What was the significance of Mabo?

The significance of Mabo lies in the decision's recognition of native title in Australian law, its overturning of the legal doctrine of terra nullius that had operated since 1788, and its trigger for the Native Title Act 1993 and the subsequent development of native title claims across Australia. The decision is the most consequential Indigenous legal victory in Australian history.

Mabo's immediate legal significance was substantial. The High Court ruled on 3 June 1992 in Mabo v Queensland (No 2) that native title could exist in Australian law where Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander peoples had maintained their connection to country. The Court rejected the doctrine of terra nullius (the claim that Australia had been legally unoccupied when the British arrived) that had underpinned the colonial legal system for more than 200 years. The decision held that British annexation had not extinguished pre-existing Indigenous interests in land unless those interests had been specifically extinguished by clear and plain legislative action.

The political and legislative response was rapid. The Keating Labor government's Native Title Act 1993, passed in December 1993, codified the Mabo principles into a statutory framework. The Act established the National Native Title Tribunal to resolve claims, set out procedures for the recognition of native title, established the right to negotiate with developers proposing to develop native title land, and validated various pre-existing land interests including freehold and certain leases. The 1996 Wik decision extended the principles to pastoral leases, finding that native title could coexist with pastoral leases. The Howard government's Native Title Amendment Act 1998 (the so-called Ten Point Plan) adjusted the framework, including restrictions on the right to negotiate.

About 50 per cent of Australia is now subject to determined or claimed native title interests. More than 600 native title determinations have been made, covering most of remote and rural Australia. Indigenous Land Use Agreements (ILUAs), provided for in the Native Title Act, now cover substantial areas of Australia and allow Indigenous and non-Indigenous land users to negotiate co-existing arrangements. The Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation, established in 1995, supports Indigenous land acquisition. The Mabo decision also has wider cultural significance: Eddie Mabo was named Australian of the Year in 1992 (posthumously, the first such award), Mabo Day on 3 June each year marks the decision, and the 1997 film Mabo and the 2012 film Mabo and Others v Queensland (directed by Rachel Perkins) have brought the story to wider audiences. The Native Title Tribunal, the Federal Court, and various Aboriginal Land Councils continue the work of native title recognition and management today.