Legally, the state of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

 is divided into three divisions

Cadastral divisions of New South Wales

Lands administrative divisions of New South Wales refers to the 141 counties within the Australian state of New South Wales, which are further subdivided into 7,459 parishes. There are also three Land Divisions, around 100 Land Districts, and several other types of districts as well as land boards...

: the Eastern Division

Eastern Division (New South Wales)

The Eastern Division of New South Wales is one of the three divisions of New South Wales along with the Central and Western divisions, established under the Crown Lands Act of 1884 for the purposes of land management. It is the most populated of the divisions, including Sydney and large coastal...

, the Central Division

Central Division (New South Wales)

The Central Division of New South Wales is one of the three divisions of New South Wales along with the Eastern and Western divisions, established under the Crown Lands Act of 1884 for the purposes of land management. In 1907, it included the Hay, Forbes, Dubbo and Moree land boards, as well as the...

, and the Western Division. These were established for the purposes of the management of the lease of Crown land to private persons.

The Western Lands Act 1901 established a Western Lands Board, composed of three commissioners, to issue leases in the Western Division.

The Western Lands (Amendment Act) 1934 dissolved the Western Lands Board, and appointed a single Western Lands Commissioner in its stead, to carry out the same functions.

Today, the Western Lands Commissioner is part of the Department of Lands.

Most of the land in the Western Division of NSW remains perpetual leasehold; as such, the WLC retains an active function to this day in the administration of the leases.