The Act primarily affects three groups. First, native title holders and claimants whose rights and interests may have been extinguished, suppressed or impaired by past acts, intermediate period acts or previous possession acts attributable to the State. Their substantive rights are directly altered by the extinguishment rules in ss 7–9, 13B–13D, 13H–13I and 13L, while their procedural and compensatory rights are engaged by ss 13, 13G, 13N and 13O.

Second, the State of Victoria itself in its various capacities as Crown land owner, grantor of tenures, constructor of public works and compensator. The Act binds the Crown in all capacities (s 5) and renders the State liable for compensation determined in accordance with Commonwealth Act principles.

Third, holders of interests granted by the State – freehold owners, lessees (pastoral, agricultural, mining), public authorities and infrastructure providers – obtain statutory certainty that their titles are valid and, in many cases, that native title has been wholly or partially extinguished. Section 11, however, protects long-standing Aboriginal residence and access on validated pastoral leases from automatic ejection.

The Act also touches representative Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander bodies, registered native title bodies corporate and registered native title claimants through the notification obligation in s 13N. Indirectly, the confirmation provisions in Part 3 affect all users of waterways, beaches and natural resources by reinforcing the prevalence of State and public rights while purporting to leave native title intact.

The Act creates few standalone duties but instead activates rights and consequences by reference to the Commonwealth Act. Native title holders have a statutory entitlement to compensation for validated past acts (s 13(1)), validated intermediate period acts (s 13G(1)) and certain extinguishments under Part 2B (s 13O(1)). That compensation is payable by the State (ss 13(2), 13G(2), 13O(2)) and must be assessed according to the just terms principles in Division 5 of Part 2 of the Commonwealth Act (ss 13(3), 13G(3), 13O(3)).

The State has a duty to pay that compensation and, where s 13N applies, to ensure that representative bodies, registered bodies corporate and claimants receive notice and an opportunity to comment before certain previous non-exclusive possession acts are done.

Rights of preservation appear repeatedly. Sections 12, 13F, 13J and 13M each provide that beneficial reservations or conditions for Aboriginal peoples, and any other non-native-title rights or interests (statutory, common law or equitable), are unaffected by the validation or extinguishment provisions. Section 11 preserves de facto occupation and access rights on pastoral land. Section 16 ensures that the Part 3 confirmations do not impair native title or land-conferral statutes that benefit only Indigenous peoples.

Holders of titles validated by the Act obtain the right to rely on the retrospective validation in ss 6, 13A and 13Q. Public users obtain confirmed access rights under s 15. The State obtains confirmed ownership and regulatory rights over natural resources and water (s 14).

The Act contains no offence provisions or administrative penalties. Enforcement occurs through civil mechanisms. Compensation claims are determined consistently with the Commonwealth Act’s negotiation and litigation pathways, ultimately enforceable in the Federal Court or, where jurisdiction is conferred, the Victorian courts. Declaratory relief concerning the extinguishing effect of particular acts or the preservation of beneficial conditions under ss 12, 13F, 13J or 13M would be available. Because validation is expressed in absolute terms (“valid and taken always to have been valid”), the Act largely removes the possibility of collateral attack on title validity on native title grounds, shifting the dispute terrain to compensation quantum and the existence or content of native title itself.

The Act is expressly parasitic on the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth). Section 4(1) imports all words and expressions from the Commonwealth Act unless context requires otherwise. Every substantive validation, extinguishment and compensation provision cross-references specific Commonwealth sections (ss 229(4), 232B, 23B, 23F, 23J, 24EBA(6), Division 5 of Part 2). The Act therefore operates as State “covering the field” legislation contemplated by the Commonwealth Act’s validation and confirmation provisions.

It repealed its own predecessor, the Land Titles Validation Act 1993 (s 17). It sits alongside the Traditional Owner Settlement Act 2010 (Vic) and various land administration statutes. The preservation clauses protect rights arising under other Victorian legislation, at common law or in equity. Part 3 confirmations interact with water, fisheries, minerals and Crown land statutes by reinforcing State ownership and public access without purporting to extinguish native title, thereby attempting to avoid the need for further validation.

Because the Act deems acts to have been valid from their original dates, it interacts with limitation statutes, adverse possession rules and the Property Law Act 1958 (Vic) by removing historical invalidity as a basis for challenge. In the event of inconsistency with Commonwealth law, the latter prevails by virtue of s 109 of the Constitution; however the Act was deliberately drafted to remain within the Commonwealth validation template.

The most significant changes were made by the Land Titles Validation (Amendment) Act 1998 (No. 92/1998), which inserted Parts 2A, 2B and 2C in their entirety and amended s 13. These amendments responded to the High Court’s decision in Wik Peoples v Queensland (1996) 187 CLR 1 and the subsequent 1998 amendments to the Commonwealth Native Title Act. The Commonwealth amendments had introduced the concepts of intermediate period acts, previous exclusive possession acts, previous non-exclusive possession acts and the confirmation regime. Victoria mirrored those changes to ensure its land tenure system received the full benefit of the expanded validation and confirmation framework.

