Wilson & Ors, Ex parte- Re Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Stsrait Islander Affairs

This matter concerned an application for a writ of prohibition brought by the applicants, Wilson and others, against the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs. The applicants sought to prevent the Minister from making a determination under section 19(1) of the *Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984* (Cth) that an area of land in Queensland was a area of particular significance in accordance with the Act. The application was heard by Brennan CJ sitting in chambers.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the Minister had failed to afford the applicants, who were traditional owners of the land, procedural fairness in the process leading up to the proposed determination. Specifically, the applicants contended that they had not been given adequate notice of the Minister's intention to make the declaration, nor a sufficient opportunity to make submissions regarding the significance of the area.

Brennan CJ considered the principles of procedural fairness, particularly in the context of administrative decision-making that affects the rights and interests of individuals. His Honour found that the Minister's duty to act fairly extended to providing adequate notice and an opportunity to be heard to those whose interests were directly impacted by the proposed declaration. The Court determined that the Minister's actions in this instance had fallen short of this standard, thereby breaching the requirements of procedural fairness.

Consequently, Brennan CJ made orders absolute for the writ of prohibition, preventing the Minister from making the determination in its current form.