Native title is a concept in the law of Australia that recognises the continued ownership of land by local Indigenous Australians. // This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Languages Several hundred indigenous Australian languages (many extinct or nearly so), Australian English, Australian Aboriginal English, Torres Strait Creole, Kriol Religions Primarily Christian, with minorities of other religions including various forms of Traditional belief systems based around the Dreamtime Related ethnic groups see List of Indigenous Australian group names Indigenous...

Native title can co-exist with non-indigenous proprietary rights and in some cases different indigenous groups can exercise their native title over the same land. In this way, it represents a local example of the fragmentation of proprietary interests. More particularly, it is also an example of two distinct systems of law operating within the same geographic, national and jurisdictional space. It is a recognition by the common law of customary Aboriginal law. However, to the extent of any inconsistency between Australian law and customary Aboriginal law, non-indigenous rights will generally prevail. This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ...

The National Native Title Tribunal (NNTT) is the body that investigates and mediates claims made by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Native title determinations are made by the Federal Court of Australia. Appeals against these determinations can be made to a full sitting of the Federal Court and then to the High Court of Australia. The National Native Title Register (NNTR) is a register of approved determinations and is maintained by the NNTT. The National Native Title Tribunal is an Australian Commonwealth Government agency set up under the Native Title Act 1993 (Cwlth). ... In Melbourne, the Federal Court is housed with other federal courts such as the High Court and the Federal Magistrates Court in the Federal Court Building on the corner of La Trobe Street and William Street The Federal Court of Australia is the Australian court in which most civil disputes... High Court entrance The High Court of Australia is the final court of appeal in Australia, the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy. ... In law, land registration is a system by which the ownership of estates in land, is recorded and registered, usually by government, in order to provide evidence of title and to facilitate dealing. ...

The clash of two legal systems

Native title, in Australia, concerns the interaction of two systems of law:

• The traditional laws and customs that regulated the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders prior to Australia's colonisation by the British ("customary Aboriginal law"). Although colonisation wrought social changes upon the Aborigines, customary Aboriginal law continues to regulate the lives of many indigenous Australians.

• The now dominant, English-derived legal system, which was brought to Australia on colonisation, which includes the common law and enacted laws ("Australian law").

Only Australian laws are enforced directly in Australian courts. Native title is not a concept that forms part of customary Aboriginal law - rather, it is the term adopted to describe the rights to land and waters possessed by indigenous Australians under their customary laws that are recognised by the Australian legal system. This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ...

Chronology of events leading to recognition of native title

1946 Aboriginal Stockmen's Strike

Main article: 1946 Pilbara strike

On 1 May 1946, an estimated 600 Aboriginal stockmen throughout the north of Western Australia refused to work until they had been guaranteed a minimum wage of thirty shillings a week. Some had previously been receiving food and clothing but no pay; others had been paid up to twelve shillings a week. The 1946 Pilbara strike was a landmark strike by Indigenous Australian pastoral workers in the Pilbara region of Western Australia for human rights recognition and payment of fair wages and working conditions. ... is the 121st day of the year (122nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Stockmen are the Australian equivalent of North American cowboys. ... Slogan or Nickname: Wildflower State or the Golden State Other Australian states and territories Capital Perth Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Ken Michael Premier Alan Carpenter (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 15  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $100,900 (4th)  - Product per capita  $50,355/person... This article is about coinage. ...

It was organised by Dooley Bin Bin with his friend Don McLeod acting as consultant. The organisation was a mammoth task, requiring communication between stockmen throughout northern Western Australia.

Pitjantjatjara Lands Act 1956

The first Native Title legislation in Australia was the South Australian Pitjantjatjara Lands Act 1956, where land was transferred to the Pitjantjatjara people, who had maintained a continuous connection with their land. However, the act provided no basis for claims by other groups. Capital Adelaide Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Marjorie Jackson-Nelson Premier Mike Rann (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 11  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $59,819 (5th)  - Product per capita  $38,838/person (7th) Population (End of September 2006)  - Population  1,558,200 (5th)  - Density  1. ... Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image:Some aboriginal communities in the northern territory australia. ...

