The Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (ALRA) is Australian federal government legislation that provides the basis upon which Aboriginal Australian people in the Northern Territory can claim rights to land based on traditional occupation. It was the first law by any Australian government that legally recognised the Aboriginal system of land ownership, and legislated the concept of inalienable freehold title, as such was a fundamental piece of social reform. Its long title is An Act providing for the granting of Traditional Aboriginal Land in the Northern Territory for the benefit of Aboriginals, and for other purposes. The most significant amendments to the Act were effected by the passing of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment Bill 2006, effective 1 July 2007. History The results of the 1967 Australian referendum meant that the Federal Government could make special laws relating to Aboriginal people which could override any state-based legislation; this was seen as a great victory in the struggle for Aboriginal land rights in Australia. The Labor government under Gough Whitlam, after making land rights one of his election campaign priorities, first introduced a land rights Bill to Parliament. Whitlam chose to establish a precedent in the Northern Territory (NT), which was controlled by the Commonwealth (federal) government, rather than attempt federal legislation first off. He appointed Justice Woodward in February 1973 to head an inquiry into how best to recognise Aboriginal land rights in the NT, called the Aboriginal Land Rights Commission (also known as the "Woodward Royal Commission"). Woodword produced his final report in April 1974, expressing the opinion that one of the main aims of land rights was "The doing of simple justice to a people who have been deprived of their land without their consent and without compensation". He said that Aboriginal land should be granted as inalienable freehold title, meaning "it could not be acquired, sold, mortgaged or disposed of in any way", and title should be communal. The Bill lapsed upon the dismissal of the government in 1975. The Liberal government, led by Malcolm Fraser, reintroduced a similar Bill, and this was signed by the Governor-General of Australia on 16 December 1976. Significance It was the first law by any Australian government that legally recognised the Aboriginal system of land ownership, legislating the concept of inalienable freehold title, and thus the first of all Aboriginal land rights legislation in Australia. The Land