Background
The Muluridji People filed this native title determination application in November 2018 in response to two non-claimant applications seeking determinations that native title did not exist over a larger area west of Mareeba in Far North Queensland. In December 2025, the claim was partitioned into Parts A and B; this decision concerned Part A, comprising part of Lot 170 on Plan CP887723.
This was the third native title determination for the Muluridji People, following two consent determinations in 2011 over nearby country. The parties signed and filed an agreement under s 87A of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth), supported by affidavits and submissions. The State had assessed extensive anthropological and claimant material before agreeing to negotiate a consent determination, and no party objected after notice of the proposed determination.
The Court’s Holding
Justice Longbottom held that the statutory requirements of s 87A were satisfied and that it was appropriate to make the agreed orders without an oral hearing. The agreement covered part, but not all, of the claim area; was written and signed by the relevant parties; and proposed a determination within the Court’s jurisdiction that addressed the matters required by ss 94A and 225 of the Act.
The Court determined that the Muluridji People hold non-exclusive native title over the determination area. Their recognized rights include accessing, travelling over, living and camping on the area; taking natural resources and water for specified purposes; conducting cultural, religious and burial activities; maintaining and protecting significant places; teaching about country; holding meetings; lighting fires for cultural, spiritual or domestic purposes; and being accompanied by specified non-native-title holders. Those rights do not include exclusive possession or rights to minerals or petroleum, and they remain subject to Commonwealth and Queensland law, traditional laws and customs, and the prevailing rights of other interest holders.
The native title is not held on trust. The Court designated the Muluridji Tribal Aboriginal Corporation (ICN 7580) as the prescribed body corporate to act as agent for the native title holders and perform the statutory functions specified in s 57(3). Each party was ordered to bear its own costs.
Key Takeaways
- The Federal Court may make a consent determination under s 87A without a hearing when the agreement satisfies the statutory requirements, lies within the Court’s power and is appropriate.
- The determination recognizes substantial but non-exclusive rights to access, use and care for country, while preserving the operation of pastoral, utility, local-government, public-access and other lawful interests.
- The State’s informed assessment of connection evidence, the parties’ legal representation, the earlier Muluridji determinations and the absence of objections supported the Court’s conclusion that the agreement was freely and properly made.
Why It Matters
The decision extends formal recognition of the Muluridji People’s native title to additional country west of Mareeba and places its administration with the same corporation responsible for the group’s earlier determinations. It also illustrates how the consent-determination process can resolve a native title claim after the State has tested the evidentiary basis for connection and all relevant parties have agreed on the coexistence of native title with other interests.