Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC)

219. A ‘Sunset Clause’? This general approach does not mean that legislation for the recognition of Aboriginal customary laws should contain an express termination or ‘sunset’ clause. Such a clause might be appropriate with certain special measures of ‘affirmative action’, but this Reference is not concerned with issues of this kind. [...] The principal difficulty with such a clause is the apparent assumption that, at some fixed time in the (comparatively near) future, Aboriginal customary laws will cease to exist in recognisable form, or will cease to be worthy of recognition. In any event, as has been pointed out already, the Commission has no material before it which would enable it to make any such prediction or assessment. Careful drafting of legislation can ensure that Aboriginal customary laws can continue to be recognised where (and only where) it is relevant to the case in hand. (2010) source Unverified