"Native Title can take away people's property"
In 1992, when the High Court handed down its decision in Mabo, for the first time, Australian law recognised Indigenous people’s connection with and rights over land. This is known legally as native title. The decision overturned the concept of terra nullius which asserted that before European settlement, the land of Australia belonged to no-one.
Following the Mabo verdict, there was a barrage of misinformation spread by opponents of the decision declaring that ‘Australians were going to lose their backyards’. Sadly, despite 15 years of Native Title decisions proving otherwise, this myth lingers today.
Native title has no bearing on existing property rights because claimants can only assert their title over publicly owned land, called Crown land.21 Any house (including its backyard) is considered private property and therefore extinguishes native title.
LINKS
- What is native title?
View this page of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies for more information and links to native title resources.
21 Mabo v Queensland (No.2) per Brennan