Terra Nullius In The Mabo Case Study

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Terra Nullius means ‘unowned or empty land’, a term given to Australia after British colonisation of New South Wales in 1788. Under British colonial law, the Indigenous Australian people had no property rights to the land and the ownership of the entire continent was therefore transferred to the British government. The doctrine of terra nullius remained the law in Australia throughout the colonial period, and right up to 1992 when the High Court of Australia deemed that Australia was never Terra Nullius in the Mabo