Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976
The Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976 is a pivotal piece of legislation in Australia that aimed to address the historical injustices faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples regarding land ownership. Prior to this act, the legal principle of terra nullius, meaning "land belonging to no one," was used to justify the appropriation of Indigenous lands by European settlers. The 1976 Act created a framework for Aboriginal communities to claim land based on traditional ownership, resulting in the return of approximately 50% of the land in the Northern Territory to Indigenous peoples.
This legislation emerged from a growing awareness and activism during the 1960s and 1970s, highlighted by significant events such as the Gove Land Rights Case and the Wave Hill strike. The Act established Aboriginal Land Trusts, allowing for communal title of land and requiring consultation between mining companies and Indigenous land councils. It not only represented a legal recognition of Aboriginal land rights but also marked a significant step towards restoring the cultural identities of Indigenous Australians. The legacy of this act continued to influence subsequent land rights legislation across Australia and paved the way for landmark legal decisions like the 1992 Mabo case, which further challenged the notion of terra nullius.
Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976
Europeans who arrived in Australia claimed the land in Australia belonged to no one. This concept, terra nullius, was codified in British and Australian law and used by Europeans and Australians of European descent to claim rights to land that had been used by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for centuries. While many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples resisted the appropriation of their land, they were, for the most part, powerless to stop it. This had a detrimental effect on both their ability to use their land for its customary purposes and their cultural identities. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities were forced to vacate their homelands and relocate to reserves and other areas.
In 1976, the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 was passed. It created a legal process for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to claim land based on traditional ownership and led to about 50 per cent of the land in the Northern Territory being returned to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Background
Several incidents in the 1960s and 1970s raised awareness about Aboriginal land rights and led to the eventual passage of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976. In March 1963, the federal government took land from the Arnhem Land reserve in the Northern Territory and, without consulting with the Yolngu people who traditionally owned the land, sold it to a bauxite mining company. In an attempt to stop the mine construction, the Yolngu people in Yirrkala presented a petition framed with painted bark to Parliament in August 1963. The court denied their request and the Yolngu people appealed the decision to the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory. The case, then known as the Gove Land Rights Case, was heard in 1968. The Supreme Court refused to overturn the lower court's ruling. In his 1971 decision, the judge stated he could not grant the Yolngu people the rights to their traditional land due to the existing laws of Australia, which were based on the false premise of terra nullius. Despite being unsuccessful, the case drew attention to the plight of the Aboriginal peoples and the loss of their rights to their traditional land, and national protests broke out.
In 1966, the Gurindji people at the Wave Hill cattle station in the Northern Territory began what would become a nine-year strike. Originally protesting both working conditions and for a return of their homelands, the strike soon focused on Aboriginal land rights. Like the Yolngu people's petition, their strike drew supporters from around the nation and helped spark a movement for Aboriginal land rights. In 1967, Australian voters overwhelmingly approved a national referendum to amend the constitution to grant the federal government authority to make laws on Aboriginal issues.
In January 1972, William McMahon's government announced its decision to implement a new system to lease land to Aboriginal peoples, rather than grant land claims. On 26 January 1972, four Aboriginal men set up tents under umbrellas across from Parliament House in Canberra and began a sit-in protest. Others soon joined the encampment, which was known as the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. Protesters marched, lobbied the government for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land rights and gained support from government officials and the public across the nation and internationally.
Passage and Impact
During the 1972 federal election, the Labor Party responded to concerns of indigenous rights activists by pledging to legislate for Aboriginal land rights. After the Labor Party won the election, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam announced his decision to pursue legislation covering the Northern Territory, rather than the nation, with the intent that the territory legislation would set a precedent for the remainder of the country. He appointed Justice Edward Woodward to head a commission to identify remedies for Aboriginal land rights issues. The Woodward Royal Commission, also known as the Aboriginal Land Rights Commission, recommended a multi-prong approach that included compensation for land that had been taken away; a process to claim land; and the right for Aboriginal peoples to give or deny consent for exploration, mining and other development. The Labor Party introduced legislation in 1975, but before Parliament could pass the bill, the Labor government was dismissed.
A coalition government led by Malcolm Fraser was elected in December 1975. It modified the original bill to pacify objections of mining and pastoral industry groups. Both houses of Parliament passed the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 in December 1976, and it went into effect on 26 January 1977. It has since been amended several times.
The Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act allows for the return of traditional land to Aboriginal peoples. It established Aboriginal Land Trusts to hold communal title to the land under an inalienable freehold title, which meant that the land could not be bought, mortgaged or otherwise acquired. All former reserves were immediately granted to Aboriginal peoples and transferred to the communal land trusts.
The act set up a process for individuals to make land claims. The only land eligible for a land claim was Crown land unused by anyone else or in which no one else had an interest, or land wholly owned by Aboriginal peoples. Land claim applicants had to prove their traditional relationship to the land.
The act established four land councils: the Northern Land Council, the Central Land Council, the Tiwi Land Council and the Anindilyakwa Land Council. These councils serve as the Aboriginal peoples' representatives of and make policies about land management.
The act also established policies governing exploration of Aboriginal land by mining companies. Mining companies are required to consult with the Land Council about any exploration, and the Land Council then consults with the traditional owners. Traditional owners have the right to deny exploration, which then blocks all exploration for five years. If traditional owners agree to exploration, they cannot then block mining.
The Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act is significant as it was the first legislation in Australia that granted Aboriginal peoples the right to make land claims. Following its passage, other states and territories of Australia passed similar land acts in the 1980s and 1990s. The act helped pave the way to the historic decision of the 1992 Mabo case, in which the High Court refuted the concept of terra nullius and acknowledged the Aboriginal cultural concept of communal use of land rather than Western-style land ownership. In doing so, it not only made it possible for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to have land returned to them, but it helped restore recognition of their cultural identities.
Bibliography
"The Aboriginal Land Rights Act." Central Land Council, www.clc.org.au/articles/cat/land-rights-act. Accessed 18 Feb. 2017.
"Aboriginal Land Rights Act." National Museum Australia, HYPERLINK "http://www.nma.gov.au/online‗features/defining‗moments/featured/aboriginal‗land‗rights‗act" www.nma.gov.au/online‗features/defining‗moments/featured/aboriginal‗land‗rights‗act. Accessed 18 Feb. 2017.
"The Aboriginal Land Rights Act (Northern Territory)." NITV, 22 July 2016, www.sbs.com.au/nitv/explainer/aboriginal-land-rights-act-northern-territory. Accessed 18 Feb. 2017.
"Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976." Federal Register of Legislation, Government of Australia, www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2016C00111. Accessed 18 Feb. 2017.
"Amendments to the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976." Federal Register of Legislation, Government of Australia, www.legislation.gov.au/Search/Aboriginal%20Land%20Rights%20Act. Accessed 18 Feb. 2017.
"Land Rights." Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, YPERLINK "http://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/articles/land-rights" aiatsis.gov.au/explore/articles/land-rights. Accessed 18 Feb. 2017.
"Land Rights." Northern Land Council, www.nlc.org.au/articles/info/aboriginal-land-rights-northern-territory-act-1976. Accessed 18 Feb. 2017.
"Timeline: Indigenous Rights Movement." SBS, 23 Aug. 2013, www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2010/11/08/timeline-indigenous-rights-movement. Accessed 18 Feb. 2017.