National Park Estate (Southern Region Reservations) Act 2000

The Act defines several key terms in section 3. Crown land has the meaning given in the Crown Land Management Act 2016. National park estate means land declared as a wilderness area under the Wilderness Act 1987 or the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974; land reserved or dedicated under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974; land dedicated or set apart as a flora reserve under the Forestry Act 1916; land dedicated or reserved for a similar public purpose under the Crown Land Management Act 2016; or land vested in the Minister administering the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 for the purposes of Part 11 of that Act. State forest means land dedicated under the Forestry Act 1916 (or the former Forestry Act 1909) as a State forest, where the dedication is still in force. The National Parks and Wildlife Reserve Trust means the trust as reconstituted by section 9 of the National Park Estate (Land Transfers) Act 1998. The NPW Minister refers to the Minister administering the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974. The concept of dedicated Crown land appears in section 8 and Schedule 4: land taken to be dedicated under the Crown Lands Act 1989 immediately before its repeal continues from the repeal day as Crown land dedicated for the same purposes under the Crown Land Management Act 2016, with the National Parks and Wildlife Reserve Trust appointed as the sole Crown land manager, a role that cannot be revoked. The Act also introduces the concept of access roads in Schedule 7, clause 8: roads, tracks, trails and means of access that existed within transferred lands immediately before commencement and were used for access to private land holdings or to adjoining State forests. These access roads are not initially reserved as national park estate but vest in fee simple in the NPW Minister for the purposes of Part 11 of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974. Existing interest is defined in clause 7 of Schedule 7 to mean any lease, licence, permit, authority, authorisation or occupancy that was current and in force immediately before the Act's commencement. The Act also uses the term continued perpetual lease, continued special lease, continued term lease and continued incomplete tenure purchase with the meanings given in Schedule 1 to the Crown Land Management Act 2016, and such leasehold interests are excluded from reservation or dedication under the Act (Schedule 7, clause 1).

The Act directly affects the Minister administering the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 (the NPW Minister), who is vested with land under section 9, given administration of existing interests under Schedule 7 clause 7, and required to publish orders about access roads under clause 8(6). The Director-General of National Parks and Wildlife has specific functions under section 10: adjusting boundary descriptions, publishing notices on the NSW legislation website, and certifying that adjustments will not significantly reduce the size or value of park estate. The National Parks and Wildlife Reserve Trust is affected by being appointed as the sole Crown land manager of dedicated land under section 8, with powers modified by that section. The Minister administering the Forestry Act 1916 and the Minister administering the Crown Land Management Act 2016 must approve adjustments of land descriptions under section 10. The Forestry Corporation of NSW is affected by the revocation of dedication of its State forests (section 4) and by the vesting of its access roads. Persons who hold freehold interests (estate in fee simple) or continued leases under the Crown Land Management Act 2016 are affected because their land is expressly excluded from reservation or dedication by Schedule 7 clause 1. Holders of existing interests under the Forestry Act 1916 or the former Crown Lands Acts are affected because their interests are preserved but transferred to the administration of the NPW Minister (Schedule 7 clauses 6 and 7). Owners of private land holdings adjacent to or within the transferred lands are affected: they may have rights of way over access roads that are continued or replaced (Schedule 7 clause 8). Local councils and roads authorities may be affected by adjustments to public roads under section 10(9), which can vest or divest land from those authorities despite the Roads Act 1993. Relevant acquiring authorities such as water authorities may acquire land for sewage treatment facilities within Conjola National Park or Kangaroo River Nature Reserve (Schedule 7 clause 13) or for widening Naval College Road (clause 14). Aboriginal land councils are affected because Crown land subject to pending claims under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 is excluded from reservation or dedication (Schedule 7 clause 16). Finally, the Crown in right of New South Wales is bound by the Act pursuant to section 13.

