Land tenure and availability

This guide outlines the types of land tenure that exist in the Northern Territory (NT) and how tenure affects the process for granting a title.

There are three main types of land tenure:

• NT freehold
• Aboriginal freehold
• pastoral leasehold.  

Most land in the NT, outside of townships, is either Aboriginal freehold or pastoral leasehold land over which native title rights can exist. 

There are areas of land that are subject to reservations that may restrict certain activities:

• under the Petroleum Act these areas are known as petroleum reserved blocks
• under the Geothermal Energy Act these are known as geothermal reserved blocks
• under the Mineral Titles Act they are know as reserved land. 

In some areas all three reservations may apply. There is also currently a moratorium on seabed mining.

An application for a title may be made over any land in the NT by following the relevant procedures set out in the legislation. In some cases there may be a valid reason for an application to be refused over certain areas.

Read more about land availability.