3 June: Mabo Day
On 3 June 1992, the High Court of Australia decided that terra nullius should not have been applied to Australia. This decision (known as the Mabo decision) recognised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have rights to the land – rights that existed before the British arrived and still exist today.
The Mabo decision was a turning point for the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights because it acknowledged their unique connection with the land. It also led to the Australian Parliament passing the Native Title Act in 1993 which created a framework that recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have rights to, and interests in, certain land because of their traditional laws and customs. It allows access to land for living, traditional purposes, hunting or fishing or to teach laws and customs on the land.
Find out more about Mabo Day and go to The University of Sydney website for five things you should know about the Mabo decision.
20 June: Anniversary of Aboriginal Repatriation
For more than 150 years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ancestral remains were stolen and sent to museums, universities, and private collections both in Australia and overseas. They were collected by medical officers, anatomists, ethnologists, anthropologists, and pastoralists. At the time of collection, ancestral remains from many Indigenous cultures around the world were "highly sought after" for "scientific" research and the value they were believed to add to collections.
On 20 June 2014, Tasmanian Aboriginal representatives travelled to the United States of America to receive three ancestors from the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. The museum acquired the ancestral remains in 1958 as part of a collection of "artifacts" gathered in the late 19th century. The Aboriginal community representatives participated in a ceremony and accompanied their ancestors home.
Second return of ancestral remains from Germany
The Charite University Hospital in Berlin returned an Aboriginal ancestor from Robbins Island to Aboriginal community members to take back to country, lutruwita. This is the second repatriation from the Charite and demonstrates the commitment from Germany to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to repatriate ancestral remains.
Find out more about repatriation in Australia.