The Act imposes several specific duties. The Director-General of National Parks and Wildlife must certify in any notice adjusting land descriptions that the adjustment will not result in any significant reduction in the size or value of national park estate land or State forest land (section 10(5)). The NPW Minister must, before 30 June 2001, grant a right of way over an access road for the benefit of a private land holding to replace any right of way previously granted under section 20A of the Forestry Act 1916 (Schedule 7 clause 8(5)). The NPW Minister must also, before 31 December 2007, publish an order in the Gazette declaring which access roads are excluded from reservation as part of a national park, state recreation area or nature reserve, and which are not so excluded (Schedule 7 clause 8(6)). That order requires the concurrence of the Minister administering the Forestry Act 1916. The NPW Minister must give notice to each beneficiary of a right of way that is taken to have continued in force under Schedule 7 clause 8(11) (clause 8(13)). The Minister administering the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 has the power to revoke or vary those continued rights of way without the beneficiary's agreement (clause 8(12)). The National Parks and Wildlife Reserve Trust has the right to manage dedicated Crown land under the Crown Land Management Act 2016, and its appointment as Crown land manager cannot be revoked (section 8(3)(a)). The Trust may grant rights over access roads for continued use (Schedule 7 clause 11). Persons holding freehold estates or continued leases have the right to have their land excluded from reservation or dedication (Schedule 7 clause 1). Holders of existing interests under the Forestry Act 1916 or the former Crown Lands Acts have the right to have those interests administered by the NPW Minister, who steps into the shoes of the relevant former ministers (Schedule 7 clause 7). The NPW Minister also has the power to exercise functions of the Crown land Minister under Part 2 of the Crown Land Management Act 2016 in relation to dedicated land, except functions prescribed by regulation (section 8(3)(e)). The Registrar-General has a duty to make recordings in the Register under the Real Property Act 1900 on application by the Director-General to signify that a right of way has continued or been revoked (Schedule 7 clause 8(15)). Where land is vested in the NPW Minister under section 9, the Minister may deal with it as if acquired under Part 11 of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 (Schedule 7 clause 9).

The Act does not itself create any criminal offences or civil penalties. There is no provision in the Act that imposes fines, imprisonment or infringement notices for contravention. Enforcement of the statutory regime is indirect and relies on the underlying legislation to which the land transfers are tied. Once land becomes part of a national park or nature reserve under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974, that Act's enforcement provisions apply, including its penalties for damaging protected areas, lighting fires without authority, interfering with Aboriginal objects, and other offences. Similarly, land managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Reserve Trust as dedicated Crown land under the Crown Land Management Act 2016 becomes subject to the enforcement mechanisms of that Act, which include penalties for unauthorised use, removal of timber, or damage to Crown land. The Act's own sanctions relate to the validity of actions taken under its provisions. For example, if an adjustment of land description is made without the required ministerial approvals under section 10(4), or without the Director-General's certification under section 10(5), it may be legally ineffective. The Act validates anything done before the commencement of the amendments by the National Parks and Wildlife Amendment Act 2010 that would have been valid had those amendments been in force (section 10(11)). The regulations made under section 14 may contain provisions of a savings or transitional nature, and they may take effect from a date earlier than publication, but cannot operate prejudicially to any person other than the State or an authority of the State (section 14(4)). The Crown is bound by the Act (section 13), which means the State or its authorities cannot claim immunity from its provisions. The Act does not create private rights of action. The revocation of dedications, reservations and vestings under the Act (sections 4, 9) does not affect anything done or omitted to be done before commencement (Schedule 7 clause 12). Enforcement of any continued leases or existing interests is a matter for the NPW Minister exercising the powers formerly held by the Forestry Corporation or the Crown lands minister.

The Act expressly overrides other legislation where there is inconsistency. Schedule 7 clause 2 provides that the Act has effect despite the provisions of the Forestry Act 1916, the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 and the Crown Land Management Act 2016, and in particular despite any different procedure for revoking State forests, flora reserves, national forests or timber reserves, or for reserving, dedicating or vesting land under those Acts. This means the Act operates as a lex specialis for the specific land parcels it covers. The Act deems certain actions to have occurred under other Acts. For example, reserves of lands as national parks are taken to have been made by proclamation under section 33(2) or (3) of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 (Schedule 7 clause 3); dedications as nature reserves are taken to have been made under section 49(1) or (2) of that Act (clause 4); reservations of state recreation areas are taken to have been made under section 47B(1) of that Act (clause 5); and setting apart of flora reserves is taken to have been done under section 25A of the Forestry Act 1916 (clause 10). The Act modifies the application of the Crown Land Management Act 2016 to dedicated land managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Reserve Trust, including providing that the Trust's appointment cannot be revoked and that no other person can be appointed in its place (section 8(3)(a)-(b)). The Crown Land Management Act 2016 does not apply to that land to the extent provided by other provisions of this Act or regulations (section 8(3)(g)). The Act saves certain transactions under the Crown Lands Act 1989 (now repealed) through transitional provisions (section 8). Section 15(2) provides that the inclusion of Gulaga National Park in Schedule 14 to the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 is taken to have been made in accordance with Division 7 of Part 4A of that Act. The Act also interacts with the Roads Act 1993: the boundary-adjustment power in section 10(9) allows the Director-General to declare that land is part of a public road and vested in the roads authority, or that land ceases to be part of a public road, despite anything to the contrary in the Roads Act 1993. The Act interacts with the Real Property Act 1900 in that continued rights of way under Schedule 7 clause 8(11) have effect despite section 42 of the Real Property Act 1900 (the indefeasibility provision), and the Registrar-General may record them on title. The Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 is relevant because Crown land subject to a pending claim made before 14 April 2000 is excluded from reservation or dedication (Schedule 7 clause 16). The Land Acquisition (Just Terms Compensation) Act 1991 governs the acquisition of land for sewage treatment facilities and road widening under Schedule 7 clauses 13 and 14.

