British colonisation of Australia relied on the legal principle of terra nullius, Latin for “land belonging to no one”. This was used to justify taking lands from Aboriginal peoples without payment or treaty.
British settlers claimed sovereignty of the land on the myth there was no legal system or governmental structure operating on Australian soil when they landed. The concept of sovereignty is when a governing body exists that has the right of power to self-govern – it can only be claimed, asserted or taken; for example through war, treaty or settlement of uninhabited land.
Claiming the land with sovereignty denied that Aboriginal peoples had their own legal system and discounted the strong spiritual links Aboriginal peoples had with the land. Claimed land was deemed Common or Crown Land, which has consequences for Aboriginal nations and Country even today.
In Aboriginal cultures, individuals don’t own land, and they have an obligation as custodians of the land to care for and respect the Country they are on. However, British officials saw the absence of fences and other traditional Western signs of ownership as evidence of an unclaimed land and took it for themselves. They placed fences around the spaces they claimed, which had significant impacts on connection to Country. Terra nullius was the first of many decisions that denied the human rights of Aboriginal peoples.