# Native Title Act (22 December 1993)

URL: https://allhistories.com/australia/timeline/1993-native-title-act
Location: Canberra, Australia
Themes: Key Events

On 22 December 1993 the Senate passed the Native Title Act after the longest debate in its history up to that time, and the Act came into force on 1 January 1994. It provided a framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to have their native title recognised, established the National Native Title Tribunal, and validated past grants of land that might otherwise have been invalid because of native title. After the Mabo decision, mining and pastoral industries and several state governments warned of uncertainty over land titles, while Indigenous leaders sought strong protection of their rights. The Keating government negotiated with Indigenous representatives, industry and the minor parties in the Senate, including the Australian Democrats and the Greens, to secure passage. Some Aboriginal leaders, including those who negotiated the bill, considered it a hard-won but imperfect compromise. The Act gave native title holders a right to negotiate over certain future developments, such as mining, on their land. A related package promised a land fund to assist dispossessed people unable to claim native title. The law was significantly amended in 1998 after the Wik decision, and by the 2020s native title had been determined to exist over large areas of the continent.

## Why it matters
The Native Title Act turned the Mabo principle into a national system for recognising Indigenous land rights.

Ruler at the Time: [Elizabeth II](https://allhistories.com/australia/rulers/elizabeth-ii)

Prime Minister: Paul Keating (Labor Party)
Governor-General: Bill Hayden

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Native Title Act 1993](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Title_Act_1993)
- [Wikipedia — National Native Title Tribunal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Native_Title_Tribunal)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica topic lookup — native title Australia](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=native+title+Australia)