Torres Strait Islands Essays

After 10 long years Torres Strait Islander Eddie ‘Koiki’ Mabo has lead indigenous Australians to a victory over the Queensland government. This win this case is a historical moment, as of yesterday, the indigenous Australians have been recognised as the owners of Murray Island. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are known to have resided in Australia, 40,000 to 60,000 years before the British arrived in 1788. When the British took over they decided to take all the land for themselves even though

Historically, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health has been severely neglected and intentionally devasted by governmental policies and legislation. Despite some reformation in the health system, Indigenous people's health is still far below their non-indigenous counterparts. To rectify this, a human rights approach must be utilised, as by turning human rights from purely legal instruments into effective policies, practices, and practical realities, the Australian Parliament can redress its

the traditional land rights of his family and the Meriam People of Murray Island. As a result, the doctrine of terra nullius, that claimed Australia was a land without owners, was overturned, changing Australian law forever, and the Native Title Act was introduced, which legally recognised the traditional land rights of Indigenous Australians. Edward Mabo was born Edward Koiki Sambo, at Mer (Murray Island), in the Torres Straits on c. 29 June, 1936, and at that time

Queensland (N.2) asked the High Court whether the Meriam people of the Murray Islands were permitted to hold native title over their land. This idea had not been tested earlier as the doctrine of terra nullius was seen to concern all Australian land. The plaintiff’s argued that Meriam people should be given the right to the Murray Islands "as owners; as possessors; as occupiers; or as persons entitled to use and enjoy the said islands". The Murray Islander witnesses described Meriam customs and sacred laws

In 1982 Eddie Mabo went to court to challenge the law of terra nullius and take back his people right to the land. This particular case was taken to the high court. Mabo’s argument was that indigenous people owned land prior to the law of terra nullius being put into action. The high court finally came to a decision to overturn the law of terra nullius on the 3rd of June 1992. However this decision came with a consequence, that of which was that many people did not believe that the high court had

Rights: Torres Strait Islander Edward Koiki (Eddie Mabo or Mabo) was a member of the Meriam people. Eddie Koiki Mabo was born on Murray Island, in the Torres Strait, on June 29, 1936. Mabo lived on Murray Island until he was 16 years old. At the age of 16 he was expelled from the island for a breach customary laws, following this he then went to live in Queensland to pursue work opportunities. 15 years later Mabo attempted to return to Murray Island to only be denied access to the island. The Natives

2. Examine the importance of the following for the land rights movement: Native title –Mabo case and Wik decision. (5 marks) Aboriginal people experienced and still experiencing effects from the dispossession on their spiritualities. However, through the Land Rights movement Aboriginal people achieved part ownership to the land that is rightfully belongs to them. The three land rights movement, Native title, Mabo and Wik have an essential importance and significance to the Aboriginal people. The

The Mabo decision of the high court in 1992 is vastly significant as it marks history as the victory of indigenous Australian land rights against the federal government, who had colonised their land and refused to acknowledge that Australia was originally owned by the ATSI people but became a terra nullius land due to the European colonists. The events that have occurred before 1992 such as the The Aboriginal Land Rights Act (NT) of 1976 and the bark petition is deemed less significant than the Mabo

Late 18th century Australia started to change into what it is now our modern day society. During this period many regretful things happened. Events from stealing the aboriginal land all the way to the stolen generation in early 1900’s. In 1788 a fleet of 11 ships from England, came to Australia. Half were residents and half were criminals from Britain, Africa, America and France. Aboriginals living in the Eora region were first to have their land stolen. This region is now called Botany Bay, a city

The Mabo Decision was the turning point for the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights. Firstly, the Mabo Decision was significant because the decision was the lead up to the recognition of Aboriginal Rights. The Mabo Decision was the movement that made everyone fully recognise the Aboriginal people as humans, and official citizens of the country. The Decision also raised awareness to the discrimination the Aboriginal people were facing before the referendum. They were counted

The Sixties Scoop refers to the “scooping” or large scale removal of Indigenous children from their communities, homes, and families of birth through the 1960’s and then their subsequent adoption into non-indigenous, middle class families across the United States as well as Canada. The emotional and physical separation of the adoptees from their birth families continues to affect the indigenous community and the adult adoptees. The Sixties Scoop was to help the Canadian Government with the assimilation

During Eddie’s childhood, life for the people of the Torres Strait Islands was strictly regulated with laws made by the Queensland Government but the Meriam people strived to maintain continuity with the past and continued to live a traditional lifestyle based on fishing, gardening and customary laws of inheritance. When Eddie was 16, he was exiled from the island for breaking a customary law of his community. After his banishment, Eddie moved to Northern Queensland, where he worked in various

The Mabo decision was the apex of a legal battle started ten years earlier by a group of Indigenous Australians from the Torres Strait Islands of Mer to reattain their long-established ownership of the Murray Islands. The Mabo decision was named after Eddie Mabo, the man who challenged Australia’s legal system and fought for recognition of the rights of Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders as traditional owners

Developing an understanding of the history of colonisation and the traumatic and intergenerational effects this has had on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is vital to the work of Social Workers to ensure beneficial, safe and respectful relationships with Indigenous clients. Colonisation had and continues to have devastating effects on these communities, their cultures and their identities heightening the need of Social Work aid, particularly in areas of human rights, advocacy and the

system (Webb, 2008). For thousands of years before the arrival of the British in 1788, Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders have had their strong connection to the Australian Land. When the British arrived in 1788, it was declared that the country was terra nullius (land belonging to nobody), which resulted to the absence of recognition towards the connection between the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders and the Australian land. The declaration of terra nullius also resulted to the British taking

The 1992 Mabo High Court case represents one of the most profound cases in Australian history leading to the turning point of Reconciliation for Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. As a result of this decision, it changed the legislation of the indigenous Australians introducing land rights and impacted the indigenous Australians society rights and freedom as a more desirable outcome in the movement towards Reconciliation. The 1992 Mabo court case was a pivotal turning point in the progressive

Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders The aboriginal and Torres strait islander people have a greater amount of disadvantage and significantly more health problems than non- aboriginal and Torres straight island population in Australia. This issue was highlighted recently during a national press club address with Martin Laverty, Dr Tom Calma and Kate Carnell. They raised many issues and considered the disadvantages experienced and possible solutions to overcome these problems. They explain what

in Australia. Born on June 29, 1936, on the island of Mer in the Torres Strait (Murray islands region), Mabo was the son of Robert and Poipe Mabo. His parents were both from the island of Vanuatu and had come to the Torres Strait as indentured laborers. What experiences shaped Eddie Mabo’s perspective on indigenous land rights? Eddie Mabo's perspective on Aboriginal land rights was shaped by his experiences growing up on Mer Island in the Torres Strait, where he witnessed the impact of colonialism

Eddie Mabo and the Mabo Decision As campaigns for improved human rights were gathering momentum across all of Australia (and indeed the globe) in the 1980s, five Torres Strait Islanders (Eddie Koiki Mabo, Sam Passi, Reverend Dave Passi, James Rice and Celuia Mapo Salee) began a long campaign for ‘Native Title’, forever changing the country’s views on Indigenous Australians and the impact of settlement. The notion of land rights was often misunderstood by Australian people who believed they would

The Mabo Decision was a turning point for the recognition of the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. From recognising ownership of traditional lands to raising awareness of racial discrimination, it affected the Indigenous Australian society in various ways. Firstly, the Mabo Decision was significant because it acknowledged the ownership of traditional lands by abolishing “terra nullius”, meaning that the land is empty and owned by no one. Previously, the British denied the Indigenous