---
node: au_mabo
type: event
slug: mabo_decision
title: "Mabo decision"
lead: "The landmark 1992 High Court decision that first recognised Indigenous land rights (native title) and rejected the doctrine of terra nullius — that the land had belonged to no one before settlement."
published: 2026-07-15
updated: 2026-07-15
image_file: mabo_decision.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Queensland_State_Archives_5769_Murray_Island_Torres_Strait_Island_June_1931.png"
image_author: "Home Secretary's Office"
image_license: "Public domain"
---

## What happened

Eddie Mabo, a Meriam man from the Torres Strait, and others fought a long legal battle for traditional rights to the land of their islands.

## Background

On 3 June 1992 the High Court found for Mabo, holding that native title could survive where Indigenous people had kept their traditional connection to the land. This overturned the long-standing doctrine that settlement had come to terra nullius, land belonging to no one.

## Consequences

The following year, in 1993, the Native Title Act was passed in response to the ruling. The Mabo decision is regarded as a turning point in the history of Indigenous rights in Australia.