In The Wik Peoples v The State of Queensland & Ors; The Thayorre People v The State of Queensland & Ors HCA 40 ('Wik'), the High Court held that native title rights could coexist on land held by pastoral leaseholders. The High Court decided that: - a pastoral lease does not necessarily confer rights of… Read More »1996: Wik High Court decision
1994: Commencement of the Native Title Act
2021 Australia Day Reflection from the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council "We find ourselves pondering whether Australia will ever be the same after COVID-19? It might be more useful to ask whether it should be the same after the pandemic. Australia can continue to learn from the challenges of the virus and embrace the… Read More »Australia Day / Survival Day
In 1939 the Aboriginal people walked off Cumeragunja Mission in New South Wales in protest at living conditions and restrictions.
The Word of God Sunday is devoted to the celebration, study and dissemination of the Word of God. We will celebrate it in Australia for the first time on 6 February. So our podcast, The Revolution of Tenderness, will consider the Word of God in Catholic Social Teaching. With help from Scripture scholars, we will explore… Read More »Word of God Sunday
On this day in 1973 the Woodward Royal Commission into Land Rights in the Northern Territory was established. The Central Land Council situate this event in its historical context here.
A group of Sydney University students organised a bus tour through western and coastal New South Wales towns in 1965. As the National Museum of Australia website explains: Their purpose was threefold. The students planned to draw public attention to the poor state of Aboriginal health, education and housing. They hoped to point out and… Read More »1965: Freedom Ride in Australia Begins