The Statute Law Revision Act 2000 (No. 74/2000) made only a minor textual amendment to s 1(a). No further substantive amendments appear in the version as at 20 September 2012. The 1998 expansion was therefore the pivotal change, shifting the Act from a narrow past-acts validator to a comprehensive native title “certainty” measure.

Although the provided text contains no express reference to litigation, the structure of the Act reveals several points of legal tension. The repeated displacement clauses (e.g. s 13H(2) stating that if s 13H applies then ss 7, 9, 13B and 13D do not apply) indicate legislative awareness that overlapping validation pathways could produce inconsistent outcomes; courts must therefore characterise an act precisely before determining which extinguishment rule governs.

The timing rules for extinguishment – 1 January 1994 for certain public works (s 8(2)), the date construction began (s 13I(2)), or the date the act was done (s 13H(1)(b), s 13L(1)(c)) – create scope for factual dispute about when a “public work” was completed or commenced. The preservation provisions (ss 12, 13F, 13J, 13M) require courts to distinguish native title rights and interests from “other rights or interests” of Aboriginal peoples, a distinction that can be factually and legally elusive.

Section 13O(1) limits compensation to the extent native title was not already extinguished “otherwise than under this Act”, inviting litigation about the independent extinguishing effect of pre-1975 grants or other historical acts. The confirmation in s 14(3) that statutory fishing access rights prevail over “other public or private fishing rights” raises questions about whether native title fishing rights fall within that formulation, despite s 16’s statement that confirmation does not extinguish native title.

The s 13N notification obligation, which requires notice “in the way determined in writing by the Commonwealth Minister”, imports an external administrative step that, if not strictly complied with, could undermine the validity of the validation itself. These technical interlocks have produced, and will continue to produce, satellite litigation about characterisation, timing and compensation quantum.

Most practitioners assume that once an act is validated under s 6 or s 13A the native title position is settled. In fact, the Act layers multiple regimes: an act may be a category A past act under Part 2, a previous exclusive possession act under Part 2B, and also the subject of an Indigenous Land Use Agreement under Part 2C. The displacement rules mean the later characterisation can render the earlier extinguishment analysis irrelevant. Failing to check which Part actually governs can produce erroneous advice on whether native title survives.

Another trap is the “non-extinguishment principle” in ss 10 and 13E. Many title due-diligence reports simply note “native title may exist” without explaining that the principle suppresses native title only for the duration of the inconsistent grant; upon expiry or surrender, native title (if it can be proved) springs back. This has major implications for renewal negotiations and compensation calculations.

Section 11 is frequently overlooked. Even where native title has been extinguished over pastoral land, the Act expressly withholds any automatic right to eject resident or accessing Aboriginal persons. Land managers who rely on the extinguishment to exclude traditional owners may find themselves in trespass or racial discrimination litigation.

The compensation provisions look straightforward until s 13O(1) is read carefully: compensation is available only for extinguishment effected under this Act and only to the extent the native title was not already gone. Proving the counterfactual – what would have happened absent the Act – is complex and expensive. Finally, the Part 3 confirmations are not neutral. While s 16 says they do not extinguish native title, the confirmation that State fishing rights “prevail” over other fishing rights can, as a practical matter, render native title fishing rights commercially worthless, yet without triggering a compensation entitlement under the validation parts.

Compliance for State agencies and private parties holding or seeking titles requires a three-stage analysis. First, characterise the act or grant by reference to the precise definitions imported from the Commonwealth Act: is it a past act, an intermediate period act, a previous exclusive possession act, a previous non-exclusive possession act, a public work, a category A/B/C/D act? The answer determines which Part and which section governs.

Second, apply the relevant extinguishment or non-extinguishment rule and check for displacement by a later Part. Confirm whether any beneficial reservation or condition is preserved under ss 12, 13F, 13J or 13M. For non-exclusive pastoral or agricultural leases, ensure s 13L(2) does not oust the partial extinguishment regime.

Third, address compensation. If native title holders are identified or registered, quantify the compensable loss in accordance with Division 5 of Part 2 of the Commonwealth Act. The State must budget for and pay that compensation. Where s 13N applies, the prescribed notification process must be followed before the act is done.

For parties negotiating Indigenous Land Use Agreements under Part 2C, ensure the agreement contains the exact statement required by s 13P(a), that the State is a party, and that any third party who may be liable for compensation is also joined. Registration on the Commonwealth Register then triggers the validation in s 13Q.

Due-diligence checklists should explicitly ask whether the land falls within any of the public-place or beach confirmation categories in s 15 and whether any pre-1994 natural resource authorisations are protected by s 14. Compliance documentation should record the characterisation reasoning, the applicable section, the effect on native title, and the preservation and compensation outcomes. Because the Act imports wholesale the Commonwealth definitions, practitioners must maintain parallel familiarity with the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) as amended. Regular audits of Crown land grants made between 1975 and 1996 remain advisable given the continuing compensable liability.