In previous years, the North Queensland Land Council Native Title Representative Body (NQLC) has provided a free service providing letters of Confirmation of Aboriginal Descent. This was subject to the applicant meeting certain criteria, including being a member of the NQLC and being known personally to a NQLC Director.

The volume of these applications has grown significantly, with the majority of applications not meeting the above mentioned criteria. This has resulted in considerable time and resources across the NQLC Administration and Board being occupied by this service – and a large number of requests being returned. Therefore, at its meeting of Tuesday 18 May 2021, the Board of Directors resolved that people (including NQLC members) seeking Confirmation of Aboriginal Descent should apply to the their relevant Registered Native Title Body Corporate (RNTBC) (also known as Prescribed Body Corporate (PBC)) or another Aboriginal Community Organisation (not the NQLC) known by the applicant to provide this service. Contact details for RNTBCs/PBCs across Australia can be found at https://nativetitle.org.au/ . The NQLC Board of Directors will only consider requests for Confirmation of Aboriginal Descent when evidence is provided that the aforementioned steps have been exhausted and the applicant meets the eligibility criteria.

The NQLC Board and Administration thank you for your understanding in that our core funded objective is to progress native title matters through the Federal Court, and assist PBCs with their post native title determination business.