Bodney v State of Western Australia

In the Federal Court of Australia, Bodney filed an application for the determination of native title against the State of Western Australia. The dispute centred around the validity and form of several native title applications filed by Bodney, some before and some after amendments to the Native Title Act in 1998. The State of Western Australia sought to have the applications struck out, arguing that they did not meet the statutory requirements under the amended Native Title Act. The central issue before the court was whether the native title applications, filed both before and after the 1998 amendments, satisfied the legislative criteria for authorisation and identification of the claimant group.

The court examined the statutory requirements under the old and new forms of section 61 of the Native Title Act. Under the old form, the necessity to identify or describe members of the claimant group was required. However, under the new form, there was an additional requirement for the authorisation of the claimant by members of the claimant group. The court considered whether the applications met these criteria, particularly focusing on the need for correspondence between those identified as holding native title rights and interests and those on behalf of whom the application was made. The court found that the applications filed after the 1998 amendments did not have the necessary authorisation from the members of the claimant group, rendering them invalid.

Given the court's findings, it ordered that the native title applications WAG 137 of 1998, WAG 138 of 1998, WAG 139 of 1998, WAG 140 of 1998 and WAG 149 of 1998 be struck out. The reasoning was based on the failure of the applications to meet the statutory requirements under the amended Native Title Act, specifically the lack of authorisation by the members of the claimant group for the applications filed post-1998.