal\nAll courts, judges and persons acting judicially shall take judicial\nnotice of the common seal of the Corporation affixed to a document\nand shall presume that it was duly affixed.\n6 Status of Corporation\n(1) The Corporation is not an Authority or Instrumentality of the Crown\nand is not, for the purposes of the Interpretation Act 1978, a\nstatutory corporation.\n(1A) The Corporation is not, and is not capable of being, an Agency\nwithin the meaning and for the purposes of the Financial\nManagement Act 1995.\n(2) The Corporation is not subject to the control and direction of a\nminister or the Crown.\n7 Members\n(1) The Corporation shall consist of not less than 2 members.\n(2) The Minister may appoint a person to be a member of the\nCorporation.\n(3) The performance of a function by the Corporation is not invalid by\nreason only of there being a vacancy in its membership.\n\nPart II Northern Territory Land Corporation\nNorthern Territory Land Corporation Act 1986 3\n8 Removal of member\n(1) The Minister shall remove a member from office if the member:\n(a) becomes bankrupt, applies to take the benefit of any law for\nthe relief of bankrupt or insolvent debtors, compounds with his\ncreditors or makes an assignment of his remuneration for their\nbenefit;\n(b) becomes, by reason of incapacity, incapable of continuing as\na member;\n(c) has been convicted and is under sentence of imprisonment for\na period of not less than 3 months for an offence against a law\nof the Territory, the Commonwealth or a State of the\nCommonwealth or another Territory;\n(d) is absent, except on leave granted by the Corporation, from\n3 consecutive meetings of the Corporation; or\n(e) fails to comply with section 13.\n(2) A member may resign his office by writing under his hand delivered\nto the Minister.\n9 Chairman\nThe Minister may appoint a member to be the Chairman of the\nCorporation.\n10 Appointments\nAn appointment under section 7(2) shall be notified in the Gazette\nand shall take effect on:\n(a) the date of publication of the notice; or\n(b) if there is a later date specified in the notice, that later date.\n11 Protection of member, &c.\nA member or person acting with the authority of the Corporation is\nnot personally liable in respect of any matter or thing done or\ncontract entered into by:\n(a) the Corporation; or\n(b) that person,\n\nPart II Northern Territory Land Corporation\nNorthern Territory Land Corporation Act 1986 4\nif the matter or thing was done, or the contract was entered into, in\ngood faith for the purpose of executing this Act or any other Act\nconferring or imposing functions on the Corporation.\n12 Confidentiality\nA member shall not disclose information obtained in the course of\nhis duties as a member unless that disclosure is made in the course\nof his duty as a member.\nMaximum penalty: 25 penalty units or imprisonment for\n3 months.\n13 Disclosure of interests\n(1) If a member has a direct or indirect interest in a matter:\n(a) which is the subject of consideration at a meeting of the\nCorporation; or\n(b) in which the Corporation is concerned,\nhe shall, as soon as possible after he knows that he has the interest\nand that the Corporation is considering the matter, disclose his\ninterest to the Corporation.\n(2) The Corporation may direct a member who has disclosed an\ninterest in a matter under subsection (1) to refrain from taking part\nin the deliberations in the Corporation in relation to the matter, and\nthe member shall comply with that direction.\nMaximum penalty: 8 penalty units.\n14 Procedures\nThe Corporation may, subject to this Act, determine its own\nprocedures.\n15 Corporation to acquire, &c., land\n(1) The function of the Corporation is to acquire (by agreement or\notherwise), hold and dispose of real property (including an estate or\ninterest in real property) in accordance with this Act and it may\nacquire and hold such property notwithstanding any other law in\nforce in the Territory which would restrict or otherwise limit the\ncapacity of the Corporation to acquire and hold it.\n(2) The Corporation has power to do all things necessary or convenient\nto be done for or in connection with or incidental to the carrying out\nof its function.\n\nPart II Northern Territory Land Corporation\nNorthern Territory Land Corporation Act 1986 5\n(3) Moneys payable by the Corporation for or incidental to the\nacquisition of an estate or interest in real property may be\nadvanced by the Territory on such terms and conditions as the\nTreasurer thinks fit.