Reference no: EM133576650

Question: HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA Native Title: A Simple Guide A Paper for those who wish to understand Mabo , the Native Title Act, Wik and the Ten Point Plan (Revised Edition incorporating the Senate's amendments) Introduction In July 1998 the Parliament passed the Native Title Amendment Act 1998. This brought to an end many months of bitter and divisive debate in the Australian community concerning the vexed question of native title. Before 1992, native title was not an issue in Australian politics. Prior to that the talk had been about land rights. Most governments at State and federal level had passed land rights legislation of one form or another. However, in June 1992 the High Court handed down judgment in a case called Mabo which shook the foundations of Australia's land law and opened up a major political debate. In 1996 the High Court handed down another judgment- Wik. Even more so than Mabo, Wik thrust the Australian community into a highly charged political debate, one which is only now beginning to subside. My objective in this paper is to provide you, the reader, with some basic information to enable you to understand why, over the past few years,