1963 – Yolngu Bark Petition

Main article: Yirrkala bark petitions

The Yolngu of northeast Arnhem Land had retained a very strong connection with their land, culture and Law (Madayin), due to the remoteness of Arnhem Land to white Australia. The Yirrkala bark petitions 1963 are historic Australian documents that were the first traditional documents prepared by Indigenous Australians that were recognised by the Australian Parliament, and are thus the first documentary recognition of Indigenous people in Australian law. ... For Yolngu language see Yolngu Matha. ... Arnhem Land is an area of 97,000 km² in the north-eastern corner of the Northern Territory, Australia. ...

In 1963, the Menzies government decided to excise a part of their land for a bauxite mine, Yolngu at Yirrkala sent a petition on bark to the Australian House of Representatives protesting the excision. Year 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, KT, AK, CH, FRS, QC (20 December 1894 – 15 May 1978), Australian politician, was the twelfth and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia, serving eighteen and a half years. ... Bauxite with penny Bauxite with core of unweathered rock Bauxite is an aluminium ore. ... Yirrkala is a well-known indigenous community in Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia, at 12. ... The Yirrkala bark petitions 1963 are historic Australian documents that were the first traditional documents prepared by Indigenous Australians that were recognised by the Australian Parliament, and are thus the first documentary recognition of Indigenous people in Australian law. ... Australian House of Representatives chamber Entrance to the House of Representatives The Australian House of Representatives is one of the two houses (chambers) of the Parliament of Australia. ...

The bark petition attracted national and international attention and now hangs in Parliament House, Canberra as a testament to the Yolngu role in the birth of the land rights movement. Parliament House Canberra: The main entrance and the flag mast. ...

1966 – Wave Hill Walk-Off

Main article: Gurindji strike

Three years later, in 1966, 200 Gurindji cattle workers and their families, led by Vincent Lingiari, staged a strike and walk off at Wave Hill Cattle Station, demanding equal wages and conditions to white stockmen. Shows location of Gurindji (blue, near top left) in the Northern Territory The Gurindji Strike lasted from 1966 to 1975 at Wave Hill cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... Location of Gurindji country (topmost blue shading) Gurindji are a group of Indigenous Australians living in northern Australia, 460 km southwest of Katherine in the Northern Territory. ... Prime Minister Gough Whitlam pours the sand into Vincent Lingiaris hand. ... Shows location of Gurindji (blue, near top left) in the Northern Territory The Gurindji (or Wave Hill) Strike refers to the walk-off by 200 Gurindji stockmen, house servants and their families in August 1966 at Wave Hill cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia. ... Location of Kalkirindji in Northern Territory (red) Kalkaringi (formerly Wave Hill, also spelt Kalkirindji) is a small township in Northern Territory of Australia. ... Stockmen are the Australian equivalent of North American cowboys. ...

At that time they were paid small amounts of money, or paid in kind. The nine-year strike developed into a successful claim for return of traditional Gurindji lands.

1971 – Gove Land Rights case

Main article: Gove land rights case

Meanwhile, the Yolngu realised their bark petition had not been taken seriously by the politicians in Canberra, and instead took their grievances to the courts in 1971, in the case of Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd. In December 1968, the Yolngu people living in Yirrkala, who were the traditional owners of the Gove Peninsula in Arnhem Land, obtained writs in the Northern Territory Supreme Court against the Nabalco Corporation, which had secured a twelve-year bauxite mining lease from the Federal Government. ... For Yolngu language see Yolngu Matha. ... Year 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. ... In December 1968, the Yolngu people living in Yirrkala, who were the traditional owners of the Gove Peninsula in Arnhem Land, obtained writs in the Northern Territory Supreme Court against the Nabalco Corporation, which had secured a twelve-year bauxite mining lease from the Federal Government. ...

