Mabo Decision and Native Title

In what is commonly referred to as the Mabo decision, the High Court held that the common law of Australia recognizes a form of native title to land. The Court rejected the doctrine that Australia was terra nullius (land belonging to no one) at the time of European settlement.

Towards the end of 1993 the Commonwealth Government passed the Native Title Act, which introduced processes for dealing with native title. The Act was the result of an agreement struck between the Commonwealth and Indigenous Australians - it stated that past grants of land away from Indigenous ownership would be made valid, in return for an Indigenous right to have a meaningful say about future developments on native title land. Pastoralists are tenants who still pay a small rental to the government. The rights of pastoralists to graze cattle or sheep, fence their land, build dams and so on can exist side by side with native title rights - in other words, the two rights can "co-exist" on the same land.

Throughout 1997 - 1999 demands were made by the Aboriginal people for the Federal Government to 'apologize' on behalf of the nation, for the mistreatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for over 200 years. Reconciliation encourages harmony between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians and shows recognition that Australia was formed on the dispossession of the Aborigines.