The NSW Aboriginal Land Council has won a land rights claim over a gravel lot on the corner of Oak and Church streets in Leeton, which is currently used as a car park by court house staff, police, corrective services workers and members of the public.

The NSW Land and Environment Court has ruled ownership of the lot must be transferred to the Leeton and District Local Aboriginal Land Council within six months, after finding the NSW government wrongly rejected the claim.

The government argued the land could not be claimed because it was not Crown land and was being lawfully used and occupied.

Former Leeton court house registrar George Paniz told the court the area was commonly known as the “Leeton Courthouse car park” and was regularly used by people attending and working at the court.

Police Inspector Justin Cornes said between 10 and 15 vehicles could be parked on the site on a typical day, with as many as 30 using the area during events in Mountford Park or church services.

Despite that evidence, the court ruled that while people were parking on the land, the government could not prove the use was legally authorised under Crown land laws.

In effect, the court found the site was being used, but not lawfully used in the way required to defeat an Aboriginal land claim.

What are land rights claims and how did this come about?

Local and state Aboriginal Land Councils are bodies representing Aboriginal communities on matters relating to land rights. Under legislation passed in 1983, they can claim certain Crown land that is not being lawfully used or occupied and is not needed for an essential public purpose.

Claims cannot be made over privately owned land.

The Land Council originally lodged a claim on the Leeton car park land with the NSW Government in August 2020.

The NSW Crown Lands Department assessed this land as “not claimable” under law in August 2023.

The Land Council filed an appeal against this decision with the Land and Environment Court later that year.

After nearly three years of deliberations, the judge ruled in favour of the Aboriginal group, deciding the block met the definition of “claimable Crown land”.

Government lawyers argued the land ceased to be Crown land after it was acquired for court house purposes in 1925.

However, the court found that by the time the claim was lodged in 2020, the title was registered in the name of the State of NSW and should be treated as Crown land for the purposes of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act.

The ruling means the claim succeeds and ownership of the land must now be transferred to the Leeton and District Local Aboriginal Land Council.

The court ordered the minister responsible for Crown lands to complete the transfer within six months unless another timeframe is agreed between the parties.

Why this claim was pursued and what it might mean for car park users

While the case was ongoing last year, a spokesperson for the NSW Aboriginal Land Council told Region the organisation pursued the claim because the block acquired for the construction of the Leeton Court House was never built on.

“The NSW government originally acquired the land, along with the block next door, in 1924 for the construction of the Leeton Court House,” the spokesperson said.

“The court house was built on one parcel of land, leaving the other parcel vacant. NSWALC has claimed the vacant land through the NSW Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983.

“From NSWALC’s investigations, it appears the parcel of land has been vacant for over 100 years.

“This is a good example of the Aboriginal land claim process being an effective tool to return land to Aboriginal people and create opportunities to activate underutilised land for the benefit of the broader community.”

Whether the land will continue to be used as a car park remains unclear.

The judgement means ownership will transfer to the Aboriginal Land Council, but any future use of the site will likely be the subject of negotiations between the council and the NSW government.