An Incorporated Land Group — almost always called an ILG — is the standard legal vehicle by which a customary landowning group in Papua New Guinea does business. It is created under the Land Groups Incorporation Act.
The problem it solves
Customary land is held by a group, under custom, without a title deed. That creates practical difficulties whenever the group has to deal with the outside world:
- Who signs? A clan is not a person. It cannot execute a document.
- Who receives the money? Payments made to an individual are a standing source of dispute — and under section 9(4) of the Land Act 1996, the State is not bound to see to the application of money paid to an appointed agent, whose receipt is a sufficient discharge.
- Who can sue? Litigation on behalf of an unincorporated group raises questions of standing and authority.
- Who is a member? Without a recorded membership, the class of people entitled is always arguable.
Incorporation answers all four. The group becomes a legal entity with a name, a membership, a constitution, and authorised representatives who can act for it.
What incorporation gives the group
- Legal personality — the group can hold interests in land, contract, sue and be sued in its own name.
- Recognised representatives — identified people with authority to act, so a counterparty knows whose signature binds the group.
- A constitution — recording membership, how decisions are made, how disputes within the group are resolved, and how money is distributed.
- Continuity — the entity survives the death of individual members.
- A basis for custom to operate — the Act is built on the group’s own customary structures, not imposed over them.
Where an ILG is required or expected
- Customary land registration. Under section 34D of the Land Registration Act, only representatives of the Incorporated Land Group may apply to the Director for registration of ownership of customary land. Without an ILG there is no application.
- Special agricultural and business leases. Section 102(2)(b) of the Land Act allows an SABL to be granted to a land group, business group or other incorporated body to whom the customary landowners have agreed it should be granted.
- Resource projects. Landowner participation in mining and petroleum benefit arrangements is generally organised through ILGs — see who owns the minerals.
- Receiving compensation. An ILG is a far safer recipient than an individual agent, because it has members, rules and accountability.
- Dealings between citizens. Under section 132 of the Land Act, a customary landowner may deal only with citizens in accordance with custom — and section 2 of that Act defines “citizen” to include a land group.
The recurring problems with ILGs
- Membership disputes. An ILG incorporated with an incomplete or contested membership becomes the vehicle for the fight rather than the answer to it.
- Competing ILGs over the same ground. Two groups incorporate and each claims the same land. Ownership then has to be resolved by the Land Courts or the Land Titles Commission — incorporation does not decide it.
- Representatives acting beyond authority. Signing an agreement or receiving money without the constitutional approval of the members.
- Money not reaching members. The most common and most damaging failure. Distribution rules must be in the constitution and actually followed.
- Dormant ILGs. Groups incorporated for one transaction and then never maintained — no meetings, no records, no current representatives.
This is the single most important point. Incorporating a land group establishes who the group is. It does not establish what land the group owns. Ownership of customary land is determined by the Land Courts and the Land Titles Commission under the Land Disputes Settlement Act, on evidence of custom. Anyone relying on an ILG certificate as proof of title is relying on the wrong document.
The 2009 and 2018 reforms
The Act has been amended twice in ways that matter — by the Land Groups Incorporation (Amendment) Act 2009 and the Land Groups Incorporation (Amendment) Act 2018. The reforms respond directly to the problems above, tightening the requirements for incorporation, membership records, constitutions and the identification of representatives.
Read the amending Acts alongside the principal text, and confirm what is currently required before preparing an application.
Setting one up well
- Settle the membership first, on the ground, with the older people who know the genealogies. Record it.
- Agree the boundaries with the neighbours before you incorporate, not after.
- Write a constitution that actually governs — how decisions are made, what majority is needed to deal with land, who signs, how money is received, held and distributed, and how internal disputes are resolved.
- Name representatives, and record how they are replaced.
- Keep the ILG alive — meetings, minutes, updated membership, current representatives.
- Get advice for the group, arranged and paid for by the group, not by the party on the other side of the transaction. See the law firms directory and the Public Solicitor.
Sources
- Land Groups Incorporation Act — PacLII 1986 Revised Edition
- Land Groups Incorporation (Amendment) Act 2009; 2018
- Land Registration Act (Chapter 191) — Part IIIA
- Land Act 1996 — ss 2, 9, 11, 102, 132
- Tzen Plantation Ltd v Mukurramainga Land Group [2025] PGSC 50; SC2746
Before relying on anything here, read the current text of the Land Act 1996 and check for later amendments. If a decision matters to you, get advice — start with the Office of the Public Solicitor, or find a firm in the law firms directory.