4Consultation and negotiation with local Aboriginal communities

4 Consultation and negotiation with local Aboriginal communities

4 Consultation and negotiation with local Aboriginal communities

(1) The Minister is to issue guidelines about consultation and negotiation with the local Aboriginal community in relation to relevant projects for the purposes of increasing employment and income opportunities for the local Aboriginal community.

(2) The Minister is to take the guidelines into account when exercising the Minister’s functions under Part 5, Division 2.

(3) To give effect to the guidelines, the Minister may impose a condition on a direction under section 32 or an authorisation under section 36(2).

(4) The consumer trustee is to take the guidelines into account when exercising the consumer trustee’s functions under Part 6, Divisions 3 and 4.

(5) The infrastructure planner must take the guidelines into account when exercising the following functions—

(a) a function under Part 5,

(b) a function prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this section as a function in relation to which the infrastructure planner must, when exercising, take the guidelines into account.

(5A) To give effect to the guidelines, the infrastructure planner must—

(a) make the appointment of a network operator under section 31A(1) subject to conditions the infrastructure planner considers necessary to give effect to the guidelines, and

(b) include, in a recommendation to the Minister under section 31B(1), details of conditions to which the infrastructure planner considers the direction should be made subject to give effect to the guidelines.

(6) The guidelines are to be published on the Department’s website.

(7) In this section—

local Aboriginal community includes—

(a) an Aboriginal person who has native title rights and interests, within the meaning of the Native Title Act 1993 of the Commonwealth, in relation to the land to which the relevant project relates, and

(b) the Local Aboriginal Land Council for the area to which the relevant project relates, and