Electoral Areas
The Aboriginal Lands Act 1995 (the Act) provides for the election of members of the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania (ALCT). ALCT holds and manages Aboriginal land on behalf of the Aboriginal people of Tasmania.
The ALCT comprises eight members, elected for a term of approximately three years, representing five electoral areas, as follows:
South region: covers the cities of Hobart, Clarence and Glenorchy and the municipal areas of Brighton, Central Highlands, Derwent Valley, Glamorgan-Spring Bay, Huon Valley, Kingborough, Sorell, Southern Midlands and Tasman.
North region: covers the city of Launceston and the municipal areas of Break O’Day, Dorset, George Town, Meander Valley, Northern Midlands and West Tamar.
Northwest region: covers the cities of Burnie and Devonport and the municipal areas of Central Coast, Circular Head, Kentish, King Island, Latrobe, Waratah-Wynyard and West Coast.
Cape Barren Island group: covers Cape Barren Island, Long Island, Preservation Island, Passage Island, Forsyth Island, Clarke Island, Badger Island and Mount Chappell Island.
Flinders Island group: covers Flinders Island and all islands, except Long Island, Badger Island and Mount Chappell Island, to the north of Cape Barren Island in the Flinders municipal area.
Joining the roll
To vote for or stand for election to the Council, you must have your name entered on the Electors Roll, managed by the Electoral Commissioner.
The Act allows people to apply to be on the Roll anytime. However, a process is in place to assess applications as an election approaches.
You must first apply to be on the Preliminary Roll, which will then be open to inspection by the public. If there are no objections to the application and the Electoral Commissioner is satisfied with the evidence provided within the application, you will then be transferred to the Electors Roll and be able to vote and stand in the ALCT elections.
Anyone may object to a name on the Preliminary Roll but only on the grounds that the person is not an Aboriginal person. The Electoral Commissioner will consider the submissions and advice and decide to accept or reject the objection.
Once you are on the Electors Roll, the Electoral Commissioner can:
Update addresses.
Remove or reinstate people on request, noting that they may remove a person from the Roll if they no longer live in the electoral area.
The Electoral Commissioner will write to everyone on the Roll before an election to check their correct address and details.
To be entitled to have your name entered on the Roll, you must:
Be an Aboriginal person within the meaning of the Act.
Live in the electoral area for which you wish to be enrolled.
Be at least 18 years of age.
Definition of Aboriginal person
The Act defines ‘Aboriginal person’ in section 3A:
“(1) An Aboriginal person is a person who satisfies all of the following requirements:
Aboriginal ancestry;
self-identification as an Aboriginal person;
(c) communal recognition by members of the Aboriginal community.
(2) The onus of proving that a person satisfies the requirements referred to in subsection (1) lies on that person.”