What Happened in History: Browse Historical Facts on Kudos 365

The High Court of Australia's issues a decision in the Mabo case (Mabo v Queensland (No 2). It was a landmark judgment that recognized the land rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The case, brought by Eddie Koiki Mabo and others, established the existence of Native Title and challenged the legal fiction of terra nullius (land belonging to no one) at the time of British settlement. The following year the Parliament of Australia passed the Native Title Act 1993 to create a system for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to make a native title claim over their lands. On January 21, 1992, nearly ten years after beginning their legal claim in the High Court of Australia, Eddie Koiki Mabo passed away from cancer at age fifty-six. More