Glossary Terms:

Biopic - A biographical film is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or

historically based person or people.

Terra nullius – Is land that is legally deemed to be unoccupied or uninhabited. In

Australia the question of whether British colonizers had regarded the continent as terra
nullius at the time of the original settlement.

Native Title - Is the recognition that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have
rights and interests to land and waters according to their traditional law and customs as
set out in Australian Law.

Land Rights - Are the rights of indigenous peoples to land, either individually or
collectively.

High Court - Is the highest court in the Australian judicial system. It was established in
1901 by Section 71 of the Constitution.

Colonisation – Is the action or process of settling among and establishing control over
the indigenous people of an area.

Assimilation - Is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a

dominant group or assume the values, behaviours, and beliefs of another group.

Protection - Is a legal or other formal measure intended to preserve civil liberties and
rights.

1967 Referendum - Was a landmark achievement for Indigenous Australians. A law

sought to give the Commonwealth Parliament power to make laws with respect to
Aboriginal people wherever they lived in Australia.

Mabo 1 - Mabo v Queensland (No 1), was a significant court case decided in the High
Court of Australia on 8 December 1988. It found that the Queensland Coast Islands
Declaratory Act 1985, which attempted to retrospectively abolish native title rights, was
not valid according to the Racial Discrimination Act 1975.

Mabo 2 - Mabo v Queensland (No 2) was a landmark High Court of Australia decision in
1992 recognising native title in Australia for the first time.

Wik peoples v Queensland - Is a decision of the High Court of Australia delivered on

23 December 1996 on whether statutory leases extinguish native title rights