\n(4) Moneys payable to the Corporation in respect of an estate or\ninterest in real property held or disposed of by the Corporation shall\nbe paid to the Territory, whose receipt shall be a sufficient\ndischarge therefor, and moneys payable by the Corporation in\nrespect of an estate or interest in real property held by the\nCorporation may be paid by the Territory.\n(5) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Stamp Duty Act 1978, no\nstamp duty shall be payable on an instrument by which any\nproperty or interest is granted, assured to or vested in the\nCorporation.\n(6) The Corporation may enter into such arrangements as it thinks fit\nwith the Territory or any other person in relation to the care, control\nand management of land or an interest in land held by the\nCorporation.\n(7) Subject to subsection (6), the Minister has the care, control and\nmanagement of all land and interests in land held by the\nCorporation.\n16 Administrator may vest land, &c.\n(1) The Administrator may, by notice in the Gazette, declare any land\nin respect of which:\n(a) all the right, title and interest is vested in the Territory; or\n(b) no person, other than the Territory or the Corporation, holds a\nright, title or interest,\nto be vested in the Corporation.\n(2) On the publication of a notice under subsection (1), all right, title\nand interest, both legal and beneficial, held by any person in\nrespect of the land (including any subsoil), described in the notice,\nbut not in respect of any minerals, becomes, by force of this\nsubsection, vested in the Corporation as though the notice were an\nalienation in fee from the Crown by way of grant to the Corporation.\n(3) On lodgement of a copy of a notice under subsection (1) in relation\nto land with the Registrar-General or the proper officer controlling\nany official register or record of the land described in the notice, the\nRegistrar-General or that officer shall deal with the copy of the\nnotice as though it were an instrument of transfer or conveyance of\n\nPart III Transitional\nNorthern Territory Land Corporation Act 1986 6\nall the right, title and interest in the land to the Corporation.\nPart III Transitional\n17 Chairman and members\nThe Chairman and members of the Corporation holding office\nimmediately before the commencement of this Act (other than\nsections 1 and 2) shall continue as the Chairman and members, as\nthe case may be, as if they were appointed to their respective\noffices under this Act.\n18 Certain Registers and documents to be amended\nOn the lodgement of a copy of this Act with the Registrar-General\nor a proper officer controlling any official register or record of real\nproperty vested in the Corporation before the commencement of\nthis Act (other than sections 1 and 2) or in which the Corporation\nheld, immediately before that commencement, an interest, the\nRegistrar-General or that officer shall make the necessary entries in\nthe relevant registers and other records to record the change of\nname of the Corporation.\n\nENDNOTES\nNorthern Territory Land Corporation Act 1986 7\nENDNOTES\n1 KEY\nKey to abbreviations\namd = amended od = order\napp = appendix om = omitted\nbl = by-law pt = Part\nch = Chapter r = regulation/rule\ncl = clause rem = remainder\ndiv = Division renum = renumbered\nexp = expires/expired rep = repealed\nf = forms s = section\nGaz = Gazette sch = Schedule\nhdg = heading sdiv = Subdivision\nins = inserted SL = Subordinate Legislation\nlt = long title sub = substituted\nnc = not commenced\n2 LIST OF LEGISLATION\nNorthern Territory Land Corporation Act 1986 (Act No. 53, 1986)\nAssent date 19 December 1986\nCommenced 24 December 1986 (Gaz S90, 24 December 1986)\nStatute Law Revision Act 1989 (Act No. 60, 1989)\nAssent date 2 October 1989\nCommenced 2 October 1989\nFinancial Management (Consequential Amendments) Act 1995 (Act No. 5, 1995)\nAssent date 21 March 1995\nCommenced 1 April 1995 (s 2, s 2 Financial Management Act 1992 (Act\nNo. 4, 1995) and Gaz S13, 31 March 1995)\nPenalties Amendment (Miscellaneous) Act 2013 (Act No. 23, 2013)\nAssent date 12 July 2013\nCommenced 28 August 2013 (Gaz G35, 28 August 2013, p 2)\n3 GENERAL AMENDMENTS\nGeneral amendments of a formal nature (which are not referred to in the table\nof amendments to this reprint) are made by the Interpretation Legislation\nAmendment Act 2018 (Act No. 22, 2018) to: ss 1, 4, 6 and 15.\n4 LIST OF AMENDMENTS\ns 6 amd No. 5, 1995, s 19\nss 12 – 13 amd No. 23, 2013, s 12\ns 16 amd No. 60, 1989, s 6\ns 18 amd No. 60, 1989, s 6","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains focused on its original purpose of establishing a land-holding corporation for the Northern Territory. While amendments have updated penalty units (2013) and clarified financial management status (1995), these are technical updates rather than scope expansion. The core function—acquiring, holding, and disposing of land—has not changed since 1986."