5. The Impact of Native Title

Native Title has changed history and the way people interact with Traditional Owners in this country. This has meant the government, corporate and mining interests seeking to develop and work on Indigenous lands must consult with the local Traditional Owners.  Native Title recognises the traditional rights and interests to land and waters of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Under the Native Title Act 1993 (NTA), Native Title claimants can make an application to the Federal Court to have their Native Title recognised by Australian law.

Why is this historical? Quite simply because Indigenous people in this country were not formally recognised as the owners of their own land and country, and the Mabo decision changed all this, in many respects Indigenous people can have a say in what happens on their land, however, this is restrictive and limits Indigenous peoples’ rights.

Following European arrival in Australia, the land rights of Indigenous Australians and their relationship with country were not recognised. The land was deemed terra nullius, Latin for ‘nobody’s land’, a legal doctrine which dictated that land which is recognised as unclaimed or unoccupied can be acquired by occupation.

For the next two centuries the ancestral land of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples was taken and many families were forcibly removed. 

Source: https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/explainer/native-title-what-does-it-mean-and-why-do-we-have-it