Editing Native title in Australia (section)

{{Short description|Australian law recognising that Aboriginal peoples have rights to their traditional land}}
{{Use Australian English|date=October 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}

[[Aboriginal title|Native title]] is the set of rights, recognised by [[Australian legal system|Australian law]], held by [[Aboriginal Australians|Aboriginal]] and [[Torres Strait Islanders|Torres Strait Islander]] groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These [[Aboriginal title]] rights were first recognised as a part of Australian [[common law]] with the decision of ''[[Mabo v Queensland (No 2)]]'' in 1992. The doctrine was subsequently implemented and modified via [[statute]] with the ''[[Native Title Act 1993]]''.

The concept recognises that in certain cases there was and is a continued beneficial legal interest in land held by Indigenous peoples which survived the acquisition of [[radical title]] and [[sovereignty]] to the land by [[the Crown]]. Native title can co-exist with non-Aboriginal proprietary rights and in some cases different Aboriginal groups can exercise their native title rights over the same land.

The [[Federal Court of Australia]] arranges [[mediation in Australia|mediation]] in relation to claims made by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and hears applications for, and makes, native title determinations. Appeals against these determinations can be made to a full sitting of the Federal Court and then to the [[High Court of Australia]]. The [[National Native Title Tribunal]] (NNTT), established under the ''Native Title Act 1993'', is a body that applies the "registration test" to all new native title claimant applications, and undertakes future act mediation and arbitral functions. The [[Attorney-General's Department (Australia)|Attorney-General's Department]] advises the [[Australian Government]] on legal and legal-policy regarding on native title, and assists the [[Attorney-General of Australia|Attorney-General]] to administer the ''Native Title Act 1993''.