In 2007 numerous legislative and administrative changes were made to key aspects of the Native Title system. Many of those changes affect how Native Titleclaims are resolved. The statutory changes have re-oriented aspects of the relationship between the Federal Court and the National Native Title Tribunal, and have given the Tribunal additional powers and functions in relation to the mediation of Native Title claims. This paper outlines the key changes, and identifies some of their implications and opportunities for a more effective and efficient claims resolution process.

This paper is extracted from a longer paper presented at the 2007 Native Title Conference in Cairns on 8 June 2007.