Yolngu lost the case because Australian courts were still bound to follow the terra nullius principle, which did not allow for the recognition of any “prior rights” to land to Indigenous people at the time of colonisation. Terra nullius (English pronunciation , Latin pronunciation IPA: ) is a Latin expression deriving from Roman Law meaning no mans land, i. ...

However, the Judge did acknowledge the claimants' ritual and economic use of the land and that they had an established system of law (Madayin). In this way, this was the first significant legal case for Indigenous Land Rights in Australia.

1973-4 – Woodward Inquiry

These cases led to the establishment of the Woodward Commission into Aboriginal Land Rights from 1973-4 in the Northern Territory. For the song by James Blunt, see 1973 (song). ... Year 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. ... Slogan or Nickname: The Territory, The NT, The Top End Motto(s): none Other Australian states and territories Capital Darwin Government Constitutional monarchy Administrator Ted Egan Chief Minister Clare Martin (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 2  - Senate seats 2 Gross Territorial Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $10,418 (8th)  - Product...

1975 – Gurindji handback

Main article: Gurindji strike

In 1975, Gough Whitlam handed back land to the Gurindji people. Shows location of Gurindji (blue, near top left) in the Northern Territory The Gurindji Strike lasted from 1966 to 1975 at Wave Hill cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC (born 11 July 1916), known as Gough Whitlam (, pronounced Goff), is an Australian former politician and 21st Prime Minister of Australia. ... Location of Gurindji country (topmost blue shading) Gurindji are a group of Indigenous Australians living in northern Australia, 460 km southwest of Katherine in the Northern Territory. ...

The famous photograph, by Mervyn Bishop of Whitlam pouring sand into Vincent Lingiari's hand, has been etched onto the Australian psyche. Mervyn Bishop (b. ... Prime Minister Gough Whitlam pours the sand into Vincent Lingiaris hand. ...

Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976

Main article: Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976

As a result of the findings of the Royal Commission, the Fraser Government enacted the Aboriginal Land Rights Act in 1976, after its drafting by the Whitlam Labor Government in 1975. In Australian history, the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act established the basis upon which Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory could claim rights to land based on traditional occupation. ... This article is about the former prime minister of Australia; for the Western Australian public servant, see Malcolm Fraser (surveyor). ... The Aboriginal Land Rights Act was signed by the Govenor-General of Australia 16 December, 1976. ... Year 1976 Pick up sticks(MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC (born 11 July 1916), known as Gough Whitlam (, pronounced Goff), is an Australian former politician and 21st Prime Minister of Australia. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The four Land Councils were established under this law. It established the basis upon which Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory could, for the first time, claim rights to land based on traditional occupation.

This Act was the first Australian law which allowed a claim of title if claimants could provide evidence of their traditional association with land.

1985 Gerhardy v Brown

Main article: Gerhardy v Brown

Stated that the original inhabitants should be recognised as having a legal, as well as a just, claim to retain occupancy of their traditional land.

1992 – Mabo

Main articles: Mabo v Queensland (1988) and Mabo v Queensland

Only in 1992 was the assumption that Australia was terra nullius rejected by the High Court in the Mabo decision, which granted Murray Island in the Torres Strait to its Torres Strait Islander residents. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Mabo v Queensland. ... Mabo v Queensland (No 2) (commonly known as Mabo) was a landmark Australian court case which was decided by the High Court of Australia on June 3, 1992. ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ... High Court entrance The High Court of Australia is the final court of appeal in Australia, the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy. ... Eddie Mabo & Ors v The State of Queensland (No. ... Murray Island (known by Torres Strait Islanders as Mer) is a small island of volcanic origin, populated by the Melanesian Meriam people and situated in the eastern section of Torres Strait, near the Great Barrier Reef. ... Torres Strait and islands The Torres Strait - Cape York Peninsula is at the bottom; several of the Torres Strait Islands can be seen strung out towards Papua New Guinea to the north. ...