The Act has been amended on multiple occasions. The first amendment was by the National Parks and Wildlife Amendment Act 2001 (No. 56), which amended sections 3, 8, 9, 10, 11 and Schedules 1, 2, 4, 6 and 7. The same year, the National Parks and Wildlife Amendment Act 2001 (No. 130) amended Schedule 7, including provisions validating earlier acts under clause 7(4). In 2005, the National Parks and Wildlife Amendment Act 2005 (No. 27) amended section 10 and Schedule 7. Also in 2005, the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2005 (No. 98) amended Schedule 1, and Government Gazette No. 549 of 2005 amended Schedules 1 and 2. The year 2006 saw numerous Government Gazette amendments: No. 402, 406, 459, 460 and 621, affecting Schedules 1 and 2. In 2007, Government Gazettes No. 569, 601, 602, 603 and 657 amended Schedules 1, 2 and 5. The Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 (No. 56) amended section 10. The National Parks and Wildlife Amendment Act 2010 (No. 38) made significant changes to section 10, including substituting and inserting new subsections, and also amended Schedule 7. The Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2012 (No. 96) amended Schedule 7. The Crown Land Management Act 2016 (No. 17) effected major amendments: section 3 definitions were updated, section 8 was substituted entirely to reflect the repeal of the Crown Lands Act 1989 and the commencement of the Crown Land Management Act 2016, section 9 was amended to refer to continued perpetual leases, special leases and term leases under the new Act, section 10 was updated to refer to the Crown Land Management Minister, section 11 was amended, and Schedules 4 and 7 were amended to replace references to the repealed Crown Lands Act 1989 and related concepts with references to the Crown Land Management Act 2016. The heading of Schedule 4 was substituted. Many of the Government Gazette amendments substituted entire Schedules 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 with updated land descriptions, reflecting boundary adjustments made under section 10.

The source text does not record any litigation history. The Act itself does not cite any cases, and the text of the legislation contains no references to judicial decisions, court proceedings, or administrative tribunal determinations. This is typical for a land-transfer Act that operates by administrative schedules and ministerial orders rather than by conferring rights that are frequently litigated. However, given that the Act deems land to be reserved or dedicated under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974, and that it modifies the application of the Crown Land Management Act 2016, disputes could potentially arise in the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales concerning the validity of boundary adjustments under section 10, the interpretation of "significant reduction in the size or value" in the Director-General's certification (section 10(5)), the operation of the saving provisions for existing interests, or the exercise of the NPW Minister's power to grant or vary rights of way under Schedule 7 clause 8. The provision in clause 8(14) that continued rights of way have effect despite section 42 of the Real Property Act 1900 (indefeasibility) could give rise to litigation where a registered proprietor's title is affected. Clause 16, excluding Crown land subject to pending Aboriginal land claims, could be relevant in proceedings before the Native Title Tribunal or the Land and Environment Court. No such cases are listed in the source, and accordingly none are reported here.

