18Aboriginal persons or Torres Strait Islanders

#### 18 Aboriginal persons or Torres Strait Islanders (1) This section applies if: (a) an application for the declaration of an offsets project as an eligible offsets project must be accompanied by identity evidence in respect of an individual; and (b) the individual is an Aboriginal person or a Torres Strait Islander who does not have that identity evidence, or all of that evidence. (2) An application accompanied by a reference from an authorised referee that verifies the individual’s identity is taken to satisfy the requirement that the application be accompanied by identity evidence. (3) The authorised referee may confirm the individual’s identity from any records within the referee’s keeping or control. (4) In this section: > authorised referee, for an individual, means a person who: (a) is not the individual’s parent, grandparent, sibling, child or grandchild; and (b) has known the individual for at least 12 months; and (c) is one of the following: (i) the chair, Secretary or chief executive officer of an incorporated Indigenous organisation, including a land council, community council or housing organisation; (ii) the individual’s employer; (iii) a school principal or a school counsellor; (iv) a minister of religion; (v) a medical practitioner; (vi) a treating health professional (within the meaning of subsection 197(1) of the Social Security Act 1991) or a manager in an Aboriginal Medical Service; (vii) a person who has been an officer in a Department of State of the Commonwealth or a State or Territory for at least 5 years.