As Justice Brennan stated in Mabo (No. 2), "native title has its origin and is given its content by the traditional laws acknowledged by and the customs observed by the indigenous inhabitants of a territory".

Developments since the recognition of native title

Native Title Act 1993

Main article: Native Title Act 1993

The recognition of the legal concept of Native Title in Mabo in 1992 led its recognition by the legislative system a year later when the Keating government enacted the Native Title Act, 1993. It attempted to clarify the legal position of landholders and the processes that must be followed for Native Title to be claimed, protected and recognised through the courts. The Wik Decision is a decision of the High Court of Australia in Wik Peoples v. ... For other persons named Paul Keating, see Paul Keating (disambiguation). ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ...

The concept of claiming land rights is independent of native title. Aboriginal land claims are claims of Native or Aboriginal peoples (also referred to as Indigenous peoples) about their ownership of land before the arrival of settlers, primarily Europeans. ...

Native title is not the same as land rights Aboriginal Land Rights Acts. Land rights are new legal rights that are created and granted under Australian law to Indigenous Australians. In Australian history, the Aboriginal Land Rights Acts were acts of law that established land rights for Australian aborigines who made traditional use of the land. ... Languages Several hundred indigenous Australian languages (many extinct or nearly so), Australian English, Australian Aboriginal English, Torres Strait Creole, Kriol Religions Primarily Christian, with minorities of other religions including various forms of Traditional belief systems based around the Dreamtime Related ethnic groups see List of Indigenous Australian group names Indigenous...

In a land rights claim Indigenous Australians can seek a grant of title to land from the Commonwealth, state or territory governments. That grant may recognise traditional interest in the land, and protect those interests by giving Indigenous people legal ownership of that land. Indigenous peoples are: Peoples living in an area prior to colonization by a state Peoples living in an area within a nation-state, prior to the formation of a nation-state, but who do not identify with the dominant nation. ...

Pastoral leases

The Mabo decision created uncertainty, particularly for pastoralists who held pastoral leases. Pastoral leases: Eddie Mabo & Ors v The State of Queensland (No. ...

• are leases given by the Australian state governments;
• are the subject of statutory regulation;
• contain varying conditions;
• give pastoralists rights to occupy Crown land for agricultural purposes in return for an annual fee;
• cover approximately 44% of Australia's mainland, consisting predominantly of arid and semi-arid regions and tropical savannas;
• are predominantly used for grazing livestock and agriculture.^[1]

1996 – Wik Decision

Main article: Wik Peoples v Queensland

After the Mabo decision, there was concern that native title claims over pastoral leases would extinguish the pastoral leases. The Wik Decision in 1996 clarified the uncertainty. In that case, the High Court determined that pastoral leases that: The Wik Decision is a decision of the High Court of Australia in Wik Peoples v. ... Eddie Mabo & Ors v The State of Queensland (No. ... The Wik Decision is a decision of the High Court of Australia in Wik Peoples v. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... High Court entrance The High Court of Australia is the final court of appeal in Australia, the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy. ...

• gave the leaseholder exclusive possession (that is, the right to use the land and to exclude others from the land) extinguished native title; and
• did not give exclusive possession did not extinguish native title.

The decision found that native title could coexist with other land interests on pastoral leases, which cover some 40% of the Australian land mass.

That decision led to amendments to the Native Title Act (by the Native Title Amendment Act) in 1998 which streamlined the claims system and provided security of tenure to non-indigenous holders of pastoral leases and other land title, where that land might potentially be claimed under the Native Title Act. The Native Title Amendment Act 1998 (Cth), also commonly referred to as the 10 Point Plan is an Australian law created by the John Howard led Liberal government in response to the 1996 Wik Decision by the High Court of Australia. ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... Pastoral Leases are agreements under the Commonwealth of Australia that allow for the use of Crown land by farmers, etc. ...

