Senior Library Books
Uluru
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National Museum Australia. (2020, April 14). Handback of Uluru to the Anangu people. Retrieved from https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/uluru-handback-anangu
When the Hawke government handed back the title deeds for the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park to the Anangu people in October 1985, it ended decades of determined lobbying by the traditional owners to have their rights recognised. -
Canberra Times. (1979, April 14). Blacks' claim may be recognised. Retrieved from https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110940481?searchTerm=we%20own%20ayers%20rock%20say%20aborigines%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20&searchLimits=
The Canberra Times reported on the Uluru in 1979 claiming Aboriginal ownership of Uluru (Ayers Rock-Mt Olga) National Park seems likely to be recognised by the Federal and Northern Territory Governments.
Wave Hill
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National Archives of Australia. (2011). The Wave Hill 'walk-off' – Fact sheet 224. Retrieved from https://www.naa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/fs-224-the-wave-hill-walk-off.pdf
Background to the 'walk-off'
Wave Hill Station is located approximately 600 kilometres south of Darwin in the Northern Territory. Vesteys, a British pastoral company which ran the cattle station, employed local Aboriginal people, mostly Gurindji. Working and living conditions for Aboriginal people were very poor. The wages of Aboriginal workers generally were controlled and not equal to those paid to non-Aboriginal employees.
Gove Land Rights Case 1968–1971
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National Native Title Tribunal. (2017). 25 Years of Native Title Recognition. Retrieved from http://www.nntt.gov.au/Documents/Road%20to%20native%20title.pdf
In 1968, after the recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee inquiry conducted in response to the Yirrkala bark petitions were not implemented, the Yolngu People from Yirrkala in north-east Arnhem Land took their case to the Northern Territory Supreme Court. This was the first litigation in Australia on native title. Page 4.
Aboriginal Land Rights Acts (Northern Territory)
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Central Land Council. (n.d.). The Aboriginal Land Rights Act. Retrieved from https://www.clc.org.au/index.php?/articles/info/the-aboriginal-land-rights-act/
The Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 was the first attempt by an Australian government to legally recognise the Aboriginal system of land ownership and put into law the concept of inalienable freehold title. The Land Rights Act is a fundamental piece of social reform.
National Native Title Tribunal Maps
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National Native Tribunal. (2018). Maps. Retrieved from http://www.nntt.gov.au/assistance/Geospatial/Pages/Maps.aspx
The Tribunal provides maps on a national, state, territory and regional level.
Native Title Act 1993
Native Title Preamble
Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders were the inhabitants of Australia before European settlement. They have been progressively dispossessed of their lands. This dispossession occurred largely without compensation, and successive governments have failed to reach a lasting and equitable agreement with Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders concerning the use of their lands. As a consequence, Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders have become, as a group, the most disadvantaged in Australian society.
The people of Australia voted overwhelmingly to amend the Constitution so that the Parliament of Australia would be able to make special laws for peoples of the aboriginal race.
The Australian Government has acted to protect the rights of all of its citizens, and in particular its indigenous peoples, by recognising international standards for the protection of universal human rights and fundamental freedoms. The High Court has rejected the Terra Nullius doctrine and held that common law reflects a form of native title.
Refer to the Federal Register of Legislation on Native Title (below) for more information.
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Federal Court. Digital Law Library. Retrieved from http://www.fedcourt.gov.au/digital-law-library/videos
Federal Court of Australia offers a library of video and audio of judgment summaries over the Internet.
Introduction
The landmark Mabo Case and subsequent Native Title Act promised a lot for Aboriginal people. Many saw it as the final recognition that the Australian nation always was Aboriginal country and that Aboriginal people had distinct governing laws and traditions.
This article provides reflections from the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal community with regard to the High Court Mabo Decision of 1992, Land Rights and Native Title. All reflections were recorded between November 2016 and April 2017 unless otherwise stated. (Aboriginal Affairs, State Library of Western Australian and The Western Australian Museum, 2018)
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ABC Education. (2012, April 30). Native title: how to free your heart. Retrieved from http://education.abc.net.au/home#!/media/1542253/native-title-how-to-free-your-heart
In this clip, listen to the opinions of key players in the struggle for native title as they reflect on the success of Mabo twenty years later. This clip is last in a series of six.
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University of Sydney. (2014, June 2). Five things you should know about the Mabo decision. Retrieved from https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2017/06/02/five-things-you-should-know-about-the-mabo-decision.html
As we celebrate 25 years since the Mabo decision, we take a look at some of the key facts from this significant milestone in our history.
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Federal Court of Western Australia. (2017, August 17). Indigenous Land Rights: Australia’s Response Following Mabo - the Present and the Future. Retrieved from http://www.fedcourt.gov.au/digital-law-library/judges-speeches/speeches-former-judges/justice-m
QC John Mansfield writes about the development of Indigenous Land Rights from Captain Cook first planting the British flag on Australian soil to the present day.
Terra-nullius 1788
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National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (n.d.). Terra nullius. Retrieved from https://www.mabonativetitle.com/mabo_03.shtml
Australian courts don't often see cases litigated for years and years. But in the Queensland Supreme Court this week, a trial commences that's been before the courts since 1982 and looks like going on for quite a while yet. Professor Garth Nettheim from the Aboriginal Law Centre at the University of New South Wales in Sydney tells us what it's all about. -
Banner, S. (2005). Why Terra Nullius? Anthropology and Property Law in Early Australia. Law and History Review, 23(1), 95-131. Retrieved from JSTOR.
The British treated Australia as terra nullius - as unowned land. Under British colonial law, aboriginal Australians had no property rights in the land, and colonization accordingly vested ownership of the entire continent in the British government. The doctrine of terra nullius remained the law in Australia throughout the colonial period, and indeed right up to 1992
Yikkala Bark Petitions 1963
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Museum of Democracy. (1963). Yirrkala bark petitions 1963. Retrieved from https://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-did-104.html
The painted designs proclaim Yolngu law, depicting the traditional relations to land and the typed text is in English and Gumatj languages.
Eddie Mabo
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Indigenous Government. (2012, June 1). Eddie Mabo. Retrieved from https://www.indigenous.gov.au/eddie-mabo-the-man-behind-mabo-day
Eddie Mabo of Mer island in the Torres Strait spent a decade seeking official recognition of his people’s ownership of Mer and on 3 June 1992, the High Court of Australia agreed, rejecting the doctrine that Australia was terra nullius (land belonging to no-one) at the time of European settlement.
Mabo Decision 1992
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Australian Institute of Aboriginal Affairs. (2015, September 11). Mabo Case. Retrieved from https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/articles/mabo-case
The Mabo Case was a significant legal case in Australia that recognised the land rights of the Meriam people, traditional owners of the Murray Islands (which include the islands of Mer, Dauer and Waier) in the Torres Strait. The Mabo Case challenged the existing Australian legal system from two perspectives:
1. On the assumption that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples had no concept of land ownership before the arrival of British colonisers in 1788 (terra nullius).
2. That sovereignty delivered complete ownership of all land in the new Colony to the Crown, abolishing any existing rights that may have existed previously. -
Australian Government. (2008). Mabo Native Title Revolution. Retrieved from http://mabonativetitle.com/home.shtml
Mabo - The Native Title Revolution delves into the Mabo legal case and the important issues it raises for Australians and indigenous peoples everywhere. It gives an overview of the case and provides an insight into both the man at its centre, Eddie "Koiki" Mabo, and Torres Strait Islander culture.