Historic native title ruling for Victorian traditional owners

A group of Victorian traditional owners have won a decade-long legal contest against the state government, gaining exclusive and non-exclusive native title rights to sections of land spanning from Mildura to the South Australia border.

The landmark ruling in the Federal Court on Friday provides recognition for the traditional owners of the Millewa-Mallee – including those who identify as Latji Latji, Ngintait and Nyeri Nyeri people – and grants them exclusive possession over areas reserved or held in trust expressly for Aboriginal people, such as properties owned by Indigenous corporations.

Traditional owners of the Millewa-Mallee area (from left), Latji Latji man Shane Jones Snr, Nyeri Nyeri elder Wendy Brabham and Ngintait man Timothy Johnson.Credit: Mallee District Aboriginal Services

It is the first time exclusive native title has been granted in Victoria.

In her judgment, the result of a 10-year-long negotiation between the traditional owners and the state, Justice Elizabeth Bennett said this was testament to the strength of the Indigenous community and their ancestors.

The traditional owners will also receive exclusive possession over certain national park areas to be agreed with the state government. Entry to designated park sections by those who are not Millewa-Mallee Indigenous people may require permission, pending future negotiations between traditional owners and the state.

However, these rights will not affect any privately owned land.

The determination also grants the traditional owners non-exclusive native title rights, including to hunt, fish, gather and camp across the entire determination area, which traces the Murray River and stretches south along the Calder Highway, and extends west through the Murray-Sunset National Park to the South Australian border.

The determination area takes in part of the Murray-Sunset National Park in the Mallee.Credit: Parks Victoria

“The parties, in their joint submission, have recognised that, despite the dispossession and other atrocities inflicted upon the Native Title Holders and their predecessors, the Native Title Holders have maintained their traditional laws and customs and have under them a deep and enduring connection to the Country,” Bennett said.

“This determination represents a recognition of rights that have existed for a very long time, and which continue to exist under the stewardship of the present generation, for the benefit of future generations.”

The ruling is a historic moment for the Millewa-Mallee First Peoples, who applied for native title in 2015, have been seeking official recognition since the 1990s, and have been fighting for land justice since colonisation.

Timothy Johnson, a Ngintait man and an applicant in the case, said it was a momentous decision and would “keep the fire going” in the local Indigenous communities.

The Millewa-Mallee determination area.

“This native title determination is a defining moment, and it means we can continue to care and look after the lands where our ancestors walked, hunted and held ceremonies on, while working in partnership to establish jobs for all our members and community,” said Johnson.

“We will all benefit from this native title determination, and we are looking forward to working as one to keep our culture and history ongoing.”

Nyeri Nyeri elder Wendy Brabham said the judgment went a long way to preserving her culture for future generations.

“I hope our future generations of all our family groups will build on today’s decision to honour our ancestors by strengthening, preserving and sharing our culture” she said.

Latji Latji man Shane Jones Snr said he was proud that his people’s rights and interests would be formally recognised on the lands where his ancestors lived.

Indigenous Australians throughout Victoria are celebrating the judgment as acknowledging the pre-colonial existence and continuing survival of the Millewa-Mallee people’s traditional laws and sovereignty over land.

Kaley Nicholson, interim chief executive of the Federation of Victorian Traditional Owners Corporations, said it established a legally undeniable truth known to thousands of generations of traditional owners.

“This historic milestone marks what Traditional Owners have always known: that we know Country, we belong to Country, our traditions are strong and enduring, and historic and ongoing colonial efforts to eradicate our cultures and connection to Country have utterly failed,” she said.

The state government was contacted for comment.

The ruling comes days after the Federal Court dismissed a legal bid from Torres Strait Islanders suing the Commonwealth for failing to protect their islands from the ravages of climate change.

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