What did the Native Title Act mean for Aboriginal land rights?
Native title is the recognition by Australian law of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s traditional rights and interests in land and waters held under traditional law and custom.
What was the significance of milirrpum v nabalco 1971)?
Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd, also known as the Gove land rights case because its subject was land known as the Gove Peninsula in the Northern Territory, was the first litigation on native title in Australia, and the first significant legal case for Aboriginal land rights in Australia, decided on 27 April 1971.
What is the meaning terra nullius?
land belonging to no one
Terra nullius is a Latin term meaning “land belonging to no one”. British colonisation and subsequent Australian land laws were established on the claim that Australia was terra nullius, justifying acquisition by British occupation without treaty or payment.
What is native title rights?
Native title is the recognition that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have rights and interests to land and waters according to their traditional law and customs as set out in Australian Law.
What is the difference between Aboriginal land rights and native title?
Native title and land rights Land rights usually comprise a grant of freehold or perpetual lease title to Indigenous Australians. By contrast, native title arises as a result of the recognition, under Australian common law, of pre-existing Indigenous rights and interests according to traditional laws and customs.
Why is the native title important?
Native title protects the land which will be passed on to future generations along with the traditional laws and customs which govern it. Business opportunities. Aboriginal people can establish businesses and create training and employment, giving them economic independence.
Was the Yirrkala bark petition successful?
The petition was successful, and the township still stands under that name today. The 1988 bark petition, known as the Barunga Statement called for self-determination, land rights, compensation and Indigenous rights.
Who was Milirrpum?
Milirrpum was an important ceremonial and community leader at Yirrkala from the 1970s until his death in 1983. He was also a talented and distinctive artist who was most active after 1960 and was represented in a number of group shows during his lifetime.
What did Eddie Mabo?
It was on 3 June 1992 that the Australian High Court overturned more than 200 years of white domination of land ownership. The victory was largely down to one indigenous man called Eddie Mabo. That’s why the legal decision is universally known as “Mabo”.
Who discovered Australia?
The first known landing in Australia by Europeans was in 1606 by Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon. Later that year, Spanish explorer Luís Vaz de Torres sailed through, and navigated, what is now called Torres Strait and associated islands.
Why is Mabo Day significant?
Why was the Mabo decision so important? The Mabo decision acknowledged the traditional rights of Indigenous people to their land and waters, and paved the way for native title in Australia. It also recognised that Indigenous people occupied Australia for tens of thousands of years before the British arrived in 1788.
Does native title mean ownership?
Native title is not a grant or right created by governments. The Native Title Act 1993 (NTA) gives recognition that “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have rights to land, water and sea, including exclusive possession in some cases, but does not provide ownership”.