2006 – Noongar Decision

On 19th Sept 2006 the Federal Court brought down a judgment in favour of Noongar Native Title over the Perth metropolitan area, it is known as Bennell v State of Western Australia [2006] FCA 1243. The Perth skyline viewed from the Swan River This article is about the metropolitan area of Perth, Western Australia. ...

Justice Wilcox found that Native Title continues to exist within an area in and around Perth. This is the first judgment in favour of Native Title over a capital city and its surrounds. The claim area itself is part of a much larger area included in the "Single Noongar Claim", which covers the south-western corner of Western Australia. It was determined separately from the wider Single Noongar Claim by the Federal Court at the request of the Commonwealth and State Governments, in order to obtain certainty about whether Native Title exists in the Perth metropolitan area. An appeal was subsequently lodged and is was heard in April 2007 (decision currently pending). The remainder of the larger Single Noongar Claim remains outstanding and will hinge on the outcome of the appeal process.

Wilcox's judgment is noteworthy for several reasons. It highlights Perth's wealth of post-European settlement writings which provide an insight into Aboriginal life, including laws and customs, around the time of settlement in 1829 and also into the beginning of the last century. These documents enabled Wilcox to find that laws and customs governing land throughout the whole Single Noongar Claim (taking in Perth, and many other towns in the greater South West) were those of a single community. The claimants shared a language and had extensive interaction with others in the claim area.

Importantly, Justice Wilcox found the Noongar community had continued to exist despite the disruption resulting from mixed marriage and people being forced off their land and dispersed to other areas as a result of white settlement and later Government policies. If it survives the forthcoming appeal, this is a very significant principle for other native title claims in Australia.

2007 Amendments to the Native Title Act

On 7 September 2005 Attorney-General, the Hon. Philip Ruddock MP, announced a package of coordinated measures to improve the performance of the native title system. Later in December 2006, the Attorney General introduced technical amendments to the NTA (1993) in the Native Title Amendment Bill 2006. These are aimed at making the native title process 'more efficient' and to speed up the determination of whether native title exists on the 580 claims that have been registered but not yet determined.

See also

• Aboriginal land claims
• Aboriginal title
• Central Land Council and Northern Land Council of the Northern Territory
• Gove land rights case
• Gurindji strike
• Mabo
• Wik Peoples v Queensland
• Yirrkala bark petitions
• Indian reservation, land which is managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs.
• Oren Lyons
• Eva Ass
• Estates in land
• Title (property)

