Township leasing is a secure and regular land administration system that allows land to be exchanged or traded.
Traditional Owners through the consultative forum will continue to have a say in how their land is used.
Traditional Owners may receive funding to invest in economic development through an upfront payment of rent when the lease is signed. This upfront payment needs to be paid back, but when this is done, or when a number of years has passed, the Traditional Owners will start to receive the rent money earned by subleasing the land.
When the township lease is signed the land is surveyed and registered. This means that the land is divided into lots that can be subleased and traded with certainty.
A secure tradable land tenure system and a registered survey of the land gives potential investors security, which encourages businesses to invest in the community and leads to economic growth, business investment, creates jobs, opens up new opportunities for business and home ownership for local people, while ensuring that cultural integrity is maintained.
Because the Executive Director holds a township lease over the whole community, planning and development laws can be applied and enforced consistently. This means that people who want to develop Aboriginal land within the community must do so responsibly, and comply with all the rules.
