The number of unprocessed Aboriginal land claims in New South Wales is continuing to increase, according to the latest Auditor-General's report.
There were 36,769 land claims in NSW waiting to be processed at June 30, 2020 – over 900 more than at the same time last year.
The number of unprocessed claims that had waited for more than 10 years from the time they were lodged had also increased by 10 per cent.
The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment said the backlog of claims continues to increase because of limited restrictions on the lodging of claims under the state legislation, the complexity of the assessment process, and lack of resourcing to manage these claims.
In 2019/20, 1,505 claims were resolved - an increase on the 1,037 resolved in 2018/19.
Just 280 of the claims resolved in 2019/20 were successful, the remaining 1,225 claims were refused or withdrawn.
The Auditor-General's Reports to Parliament have been recommending action to address the increasing number of unprocessed land claims since 2007.
They will conduct a performance audit to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the Aboriginal land claims process next year.
