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The landmark High Court case, Mabo v. Queensland (no.2) on 3 June 1992 overturned the concept of terra nullius. Derived from a Latin expression meaning “land belonging to no one”, it signified the dispossession of Indigenous peoples of their land and property rights since 1770.
Proceedings began in 1982 when Eddie Mabo, David Passai and James Rice, from Mer (Murray) Island challenged the Queensland Amendment Act, which established a system to grant in-trust land for mainlanders and Torres Strait Islanders.
The Queensland Coast Islands Declaratory Act 1985 circumvented a test case by the Merian people from Mer, Dauar and Waier Islands, originally annexed by Queensland in 1879. In Mabo v. Queensland (no.1) during 1988, the High Court determined that this Act contravened the Racial Discrimination Act 1975.
The second court lawsuit in 1992 achieved victory as Queensland’s first successful land rights case. This was followed by the federal Native Title Act 1993 which ensured the land rights of those on unalienated land. The Wik decision in 1996 subsequently allowed for the coexistence of native title alongside pastoral leases on Crown land.
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 | Murray Islanders outside Murray Island Court House, November 1898
Queensland State Archives Item ID 1109845, Digital Image ID 2531 Lands Department, Survey of Lands Branch, Photographic Branch
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 | Front cover of specially endorsed writ filed in the High Court on behalf of Eddie Mabo and co-plaintiffs, in an action against the State of Queensland, 20 May 1982
Queensland State Archives Item ID 1139510, Digital Image ID 2921 Supreme Court, Southern District, Brisbane
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 | 1992 Bill Clinton elected US President | |
1993 First human cells cloned |
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