Key national Aboriginal land rights events

On 14 August 1963, the Yolngu people in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory made the first ever land rights claim when they drew up the Yirrkala bark petition and sent it to the Australian Parliament. The petition was in protest over the federal government’s removal of 140 square miles of the Arnhem Land Aboriginal Reserve for bauxite mining, without consulting the Yolngu people.

The petition failed and the mine was opened. However, the petition and resulting parliamentary committee of inquiry and Northern Territory Supreme Court battle inspired the Aboriginal lands right movement.

The bark petition was signed by nine men and three women and states that 500 people were residents of the land that was being removed – it remains on display in Parliament House in Canberra.

Prime Minister Gough Whitlam pours soil into hand of traditional land owner Vincent Lingiari, Northern Territory, 1975. Image by Mervyn Bishop, Source: Art Gallery NSW; The National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) is the copyright holder of this photograph.

The dispute started as a call by Aboriginal workers for the same pay and conditions as non-Aboriginal workers at Wave Hill, a 9,000 square kilometre cattle station in the Northern Territory. When their demands weren’t met, 200 Aboriginal stockmen and servants, and their families, went on strike. They walked off the land on 23 August 1966.

Soon after, the Gurindji people – led by Vincent Lingiari, an Aboriginal stockman at Wave Hill – began a campaign to reclaim the land they had lived on for tens of thousands of years.

Mr Lingiari gathered support by touring Australia and lobbying politicians. In August 1975, Lingiari and other Aboriginal leaders achieved victory when Prime Minister Gough Whitlam handed over title deeds for a pastoral lease on the land.

In a famous photograph symbolising the legal transfer of Wave Hill station back to the Gurindji people, Whitlam poured red dirt into Lingiari’s hands.

In September 2020, the Federal Court recognised the Gurindji people’s native title claim to more than 5,000 square kilometres of the station.

The Aboriginal Land Rights Commission, led by Justice Edward Woodward, looked at ways to recognise Aboriginal land rights in the Northern Territory.

Based on the Reports handed down from the Commission, Aboriginal land councils were established to represent the views of Aboriginal people. Aboriginal land councils represent Aboriginal affairs at state or territory level with the aim to protect the interests of the Aboriginal people. Government then engaged with the land councils on what should be included in land rights legislation. These key elements formed the foundation of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976.

The Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 was the first piece of legislation in Australia to enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to claim land rights if they could prove tradition association. The government of Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser passed the Act, with the support of the Liberal and Labor parties.

The Australian Government then started buying privately owned land and returning it to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities under Aboriginal land trusts. It also made some Crown land* available for land claims.

Since the Act was introduced, almost 50 per cent of the Northern Territory has been returned to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

*Crown land is owned and managed by State and Federal Governments in Australia and is set aside for public and government purposes. Examples of Crown land are national parks, airports, public roads and airports.

The Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 is underpinned by self-determination and allows Aboriginal land councils in NSW to submit land claims. To succeed, a land council must be able to demonstrate that the land it is claiming:

• can be lawfully sold or leased
• is not lawfully used or occupied
• is not needed, nor is likely to be needed, as residential land
• is not needed, nor is likely to be needed, for an essential public purpose, including nature conservation.

To find out more about land claims, visit the Aboriginal Affairs website

The NSW Government supports protecting NSW lands and waters through legislation, policies and agreements. These can be in partnership with Aboriginal land councils and communities.

NSW Government agencies are responsible for:

• managing Crown land in accordance with the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth)
• managing land leased back to the government by NSW Aboriginal land councils
• sharing responsibility for managing national parks, reserves and other areas with traditional owners
• partnering with Aboriginal communities to manage natural landscapes, such as through fire management
• protecting Aboriginal water rights (including access to water) and interests (including heritage assets).