Native Title Rights In Australia

The importance of the court can be seen through the development of the legislation and their essential role in Native Title matters. Aboriginal ownership of land has always been recognised by Britain; however, despite British recognition, the colonists in Australia managed to officially disregard this recognition by creating Australian law on the concept of ‘Terra Nullius’. Terra Nullius is the fiction that Australia was unoccupied at the time of colonisation. Many land councils and aboriginal organisations throughout Australia lobbied the Federal Government to protect any native title and fought for a more flexible and appropriate system than the one offered through the courts. It wasn’t until 1992 that Native title was first recognised in …show more content…
The laws regarding native title are found in the Native Title Act 1993. This act not only put into law the Mabo decision and made native title claims possible, but also established a National Native Title Tribunal and set out processes for the determination of native title rights. The Native Title Act 1992 gives indigenous Australians the right to possession, occupation, use and enjoyment of traditional country. This is evident in section 13 (1) where is says, “An application may be made to the Federal Court under part 3: (a) for a determination of native title in relation to an area for which there is no approved determination of native title.” In addition, the act also incorporates rights such as the access of an area of land or the right to participate in decisions concerning how the land or waters are used by other people. Furthermore, the act varies according to the rights of other people and can exist alongside other rights, namely, co-existence. The rights granted by the native title act are not unlimited, they depend on the traditional laws and customs of the people claiming the title. In order to have native title recognised under the Native Title Act 1993, aboriginals must prove that they have had a continuous connection to the land and that they have not done anything to break that connection such as selling or leasing the land. However, other people’s interests and rights to the land are of much relevance and usually take precedence over native title. Moreover, the act has restrictions such as the prohibition of buying or selling native title; however the act allows for native title to be transferred by traditional law or custom, or surrendered to the governments which can then pay compensation to the native title holder in the same way it does when acquiring rights to other property. The implementation of this act delivered