• Category:Australian indigenous rights activists

Aboriginal land claims are claims of Native or Aboriginal peoples (also referred to as Indigenous peoples) about their ownership of land before the arrival of settlers, primarily Europeans. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Central Land Council is in the southern half of the Northern Territory of Australia. ... The Northern Land Council (NLC) is in the Top End of the Northern Territory of Australia. ... Slogan or Nickname: The Territory, The NT, The Top End Motto(s): none Other Australian states and territories Capital Darwin Government Constitutional monarchy Administrator Ted Egan Chief Minister Clare Martin (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 2  - Senate seats 2 Gross Territorial Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $10,418 (8th)  - Product... In December 1968, the Yolngu people living in Yirrkala, who were the traditional owners of the Gove Peninsula in Arnhem Land, obtained writs in the Northern Territory Supreme Court against the Nabalco Corporation, which had secured a twelve-year bauxite mining lease from the Federal Government. ... Shows location of Gurindji (blue, near top left) in the Northern Territory The Gurindji Strike lasted from 1966 to 1975 at Wave Hill cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia. ... Eddie Mabo & Ors v The State of Queensland (No. ... The Wik Decision is a decision of the High Court of Australia in Wik Peoples v. ... The Yirrkala bark petitions 1963 are historic Australian documents that were the first traditional documents prepared by Indigenous Australians that were recognised by the Australian Parliament, and are thus the first documentary recognition of Indigenous people in Australian law. ... For the song, see Indian Reservation (song) BIA map of reservations in the United States Tribal sovereignty: Map of the United States, with non-reservation land highlighted. ... This article is about the people indigenous to the United States. ... The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is a Cabinet department of the United States government that manages and conserves most federally owned land. ... The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the Department of the Interior charged with the administration and management of 55. ... Lyons at Nambassa in 1981 . Oren Lyons (b. ... An estate is the right, interest, or nature of interest, a person has in real property. ... Title is a legal term for an owners interest in a piece of property. ... Languages Several hundred indigenous Australian languages (many extinct or nearly so), Australian English, Australian Aboriginal English, Torres Strait Creole, Kriol Religions Primarily Christian, with minorities of other religions including various forms of Traditional belief systems based around the Dreamtime Related ethnic groups see List of Indigenous Australian group names Indigenous... This List of Indigenous Australian group names contains names and collective designations which have been applied, either formerly or in the past, to groups of Indigenous Australians. ... The Torres Strait Islander Flag. ... Numerous Indigenous Australians have been notable for their contributions to politics, including participation in governments and activism in Australia. ... Numerous Indigenous Australians and noted sportspeople. ... Numerous Indigenous Australians are noted for their participation in, and contributions to, the visual arts in Australia and abroad. ... // Mark Bin Bakar -- actor & comedian Stephen Page Frances Rings Kylie Belling -- actor Ernie Dingo -- actor and television presenter Stan Grant (journalist) television presenter David Gulpilil -- actor Tom E. Lewis -- actor, musician Deborah Mailman -- actor Leah Purcell -- actor Everlyn Sampi -- actor Justine Saunders -- actor Caitlin Stasey -- actor Ivan Sen -- filmmaker Robert... Numerous Indigenous Australians are notable for their contributions to Australian literature and journalism. ... This is a list of Indigenous Australian musicians. ... Aboriginal Australia contains a large number of tribal divisions and language groups, and, corresponding to this, a wide variety of diversity exists within cultural practices. ... Dreaming is a common term among Indigenous Australians for a personal, or group, creation story and for the mythological time of creation, as well as for the places where the creation spirits now lie dormant in the land. ... opens chapter nine of The Dreaming Universe (1994) entitled The Dreamtime with a quote from The Last Wave, a film by Peter Weir: Aboriginals believe in two forms of time. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Australian Aboriginal kinship is the system of law governing social interaction, particularly marriage, in traditional Aboriginal culture. ... Australian Aboriginal avoidance practices refers to those relationships in traditional Aboriginal society where certain people were required to avoid others in their family or clan. ... Indigenous Australians had distinct ways of dividing the year up. ... Australian Aboriginal enumeration refers to the way some Australian Aborigines traditionally counted. ... Marn Grook (also spelt marngrook) is an Australian Aboriginal ball game, which is claimed to have had an influence on the modern game of Australian rules football, most notably in the spectacular jumping and high marking exhibited by the players of both games. ... Kurdaitcha (or kurdaitcha man) is a ritual executioner in Aboriginal Australian culture. ... Many of the Australian Aboriginal