What it does
The Aboriginal Communities Act 1979 (WA) establishes a statutory framework under which certain incorporated Aboriginal communities may exercise localised rule-making power over land declared to be their “community lands”. At its core the Act delegates limited legislative authority to the council of each qualifying community so that it can “make by-laws relating to the community lands of the community for or with respect to” an enumerated list of 11 subject matters (s.7(1)(a)–(k)). These range from control of entry of persons, vehicles and animals, through traffic management, protection of grounds and buildings, regulation of meetings, prohibition of nuisances and offensive behaviour, control of alcohol and deleterious substances, firearms and dangerous materials, littering, obstruction of authorised persons, and a residual power to prescribe anything “necessary or convenient” for “securing decency, order and good conduct”.
The Act is not a general self-government statute. It operates only in respect of land that the Governor has separately proclaimed to be the community lands of a particular community (s.6(1)). The Governor may later amend that proclamation by adding, excising or more precisely describing land (s.6(2)). By-laws made under the Act apply exclusively within the boundaries of those proclaimed lands but bind every person present on them, whether or not a member of the community (s.9(1)).
A two-tier declaration system governs which communities may access the regime. Section 4(1) names two communities that are automatically covered and empowers the Governor, on Ministerial advice, to add any other incorporated Aboriginal community that meets three cumulative criteria: constitutional provisions requiring consultation with members before by-law activity, actual compliance with those provisions, and overall appropriateness (s.4(2)). Conversely, the Governor may, again on Ministerial advice, remove a community from the scheme if consultation requirements are absent, not being followed, or if for any other reason continued application is inappropriate (s.5(1)–(2)). Upon removal, all existing by-laws are automatically revoked by force of the proclamation itself (s.5(3)).