Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples held a week-long reconciliation celebration for National Reconciliation Week between the 27 May to the 3 June. National Sorry Day (26 May) was a day to remember and reflect on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who were forcibly removed from their families and communities.

Mabo Day occurs every year on the 3 June to mark the anniversary of the historic High Court judgment, Mabo v Queensland (No 2). The court overturned terra nullius and recognised Indigenous connection and title to the land. This led to the creation of the Native Title Act 1983 (Cth).

Thomson Reuters acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country across Australia and pays respects to their cultures, and to Elders, past and present.

To highlight the importance of reconciliation we have compiled a summary of relevant Westlaw Indigenous content.*

Cases

• A Native Title win in the NT, where acquisition of property be on just terms: Yunupingu v Commonwealth [2023] FCAFC 75
• Interpretation of “a right of exclusive possession”: Attorney General (NSW) v Ohlsen [2022] FCAFC 38, (2022) 290 FCR 173
• The “relevant persons” (respondents) whose cultural and spiritual interests should have been considered in an environment plan submitted by the appellant: Santos NA Barossa Pty Ltd v Tipakalippa [2022] FCAFC 193, (2022) 254 LGERA 25, 
• The native title rights of five groups of Torres Strait and mainland traditional owners were recognised: Nona v Queensland (No 5) [2021] FCA 1059
• Preservation of native title rights: Tjungarrayi v Western Australia [2019] HCA 12, (2019) 269 CLR 150
• Assessment of compensation for loss of native title rights: Northern Territory v Griffiths, [2019] HCA 7, (2019) 269 CLR 1 
• Mabo v Queensland (No 2) [1992] HCA 23, (1992) 175 CLR 1

Legislation

• Constitution Alteration (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice) 2023 (CTH) | News & Current Awareness
• Legislation empowering traditional owners to protect Aboriginal cultural heritage (land and artefacts): Western Australia Acts | Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2021
• Native Title Act 1993 (Cth)

Secondary sources (commentaries, journals and books)

• Australia's Indigenous recognition bill passes first hurdle | Business Information & News
• THE ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER VOICE - Justice Francois Kunc (ed), (2023) ALJ 97
• Crown leases and extinguishment of native title by Dr L Terrill: Conveyancing and Property (2023) ALJ 227
• Returning the Environment to Their Custodians: Strengthening Indigenous Influence in Environmental Decision-making (2021) 38 Environmental and Planning Law Journal 150
• [1.4.10] Cultural heritage is a European construction generally focusing on material culture and in particular on what is historically, artistically and archaeologically significant – The Laws of Australia, updating author: Paul Theodore Babie
• No Decorous Veil: The Continuing Reliance on an Enlarged Terra Nullius Notion in Mabo [No 2] by Daniel Lavery, 43 Melb.U.L.Rev 233
• M Perry and S Lloyd, Australian Native Title Law, (2nd Edition, Thomson Reuters, 2018)

The Key Number System/Digest category, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Key Number System | 1 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples | Westlaw) is a good starting point for any Indigenous legal research.

For more information on National Sorry Day (26 May) and National Reconciliation Week (27 June-3 June) visit: National Reconciliation Week 2023; Mabo Day (3 June): Indigenous.gov.au;  and the Voice to Parliament: The Voice.

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