Now lawFirst Nations Introduced in the House of Representatives, 27 Aug 2025

Kakadu, Uluru and Booderee boards keep power between plans

Three national parks on Aboriginal land are run by boards where most members are Traditional Owners. This law stops those boards losing their power to decide when the park's 10-year plan runs out before a new one is ready.

Official name: Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Board of Management Functions) Bill 2025

Who it affects

• Traditional Owners of Kakadu, Uluru-Kata Tjuta and Booderee: Their boards keep a say in running the park even when the old plan has run out.
• Board members of these parks: They can keep making decisions between plans, if those decisions match the last plan.
• The Director of National Parks: The Director must tell the Minister if they think a board decision goes against the last plan.
• Visitors to these parks: Nothing changes for them directly. The parks should keep running smoothly between plans.

Three parks on Aboriginal land

Australia has three national parks that sit on Aboriginal land. They are run together with the Traditional Owners. These are the Aboriginal people whose land it is by long tradition. They are Kakadu National Park, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and Booderee National Park.

The Director of National Parks is the federal official who looks after these parks. The Director rents the land from the Traditional Owners.

Each park also has a board that helps run it. The federal environment minister picks the board. Some parks are all or mostly on Indigenous land. There, most board members must be Indigenous people put forward by the Traditional Owners.

The board makes decisions about how the park is run. It must follow the park's plan. The Director then carries out those decisions.

Each plan lasts 10 years unless it is cancelled sooner. Sometimes the old plan runs out before a new one is done. Under the old rules, the board then lost its power to decide things. It could only help write the new plan, watch how the park was run and give advice.

This law is called the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Board of Management Functions) Act 2025. It changes the main national law for nature to fix that gap.

Boards keep deciding between plans

The law gives each board a new job. Say a plan has run out and no new plan has started. The board can still make decisions about running the park.

Those decisions must match the last plan that was in place. Once the new plan starts, the board must follow the new plan.

Say the plan for a park runs out in June, and the new plan is still being written. Before this law, the board could not decide how to look after an area of land. It could not decide about a business in the park either. Now it can, as long as its decision fits the old plan.

The government says this keeps Traditional Owners part of decisions about their Country at all times. Country means the land and waters they are linked to. It also says it keeps the way the parks are run steady.

If the Director disagrees

The nature law already has a way to sort out fights between the Director and a board. If the Director thinks a board decision breaks the plan, the Director must tell the Minister. The Minister can then step in.

The law stretches this to the gap between plans. If the Director thinks a board decision goes against the last plan, the Director must tell the Minister.

The law also adds a note to the main law. It reminds readers that the board and the Director must write plans together. The aim is to have a plan in place at all times.

Who was asked

The government talked with the boards of all three parks. It also spoke with the Northern Land Council, the Central Land Council and the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council. These groups speak for Traditional Owners in the areas around the parks.

Start date

The bill went into the House of Representatives on 27 August 2025. That is the lower house of Parliament, where the government sits. The House passed it on 3 September 2025. The Senate, Parliament's second house, passed it on 28 October 2025.

The Governor-General, who stands in for the King, signed it into law on 30 October 2025. It became Act No. 51 of 2025. The changes started the next day.

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum

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