},"complexity_factors":["Short statute with only 18 sections across 3 Parts","Minimal defined terms (only 2 explicit definitions in section 3: 'Corporation' and 'member')","Straightforward corporate structure without complex subsidiary provisions","Limited cross-referencing—primarily references to the Stamp Duty Act 1978, Interpretation Act 1978, and Financial Management Act 1995","Simple conditional logic in section 8 (removal grounds listed as bullet points) and section 16 (vesting procedure)","No nested exceptions or highly technical procedural requirements","Clear separation of powers and functions without overlapping jurisdictions"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does:**\n\nThis Act creates (or rather, continues) a government-owned land company called the **Northern Territory Land Corporation**. Think of it as a special-purpose property holding company that works for the Northern Territory government but operates at arm's length from ministers.\n\n**Key things the Corporation can do:**\n\n- **Buy, hold, and sell land** in the Northern Territory, including leasehold interests (rights to use land for a set period)\n- **Receive land directly from the Administrator** (the Territory's representative of the Crown) through a special Gazette notice process—this works like a free grant of land from the government\n- **Borrow money** from the Territory to buy land, with the Treasurer setting the terms\n- **Manage land** itself or arrange for others (including the Territory) to manage it on its behalf\n\n**Who runs it:**\n\n- A small board of at least 2 members appointed by the Minister\n- Members can be removed for bankruptcy, criminal convictions, missing meetings, or failing to disclose conflicts of interest\n- The Corporation decides its own meeting rules but members must disclose any personal interests in land deals\n\n**Special status:**\n\nImportantly, the Corporation is **not** a normal government department or \"statutory authority.\" It:\n- Doesn't take orders from ministers or the Crown\n- Isn't subject to the usual public sector financial management rules\n- Gets special tax breaks (no stamp duty on land transfers to it)\n- Protects its members from personal liability when acting in good faith\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nThis setup allows the Territory government to hold and develop land through a flexible corporate structure that can operate more like a private property developer than a bureaucratic agency. It's particularly useful for managing large land holdings, facilitating development projects, or holding land in trust for future uses without direct ministerial control.\n\nThe Act also includes transitional rules to ensure smooth handover from the previous \"Northern Territory Development Land Corporation\" and update land registry records."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This Act primarily continued an existing corporation under a new name without significantly expanding its functions or powers. The original purpose of holding and managing land for the Territory remains unchanged."},"complexity_factors":["Only two defined terms","Short act with 18 sections","No complex conditions or nested exceptions","Minimal cross-references to other legislation"],"plain_english_summary":"This Act renames the former Northern Territory Development Land Corporation to the Northern Territory Land Corporation and keeps it operating. The Corporation is a separate legal entity (not part of the government) that can buy, own, and sell land in the Northern Territory. It can borrow money from the Territory government for land purchases. The Corporation is not controlled by any minister or the Crown. The Administrator (head of the NT government) can transfer government-owned land to the Corporation. The Corporation must have at least two members appointed by the Minister, who must disclose any personal interests in matters before the Corporation. Land transfers to the Corporation are exempt from stamp duty. The Minister has care, control, and management of land held by the Corporation unless otherwise arranged."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/northern-territory-land-corporation-act-1986","history":"/api/acts/northern-territory-land-corporation-act-1986/history","analysis":"/api/acts/northern-territory-land-corporation-act-1986/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/northern-territory-land-corporation-act-1986/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/northern-territory-land-corporation-act-1986/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/northern-territory-land-corporation-act-1986/documents"}}