Legislation can be tailored to complement other government programs affecting Indigenous people including service delivery and environmental protection. An agreement of this kind may be too fundamentally important to be placed in ordinary legislation. Agreements without constitutional entrenchment could not be relied on to protect Indigenous peoples' rights. The effectiveness of agreements based in legislation may be diminished, through administrative review and legislative amendment. Agreements based on State and Territory legislation might differ unnecessarily across Australia.
Regional agreements have wide usage in Australia.
They are negotiated by Indigenous peoples with local governments, mining companies, pastoralists, town councils and other bodies for a wide variety of purposes. Indigenous communities in Australia have experience in negotiating regional agreements. Regional agreements offer a degree of local governing autonomy for Indigenous communities. Regional agreements are compatible with our federal system of government. Agreements could be considered as an alternative to the negotiation of a single document or national agreement.