02/06/2026
On this day in 1992, the Mabo case decision was made by the High Court. The date marks the last day of National Reconciliation Week every year. The Mabo decision recognised First Nations peoples’ rights to the land, and that terra nullius should not have been applied to Australia.
This High Court ruling also led to the Australian Parliament passing the Native Title Act 1993. Australia's first land rights legislation was the South Australian Parliament’s Aboriginal Lands Trust Act, passed on 8 December 1966.
The 'Living in the Port' exhibition features a sign demanding Aboriginal land rights by wharfies. This sign from the 1960s demonstrated the united protests and solidarity that took place by members of the Waterside Workers Federation in Port Adelaide in support of Aboriginal rights.
The National Reconciliation Week theme for 2026, All In, is a reminder that the fight for justice and the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders is not a spectator sport and that all of us must step away from the sidelines and take action to make change.
📷 'Wharfies Demand Aboriginal Land Rights!' sign, circa 1960, History Trust of South Australia, HT 1994.2142
📷 Waterside Workers' Federation members march in support of Aboriginal rights, Sydney, New South Wales, ANU Archives, 1966, Z248-81-14
