The colonisation of mainland Australia started in the 1700s, while the Torres Strait Islands were only taken over by the colony of Queensland in the 1870s. – the first ever recognition of Aboriginal rights on the continent – but the promise was never kept. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the movement of Aboriginal peoples in Australia was controlled by colony- and later state-based laws, such as the
Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897 in
Queensland. This often meant that they were confined to living on
Aboriginal reserves or
mission stations, where they had no rights to land ownership.
The struggle for land rights The passing of Aboriginal land rights legislation in Australia in the late 20th century was preceded by a number of important Aboriginal protests. The modern land rights movement started with the
1963 Yolngu Bark Petition, when
Yolngu people from the remote settlement of
Yirrkala, in north-east
Arnhem Land, petitioned the federal government to have their land and rights given back. The
1966 Wave Hill Walk-Off, or Gurundji Strike, started with a protest about working conditions, but grew into a lands right issue, with the people claiming rights to the land which was then a
cattle station owned by a large British company,
Vesteys. The strike lasted for eight years. agreed on a policy of
assimilation. The measures included the removal of discriminatory legislation and restrictive practices, welfare measures, education and training to assist the involvement of Aboriginal people in the economy, and the education of non-Indigenous Australians about
Aboriginal culture and
history. The
Aboriginal Lands Trust Act 1966 (SA) established the South Australian
Aboriginal Lands Trust (ALT). This was the first major recognition of
Aboriginal land rights by any Australian government, and predated the
1967 Referendum. It allowed for parcels of Aboriginal land previously held by the SA Government, to be handed to the Aboriginal Lands Trust of SA under the Act. The Trust was governed by a Board composed solely of Aboriginal people. when they sought native title rights over the
Gove Peninsula. However, Justice Blackburn did acknowledge the claimants' ritual and economic use of the land and that they had an established system of law "a subtle and highly elaborate" system of laws (
Madayin). In this way, this was the first significant legal case for Aboriginal land rights in Australia.
Aboriginal Tent Embassy The
Aboriginal Tent Embassy was set up on the front lawns of
Old Parliament House, Canberra on 26 January (
Australia Day) 1972, by four Aboriginal activists,
Michael Anderson,
Billy Craigie, Tony Coorey and Bertie Williams (later Kevin "Bert" Johnson, as protest for Indigenous land rights. The embassy was established in response to the
McMahon Coalition Government's refusal to recognise
Aboriginal land rights or
native title in Australia, instead offering 50-year general-purpose leases for Aboriginal people which would be conditional upon their "intention and ability to make reasonable economic and social use of land", while reserving for the Crown
rights to minerals and
forestry.
Black Moratorium The Black Moratorium refers to protests which took place on 14 July 1972. The Sydney protest was in the form of marches from
Redfern,
Sydney University and other points, to
Sydney Town Hall, attended by around 6,000 protesters, who included Aboriginal people, students and trade unionists.
Gary Foley printed a pamphlet at Sydney University ahead of the protest. Unionists from several trades, including builders' labourers, ship painters,
dockers and teachers, had voted to go on strike for half a day in support of Aboriginal people, and around 2,000 students joined the protest. The moratorium as a tactic was copied from the
campaign against the Vietnam War: a weekday protest meant that union supporters would need to convince others in their workplace about why solidarity with Aboriginal people was an important issue for their movement. Striking would both disrupt the economy and show strong conviction and understanding of the struggle, and the discussion put Black rights into workplaces, staff rooms and classrooms. It was later assessed as one of the most successful and historically significant protests for Aboriginal rights in Australia until this time. Its legacy included the establishments of networks which led to thousands of people defending the Tent Embassy against attempts by police to shut it down, and union funding helped keep the embassy running. The Moratorium showed that non-Indigenous workers could be strong allies in the struggle for Indigenous rights.
Bruce McGuinness published an article in the November issue of
Aboriginal and Islander Identity magazine about the march in
Melbourne, which was attended by about 2000 people, including an estimated 16% of the Black population. It also had a heavy police presence.
Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976 In the wake of
Milirrpum, the
Aboriginal Land Rights Commission (also known as the "Woodward Royal Commission") was established in the Northern Territory in 1973. This
Royal Commission, chaired by
Justice Woodward, made a number of recommendations in favour of recognising Aboriginal Land Rights. Taking up many of these recommendations, the
Whitlam government introduced an Aboriginal Land Rights Bill to Parliament; however, this lapsed upon the dismissal of the government in 1975. The succeeding conservative government, led by
Malcolm Fraser, reintroduced a Bill, though not of the same content, and it was signed by the
governor-general of Australia on 16 December 1976. The
Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976 established the basis upon which Aboriginal people in the
Northern Territory could claim rights to land based on traditional occupation. The statute, the first of the
Aboriginal land rights acts, was significant in that it allowed a claim of title if claimants could provide evidence of their traditional association with land. Four Land Councils were established in the Northern Territory under this law.
1980s South Australia In 1981 South Australian premier
David Tonkin returned of land (10.2% of the state's land area) to the
Pitjantjara/
Yankunytjatjara people, as the
APY lands. The land rights legislation was introduced by Premier Don Dunstan in November 1978, several months prior to his resignation from Parliament. An amended bill, following extensive consultation, was passed by the Tonkin Liberal Government, as the
Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights Act 1981. In 1984 Premier
John Bannon's Labor Government passed the
Maralinga Tjarutja Land Rights Act 1984 to return lands to the
Pitjantjara people in the remote western area of the state. The legislation was proclaimed in January 1985 and was followed by a ceremony in the desert attended by Maralinga Tjarutja leader
Archie Barton, John Bannon and Aboriginal Affairs Minister
Greg Crafter.
1995: Indigenous Land Corporation In 1995 the
Indigenous Land Corporation (ILC) was established by the Federal Government to assist Aboriginal Australians to acquire land and manage Aboriginal held land sustainably and in a manner that provides cultural, social, economic and environmental benefits for themselves and future generations. In February 2019, the ILC became the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation (ILSC), in recognition of its operations on water. The ILSC is funded by an annual payment from the investment returns of the Australian Government's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Land Account. ==Indigenous land tenure by state and territory==