cultures have a strong element of astronomy. ... Songlines - the British based world music magazine featuring the greatest artists in the current music scene on the web at [Songlines http://www. ... A message stick is a form of communication traditionally used by Indigenous Australians. ... The Deadlys are an annual celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievement in music, sport, entertainment and community. ... NAIDOC National Aboriginal Islander Day Observance Committee ... A Bora is the name given both to an initiation ceremony of Indigenous Australians, and to the site on which the initiation is performed. ... The Outstation movement refers to the relocation of Indigenous Australians from towns to remote outposts on traditional tribal land. ... Riji are the pearl shells traditionally worn by Aboriginal men in the north-west part of Australia, around present day Broome. ... This List of Indigenous Australian group names contains names and collective designations which have been applied, either formerly or in the past, to groups of Indigenous Australians. ... The Pama-Nyungan languages are the most widespread family of Australian languages. ... Many Australian Aboriginal cultures have or traditionally had a sign language counterpart to their spoken language. ... Avoidance speech, or mother-in-law languages, is a feature of many Australian Aboriginal languages and some North American languages whereby in the presence of certain relatives it is taboo to use everyday speech style, and instead a special speech style must be used. ... . ... These words of Australian Aboriginal origin include some which are almost universal in the English-speaking world, such as kangaroo and boomerang. ... The Gunwinyguan languages form the second largest family of Australian Aboriginal languages. ... Australian Aboriginal English (AAE) is a term referring to the various varieties of the English language used by Indigenous Australians. ... Kriol is an Australian creole that developed out of the contact between European settlers and the indigenous people in the northern regions of Australia. ... There are two languages indigenous to Torres Strait Islanders. ... The Northern Land Council (NLC) is in the Top End of the Northern Territory of Australia. ... The Central Land Council is in the southern half of the Northern Territory of Australia. ... The Aboriginal Medical Service (AMS) was established in Redfern from 1971. ... Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR) is an independent, national network of mainly non-Indigenous organisations and individuals working in support of justice for Indigenous Australians. ... Reconciliation Australia is the non-government, not-for-profit foundation established in January 2001 to provide a continuing national focus for reconciliation. ... European Network for Indigenous Australian Rights (ENIAR) is a European wide non-profit organisation that promotes awareness of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues and to provide information for Indigenous Australians about European and international organisations. ... The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) is an independent Australian Government statutory authority. ... The National Indigenous Council is an appointed advisory body to the Australian Government through the Ministerial Taskforce on Indigenous Affairs. ... The Aborigines Advancement League (also known as the Aboriginal Advancement League) is the oldest Aboriginal organisation in Australia[1]. It is primarily concerned with Aboriginal welfare issues and the preservation of Aboriginal culture and heritage, and is based in Melbourne. ... Bush Tucker is a colloquial Australian term for any food native to Australia and eaten before European colonisation. ... Bush medicine is the term used in Australia by Aboriginal people to describe their traditional medicinal knowledge and practices. ... Aboriginal millstone - vital in making flour or pastes for bread. ... Australian Aboriginal fibrecraft refers to the various ways Australian Aborigines created fibres traditionally. ... A soakage, or soak, is a source of water in Australian deserts. ... A 19th century engraving showing Aboriginal people and humpy. ... Sewn and incised possum-skin cloak of Wurundjeri origin (Melbourne Museum) Possum-skin cloaks were a form of clothing worn by Australian Aborigines in the south-east of the continent – present-day Victoria and southern New South Wales. ... Buka, or Boka, is the name for the cloak traditionally worn by Noongar people, the Indigenous people of south-western Australia. ... Indigenous Australian peoples traditionally classified food sources in a methodical way. ... Australian Aborigines had many ways to source sweet foods. ... Fire-stick farming is a term coined by Australian archeologist Rhys Jones in 1969 to describe the practice of Indigenous Australians where fire was used regularly to burn vegetation to facilitate hunting and to change the composition of plant and animal species in an area. ... The woomera in this picture is the wooden object at left A woomera is an Australian Aboriginal spear-throwing device. ... This article is about the wooden implement. ... The coolamon in this picture is at top left. ... A Waddy is an Australian Aboriginal war club. ... Spinifex (Triodia) plant Spinifex resin refers to the gum traditionally made by Australian Aborigines by burning the Spinifex plant and extracting its resin. ... Aboriginal hollow log tomb Indigenous Australian art is art produced by Indigenous Australians, covering works that pre-date European colonisation as well as contemporary art by Aboriginal Australians based on traditional culture. