Discriminatory Intestacy Laws in WA to Change
Friday 27 April 2012 @ 8.59 a.m. | Legal Research
The Aboriginal Affairs Planning Authority Act 1972 s 35 which deals with th "Distribution of estate of intestate person of Aboriginal descent" requires that the estates of Aboriginal people who die without a will be put in the hands of a trustee.
In a report by the ABC the WA Minister for Indigenous Affairs Minister has described the law as an "embarrassment to the state" to the State saying that it discriminates against Aboriginal people.
Mr Collier the Minister is quoted as saying that "the law is so outdated it is 'obscene'". The Minister has promised to change it by the end of this year.
The Minister further indicated that the ". . . Act in itself is quite discriminatory and I'm not happy with that . . ". Indeed the whole of Part IV of the Act is in fact quite last century in the way it deals paternalistically at best, with the "Estates and property of Aboriginal persons" and is concerned mostly with the retention and control of whatever property an aboriginal person may have. It is good to see that such legislation is marked for change.
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