Mabo Day, Wednesday 3 June 2026
- Jun 3
- 1 min read
Mabo Day, today 3 June 2026
Today we honour the incredible legacy of Eddie Koiki Mabo, a Torres Strait Islander man from Mer Island whose courage and determination changed the course of Australian history.
For generations, the legal fiction of terra nullius, the claim that this land belonged to no one, was used to justify the dispossession of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This ignored First Nations languages, laws, customs, and their deep, unbreakable connection to Country.
Eddie Mabo refused to let that stand. Over 10 years of legal battle, from the Queensland Supreme Court all the way to the High Court of Australia, Eddie and his fellow claimants fought for the truth: that First Nations peoples were always the rightful custodians of this land.
On 3 June 1992, the High Court ruled that native title existed, a landmark decision that led directly to the Native Title Act 1993.
Heartbreakingly, Eddie never got to hear that ruling. He passed away just 5 months before the decision, but his fight lives on in every native title claim, every act of recognition, and every time we speak his name.
Posthumously awarded the Australian Human Rights Medal, and later honoured with a star named in his memory, Eddie Mabo's legacy continues.
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