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... Papunya Tula, or Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd, is an artists cooperative, formed in 1972 to market the paintings of a group of Aboriginal Australian men who had begun painting traditional designs using western art materials at the Papunya settlement, 240 km northwest of Alice Springs in Central Australia in... Indigenous Australian music includes the music of Australian Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, who are collectively called Indigenous Australians; it incorporates a wide variety of distinctive traditional music styles practised by Indigenous Australian peoples, as well as a range of contemporary musical styles both derivative of and fusion with European... Aboriginal rock is a rather nebulous term for a style of music which mixes traditional rock music elements (guitar, drums, bass etc) with the instrumentation of Indigenous Australians (Didjeridu, clap-sticks etc). ... A didgeridoo. ... Vibe Australia Pty Ltd (Vibe) is an Aboriginal media, communications and events management agency. ... The National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA) is one of the most prestigious art awards in Australia. ... The prehistory of Australia is a term which may be used to describe the period of approximately 40-45,000 years (or more, as is contended by some studies) between the first human habitation of the Australian continent and the first definitive sighting of Australia by Europeans in 1606, which... // A 19th century engraving of an Indigenous Australian encampment, showing the indigenous mode of life in the cooler parts of Australia at the time of European settlement. ... Some Indigenous Australians are remembered in history for leadership prior to European colonisation, some for their resistance to that colonisation, others for assisting Europeans explore the country. ... The Aboriginal History of Western Australia is the history of the indigenous inhabitants of the western third of the Australian continent, from their own perspective. ... The 1946 Pilbara strike was a landmark strike by Indigenous Australian pastoral workers in the Pilbara region of Western Australia for human rights recognition and payment of fair wages and working conditions. ... Shows location of Gurindji (blue, near top left) in the Northern Territory The Gurindji Strike lasted from 1966 to 1975 at Wave Hill cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia. ... This is a list of massacres of Indigenous Australians. ... Umbarra, King Merriman, from the Djirringanj of Bermagui with King plate King plates were a form of regalia used chiefly in pre-Federation Australia by white colonial authorities to recognise local Aboriginal leaders. ... Proclamation of the Day of Mourning. ... The Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra has existed intermittently since 1972. ... The Caledon bay crisis refers to a series of killings in Caledon Bay in the Northern Territory of Australia in 1932-1934. ... From as early as the 1830s, a Native Police Corps was established in the Australian colony of New South Wales (now Victoria). ... Proclamation of the Day of Mourning. ... The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) (1990–2005) was the Australian Government body through which Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders were formally involved in the processes of government affecting their lives. ... The Pintupi Nine refers to a group of nine Pintupi people who were discovered living a traditional semi-nomadic desert-dwelling life in the Gibson Desert in 1984. ... A picture of the last four Tasmanian Aborigines c. ... Portrayal of The taking of the children on the Great Australian Clock, Queen Victoria Building, Sydney The Stolen Generation (or Stolen Generations) is a term used to describe the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, usually of mixed descent who were taken from their families, under the rationale of... Petrol sniffing is a form of substance abuse where a person deliberately inhales petrol fumes for the intoxicating effect. ... The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (1987-1991) investigated allegations of murder of Australian Aboriginals in prison. ...

External links

• Native Title Amendment Bill 2006
• Native Title Act 1993 at ComLaw
• Native Title Resource Guide at Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS)
• National Native Title Tribunal
• Federal Court of Australia Native Title Infobase, The Native Title Infobase includes selected material commencing from 1839 to the present day and covers all aspects of native title. It gives reference to Australian material including journal articles, book chapters, books, conference papers, reports and press clippings. It also includes relevant material from other jurisdictions such as New Zealand, United States, Canada, Africa and Asia.
• Yamatji Marlpa Barna Baba Maaja Aboriginal Corporation, the Native Title Representative Body incorporating the Yamatji Land and Sea Council and the Pilbara Native Title Service
• Information about native title determinations is available
  • online
  • Map of current determinations

ComLaw is an Australian government web site run by the Attorney-Generals Department providing online copies of Commonwealth legislation and related documents. ...

References

1. ^ Productivity Commission, Pastoral Leases and Non-Pastoral Land Use Research Paper, 2002.