Consultation hub

Between 9 October and 28 November 2025, we held a public consultation on the operation of amendments made by the Native Title Legislation Amendment Act 2021 (Cth) (the 2021 Amendment Act), as required by section 209A of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth). We sought views from native title sector participants to gauge support for the changes made by 2021 Amendment Act, and whether the changes are operating as intended or require any adjustments.

The department received a total of 11 submissions during the consultation period from a range of stakeholders, including:

• industry stakeholders
• state and statutory government bodies
• First Nations representative bodies
• native title representative bodies
• members of the public.

Our consultation did not reveal any widespread or systemic concerns with the changes made by the 2021 Amendment Act.

 Some participants suggested technical adjustments, including:

• resolving legislative ambiguity
• modifying procedural design to avoid unintended consequences
• providing resources and support for key system stakeholders involved in implementing the changes.

The feedback collected through this consultation informed our report, Evaluation of the Operation of Amendments Made by the Native Title Legislation Amendment Act 2021. The report was tabled in parliament on 12 May 2026. It contains details of the evaluation’s findings and concluding remarks.

Thank you to everyone involved in the consultation for your engagement, and for sharing your views and ideas.

Between 10 September and 1 October 2025, we held a public consultation on the government’s stage 2 reforms to improve the accessibility, operation and administration of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (PID Act).  We sought views from interested stakeholders on an exposure draft of the Public Interest Disclosure and Other Legislation Amendment (Whistleblower Protections) Bill 2025, to ensure the draft legislation is fit for purpose.

We received 16 submissions during the consultation period.

Submissions covered themes such as:

• the importance of having an independent body to protect whistleblowers
• the functions of such a body to enable it to adequately protect whistleblowers
• ensuring whistleblowers receive appropriate protections and immunities under the PID Act
• taking a ‘no wrong doors’ approach to making a public interest disclosure
• appropriate resourcing for the Whistleblower Ombudsman.

Your submissions informed our approach in further developing this Bill.
We have published submissions received through the public consultation process in accordance with our publication policy. 

Thank you to everyone involved in the consultation for your engagement and for sharing your views and ideas.

Between 18 August and 26 September 2025, the Administrative Review Council consulted on the process that Services Australia and the Administrative Review Tribunal follow when reviewing social security decisions.

The Council received 15 submissions from a range of stakeholders, including:

• welfare rights and advocacy groups
• community legal centres and other legal organisations
• members of the public
• government agencies.  

The responses discussed issues about the social security review system, including: 

• managing cases in the review process
• supporting people to meaningfully participate in reviews
• improving communication between review bodies and applicants
• supporting representation during reviews
• completing reviews in a timely way
• improving the quality of review decisions.

The Council will use the feedback provided through the public consultation to inform its report and any associated recommendations. We have published submissions from authors who gave their permission.

The Council’s Inquiry Report will be published later in the year. We thank everyone who engaged with this consultation process.