1. Native Title in Australia Lesson 1
Appendix B
Presented by Mrs. Benson and Mr. Jenssen
Please note this presentation depicts persons that have since passed.
If you would like a copy of the presentation without pictures/video please request one from your teacher.

2. Acknowledgement to Country
“We acknowledge and pay respect to the Tasmanian Aboriginal community as the traditional and original owners and continuing custodians of this land.”
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3. Native Title An overview….
Native Title recognises some Indigenous people have rights and interests to their land that come from their traditional laws and customs and these rights are recognised by Australian Law.
Native title rights and interests may include rights to:
Live in the area.
Access the area for traditional purposes such as holding ceremonies and meetings.
Protect and manage important places and sites.
Fish, hunt and gather food or resources such as water, wood, stones and ochre.
Teach Aboriginal laws and customs on the land.
View this short video presentation:
Retrieved from:

4. Native Title v. Land Rights
Native title is NOT the same as land rights.
Land rights is a claim for the grant of title to land from Australian Commonwealth, State or Territory Governments.
As of December 31st, 2010 there has not been any native title determinations within Tasmania, however there has been land hand backs to Tasmanian Aborigines. Native title is still relevant to Tasmanian Aborigines as it has paved the way for legal hand backs of land to Tasmanian Aborigines due to proving that Australia was not “terra nullius”.
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5. Timeline of Native Title
Indigenous Australians have been estimated to have lived on the Australian continent for approximately 50,000 years.
1770, 22nd August: Captain Cook lands in Australia and against orders by the Royal Society of London decides not to make a treaty with the indigenous people of Australia but instead claims the Australia continent to be “terra nullius”. A Latin word meaning “land belonging to no one”.
1936, 29th June: Edward (Eddie) Koiki Mabo is born.
1967: Eddie Mabo is employed by the James Cook University as a groundsman and gardener until 1975.
1981: At a lands right conference at James Cook University, a group of Murray Islanders with Eddie Mabo decide to take their claim for native title to the High Court of Australia .
pictured above Eddie Mabo
Source: Loos, N and Mabo K (1996).
Image source:

6. Timeline of Native Title cont.
1982, May: Mabo and Others v. the State of Queensland commences legal proceedings.
1991, May: The case is heard in the High Court of Australia.
1992, 21st January: Eddie Mabo dies of cancer aged 55. He is reburied on Murray Island due to vandalism of his gravesite.
1992, 3rd June: The High Court announces the historic decision that invalidates “terra nullius” as a legal doctrine by a majority vote. This becomes known as Mabo v. Queensland (no. 2) case.
Source: Loos, N and Mabo K (1996).
Reburial of Mabo on Mer (Murray Island).
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7. Redfern Speech
View the Redfern Speech here:
“It was us who did the dispossessing.”
“We took the traditional lands and smashed the traditional way of life.”
“We brought the diseases (and) the alcohol.”
“We committed the murders.”
“We took the children from their mothers.”
“We practised discrimination and exclusion.”
(Keating, 1992)
In 1993 the Prime Minister Paul Keating, pictured right, passed the Native Title Act in response to the High Court Decision. As a Commonwealth Act it overrides any State Act and came into effect January 1st , 1994.
Source: Paul Keating, Redfern Address, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1992) [Video].
Source: Craven, 2011, p. 119
Image source:

8. Political responses after the Mabo Decision and Native Title
Ray Groom, then Liberal Premier of Tasmania accused Paul Keating of being intent on re-writing Australian history, denying genocide ever occurred in Tasmania.
Tim Fischer, then Federal Leader of the National Party, stated Aboriginal dispossession had been inevitable and was not something to be ashamed of.
In 1996 John Howard, then Liberal Leader, claimed that to give Aboriginal people the right to negotiate native title interests was “un - Australian”
Paul Hanson, then a Federal MP, believed the fight for land rights was a smoke screen to cover up a more sinister plot by Aboriginal people.
Source: Craven, 2011, p. 120
Source: Behrendt, 2009, p. 201

9. Questions for reflection
After viewing and engaging with this presentation, students will work in small groups with their peers to discuss their thoughts, opinions and ideas. The following questions will be used as a basis for these discussions:
Do you think Aboriginals had the right to claim the titles to the land that was taken from them when the Europeans invaded Australia? Why? Why not?
How did you feel after watching the Redfern speech? Do you think this was an important step toward reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people? What about the recognition of Australian Aboriginal land rights? Why/Why not?
Why did it take so long for Australian governments to begin the transfer of land back to the Aboriginal community?
What do you think about the comments made by politicians after the Native Title Act was passed? Were they true? Were they fair? Why/Why not?

10. References
Behrendt, L .(2012), Indigenous Australia for Dummies. Milton, Qld: Wiley Publishing Australia Pty. Ltd.
Craven, R. (2011), Teaching Aboriginal Studies: A Practical Resource for Primary and Secondary Teaching (2nd ed.). (2011), Crows Nest, NSW: Allen and Unwin.
Gwynn, M. (2009), Australian Integrated Primary Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus (2nd ed.). (2012). South Melbourne, Vic: Oxford University Press.
Loos, N and Mabo K (1996), Edward Koiki Mabo: His Life And Struggle For Land Rights (2nd ed.). (2013), University of Queensland Press.

11. References - Multimedia
Eddie Mabo  [Image]. Retrieved from 
Exactly what is Native Title (2013) [presentation]. Retrieved from title/Pages/Nativetitlerightsandinterests.aspx
Paul Keating (1992) [Image]. Retrieved from
Paul Keating, Redfern Address, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1992) [Video]. Retrieved from
Reburial of Mabo (1992) [Image]. Retrieved from