Appointment to National Native Title Tribunal

I am pleased to announce that Ms Lisa Eaton has been appointed as a full-time Member of the National Native Title Tribunal following a transparent and merit-based selection process.

Ms Eaton is a barrister with expertise in administrative law, litigation and dispute resolution, as well as native title and land access. She has previous experience working at the Tribunal, serving as Principal Advisor, Practice and Legislation for four years and Acting Deputy Registrar for 12 months.

I congratulate Ms Eaton on her five-year appointment to the Tribunal and thank her for taking on this important role.

As a Member of the Tribunal, Ms Eaton will work closely with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as well as non Indigenous Australians in carrying out functions under the Native Title Act 1993, including:

• assisting parties to negotiate Indigenous Land Use Agreements;
• facilitating the resolution of disputes arising in relation to proposed future acts or certain native title claims; and
• contributing to broader community education about native title.

Ms Eaton will replace the outgoing Tribunal Member Ms Helen Shurven, whose term concluded on 28 November 2022. I thank Ms Shurven for her significant contribution and wish her well in all future endeavours.

Ms Eaton’s appointment commences on 16 December 2022.

Biography: Ms Eaton holds a Bachelor of Laws and is an independent Barrister, having been elected to membership of the Western Australia Bar Association in 2019. Her work has focussed on native title, administrative law and mediation. Ms Eaton was an inaugural member of the National Sports Tribunal. Prior to these roles she worked at the National Native Title Tribunal, initially as the Principal Advisor, Practice and Legislation (2014-18) and then as acting Deputy Registrar (2018-19).