Mr Paul Smith was appointed Deputy President of the Land and Resources Tribunal in March 2000. He is at a level equivalent to a District Court judge. Prior to his appointment Deputy President Smith was Executive Director of Native Title Services in the Department of the Premier and Cabinet.

Deputy President Smith was counsel at the first hearing of the National Native Title Tribunal and participated in its first mediation. He was awarded an Australia Day Achievement Medallion for work in native title law, was a Churchill Fellow and is a Harvard-trained negotiator.

Deputy President Smith has been heavily involved with and authored publications about historic native title cases such as Mabo and Wik.