Several provisions in the Act contain traps for the unwary practitioner. The first is the boundary-adjustment power in section 10. Although the Director-General must certify that an adjustment will not result in a significant reduction in the size or value of national park estate or State forest land (section 10(5)), the definition of "significant" is not specified, leaving room for administrative discretion. If an adjustment is made and later challenged, land omitted from the adjusted description is taken never to have been subject to the Act or the relevant Schedule (section 10(7)), which could affect existing reservations and titles. Conversely, land added by adjustment is taken to have been subject to the Act from its commencement (section 10(8)), which could have retrospective effect. The time limits for adjustments are strict: most adjustments had to be made by 31 March 2001 (section 10(6)(a)), with later dates only for Schedule 5 lands (31 December 2005) and road-boundary adjustments (31 December 2007). After those dates, further adjustments are impossible under this Act. The second trap lies in the exclusion of freehold and certain leasehold interests (Schedule 7 clause 1). Land held in fee simple, or under a continued perpetual lease, special lease or term lease within the meaning of Schedule 1 to the Crown Land Management Act 2016, or which is comprised in a continued incomplete tenure purchase, is not reserved or dedicated by the Act, despite any other provision. This means that a landholder who owns such an interest within the boundaries of a scheduled land parcel may not automatically become part of the national park estate. The third trap is the special treatment of access roads in Schedule 7 clause 8. These roads vest in the NPW Minister but are not reserved as part of the park initially. The Minister had a duty to publish orders by 31 December 2007 to decide which roads stay excluded and which become part of the park. If no order was published by that date, the access roads still vested but their status may be uncertain. Practitioners should check whether any such orders were published. The fourth trap is the preservation of rights of way under clause 8(11)-(12): rights of way that were granted under the Forestry Act 1916 are taken to continue in force as if granted under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974, but they can be revoked or varied by the NPW Minister without the beneficiary's consent. This is a significant reduction in security for the beneficiary. The fifth trap is the exclusion of Crown lands subject to pending Aboriginal land rights claims (Schedule 7 clause 16). Claims made under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 before 14 April 2000 that were still undetermined at the Act's commencement prevent the land from being reserved or dedicated. The land remains Crown land, but the Act does not apply to it. A claimant who later succeeds may obtain the land, defeating the reservation. The sixth trap relates to Schedule 4 lands dedicated under section 8. The National Parks and Wildlife Reserve Trust is the sole Crown land manager and its appointment cannot be revoked (section 8(3)(a)-(b)). This means ordinary Crown land management provisions do not apply fully; the Trust has a permanent role, and the Minister may exercise certain Crown land Minister functions instead (section 8(3)(e)). The seventh trap is the time-limited power to acquire land for sewage treatment and road widening in clauses 13 and 14: those acquisition powers expired on 31 December 2010, so no compulsory acquisition for those purposes is now possible under this Act.

Compliance with the Act depends on the role of the person or entity affected. For landowners who hold freehold or specified leasehold interests within lands described in Schedules 1 to 6, the Act automatically excludes their land from reservation or dedication (Schedule 7 clause 1). They do not need to take any action to assert this exclusion, but they should ensure that their title records reflect the correct boundary and that no adjustment under section 10 has inadvertently included their land. If a boundary adjustment affects their land, they should verify the notice published on the NSW legislation website and consider whether the Director-General's certification under section 10(5) is accurate. For holders of existing interests such as leases under the Forestry Act 1916 or former Crown Lands Acts, their interests continue in force and are administered by the NPW Minister (Schedule 7 clause 7). They should ensure that all payments, management obligations and renewal terms are directed to the NPW Minister rather than the former Forestry Corporation or Crown lands authority. They may also need to obtain a replacement grant of a right of way if one was not issued before 30 June 2001 (Schedule 7 clause 8(5)). For recipients of continued rights of way under Schedule 7 clause 8(11), they should be aware that the NPW Minister can revoke or vary the right of way without their consent, and they should monitor any notices from the Minister. They may wish to apply for a Recording on title under clause 8(15) to protect their interest. For relevant acquiring authorities that wish to acquire land for sewage treatment facilities or road widening, those powers expired on 31 December 2010, so no further acquisitions can be made under clauses 13 and 14. Alternative powers under other legislation would need to be used. For the Director-General of National Parks and Wildlife, compliance means ensuring that any adjustment notices under section 10 are published only with the required approvals from the relevant ministers (sections 10(4)(a)-(d)), that the certification under section 10(5) is given and is accurate, and that adjustments are made within the statutory time limits (section 10(6)). For the NPW Minister, compliance involves administering existing interests in accordance with the powers set out in Schedule 7 clause 7, granting replacement rights of way where required, and publishing orders about access roads by the deadline (clause 8(6)). The Minister must also ensure that any compulsory acquisition under clauses 13 or 14 (now expired) had the necessary approvals. For the National Parks and Wildlife Reserve Trust, compliance means managing dedicated Crown land under the modified Crown Land Management Act 2016 framework in section 8, including not closing access roads that are the only practical means of access to a private land holding (Schedule 7 clause 11(b)). All parties should keep current copies of the Schedules as amended from time to time by Government Gazettes, as the Act's operation depends entirely upon those descriptions.