At the Aug session, Digby Whyte raised a native title issue.  Below is the information he referenced.

From: Finass General <FinassGeneral@ag.gov.au>
Sent: Tuesday, 26 July 2022 9:44 AM
To: Finass General <FinassGeneral@ag.gov.au>
Subject: Native Title Respondent Funding Scheme upate [SEC=OFFICIAL]

OFFICIAL

Hello everyone,

Further to previous advice that funding for the Native Title Respondent Funding Scheme (NTRFS) will be abolished we can confirm the following:

• While final details are yet to be settled with the Government, the Attorney-General has agreed that NTRFS applications currently with the department will be assessed as normal and approved if they meet eligibility under the current guidelines.
• This is only for existing applications seeking funding for the period May to October 2022.

We hope to notify you of the outcome of this assessment within the next 2 weeks. Any further applications seeking top up funding for the May to October 2022 period will not be assessed under the current guidelines as no further funding will be available.

Please email FinassGeneral@ag.gov.au or call either 1800 117 995 or 02 6141 4770 if you have any queries.

Regards

Gillian Romano

Assistant Director

Legal Financial Assistance Casework | Legal Assistance Branch

Legal Services Policy Division | Attorney-General's Department