Return to normal view

Native Title

Native title is the recognition in Australian law that some Indigenous people continue to hold rights to their lands and waters, which come from their traditional laws and customs.

Aboriginal groups can apply to have these rights recognised by the Federal Court, under the Commonwealth Native Title Act 1993.

In Victoria, native title has been found to exist on four occasions. However, the difficultly of achieving the native title test led to the development of an alternative system for recognising rights of Aboriginal traditional owners.

The Victorian Traditional Owner Settlement Act 2010 allows the Government to make agreements with Aboriginal traditional owner groups to recognise their relationship to land, and provide for certain rights on Crown land and other benefits. 

For more information on Native Title Act 1993 and the Traditional Owner Settlement Act 2010 see Related Pages on the right.

The first agreements under the Traditional Owner Settlement Act were reached with the Gunaikurnai people of Gippsland on 22 October 2010. For further detail about the Gunaikurnai native title agreement refer to the Related Pages on the right.

On 27 July 2011, the Federal Court found that the Gunditjmara and Eastern Maar peoples hold native title over some areas of Crown land in south-western Victoria. This completes the resolution of claims first made in 1996. The State consented to the orders following a robust independent analysis of the evidence.  Reaching agreement saved unnecessary legal costs for all parties.

For more information about the Gunditjmara - Eastern Maar native title determination see Related Pages on the right.