Indigenous People Won A Massive Native Title Claim And It's Not As Simple As You'd Think

Native title remains a highly controversial piece of legislation for Indigenous Australians.

The Barkindji people of Western New South Wales have won a native title claim over their traditional lands in the biggest victory for an Indigenous group in NSW ever.

Alexandra Back @alexmback

Hundreds of #barkandji people have come to Broken Hill to hear their #nativetitle determination handed down

03:10 AM - 16 Jun 2015

The land claim covers an area of 128,000 square kilometres and includes significant cultural and ceremonial sites from the Victorian border to Wanaaring in the north- west of NSW.

It took 18 years for the Barkindji people to win their claim, for many other Indigenous groups native title remains a highly controversial piece of legislation.

Here are five things to know about native title.

1. It all started with Mabo

Supplied.

Eddie Mabo.

In 1982 Eddie 'Koiki' Mabo, alongside four other Meriam people from Murray Island in the Torres Strait Islands, took legal action against the state of Queensland and the Commonwealth government.

They claimed that the Crown's sovereignty over the island was unlawful and the group sought to have rights over their traditional lands and sea.

At the heart of the case was the fact that the Meriam people had continuously inhabited Murray Island, traditionally known as Mer, since before European settlement and that they had a continuous link to the area.

Ten years later, after an epic court battle, the High Court ruled by a six-to-one majority that the Meriam people held native title over Murray Island.

Mabo died before the final decision was handed down.

2. What is native title?

Allan Clarke / BuzzFeed News

The Mabo decision destroyed the concept of "terra nullius", which argued that Australia was uninhabited and thus didn't belong to anyone at the time of European arrival

In 1993, one year after the Mabo win, the federal parliament passed the Native Title Act, establishing a legal framework for native title claims throughout the country.

Former Prime Minister Paul Keating said it was, "an opportunity to deal with the longest continuing problem Australia faced as a nation; the fundamental colonial grievance; the dispossession of the Indigenous people and the injustice inherent in that dispossession."

Today, Indigenous groups can lodge a native title claim on traditional lands, but must prove continuous habitation and connection to the land.

3. It's a complicated process.

Allan Clarke / BuzzFeed News

Under the Native Title Act any group making a claim is subject to numerous limitations.

Groups can only claim land that is unused Crown land, meaning that farmers and property owners with a freehold title cannot have their land taken from them.

On average a native title claim takes up to six years, but can take up to 30 years to be resolved.

4. There is plenty of opposition to native title as it stands.

Tom Calma, Former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner. / Via Getty.

While native title was hailed as milestone in Indigenous land rights, many people in the community still believe it's too restrictive and not progressive enough.

In 2014 prominent Aboriginal activist Michael Anderson demanded that the NSW and Queensland governments produce documents and prove their legal claims to land, rather than Indigenous people having to prove their right to country.

"I'm claiming land title. We've been there since time immemorial. I want to know how they shifted Aboriginal law, Allodial Title from my mob to their common law system."

Former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Tom Calmer, previously said that, "Native title is at the bottom of the hierarchy of Australian property rights."

5. Families divided.

Allan Clarke / BuzzFeed News

The native title process often involves large groups of people and the process has been known for dividing families and communities.

The Native Title Report In 2011 by the Human Rights Commission found that lateral violence – Indigenous people discriminating against each other, often calling into question identity – is heightened during native title proceedings.

The report says lateral violence, "occurs in native title because the non-Indigenous process imposed by government reinforces their position of power and reignites questions about our identity. Concepts of power and identity are aggravated in native title because of the inherent contradiction between past government policies in Australia that removed our peoples from our country."