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- The dispossession and denial of land was the first interaction between the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander peoples and the Europeans. This is believed to set the tone for the events that followed hence, it is believed that the native title can help restore friendly relations.
- It determines certain significant rules for dealing with land where native title still/may exist. The native title opened doors for agreements where arrangements were set out between native title holder and others regarding who can use the land in question.
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Native title is the recognition that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander have a unique bond, rights and interest to the land and waters in Australia. This recognition is under common law (Law written in opinions, past precedential decisions in cases can be overlooked when updated informaton is available or if a case is distinct from all previous cases) and the Native Title Act (1993).

However, this is not the be all end all when it comes to land rights. There are still laws and customs that need to be adhered to, non Aboriginal citizens of Australia’s rights and interests are also taken into account. Indigenous people also have to prove that they have special bonds with the land they want, and have not sold it or anything of the like.

The Aboriginals can live, hunt, fish, preserve, teach Indigenous laws under the Native Title. The title also have the right to exclude others at the owned lands and waters.

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On 3 June 1992, the High Court of Australia decided that terra nullius (empty land) shouldn't be applied to Australia.This decision recognised Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' land rights, which existed before the British arrived and can still exist today.
Because it acknowledged Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' unique connection to the land, the Mabo decision was a defining moment in the recognition of their rights. It also resulted in the passage of the Native Title Act by the Australian Parliament in 1993.

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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were the native people in Australia for a long time before the British arrived in 1788. However the British still claim Australia as an empty land causing the aboriginals to lose their lands. Therefore, the Mabo decision was picked up by Eddie Mabo, who was managed to challenge the legal principle of terra nullius in the high court in order to reclaim their land.

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On June 1992, majority of the High Court judges came to a decision that the lands of this continent were no longer terra nullius ; which meant that it was no longer known as a "land belonging to no-one". Judgements of the High Court inserted the legal doctrine of native title into Australian law. This doctrine replaced the doctrine of terra nullius where the British claimed that the Indigenous peoples had no rights over the land as they had no settled law governing the occupation and use of lands. However with this new doctrine, this meant that the Meriam people were entitled to their own rights and were free to roam and enjoy the beauty of most of the lands of Murray Islands. The High Court finally recognised the fact that the indigenous peoples had prior rights to the land as they have lived in Australia for many years even before the European settlement and that they are deserving of enjoying their on rights to the land according to their own laws and customs. Therefore, they are officially under the protection of the Australian law until those rights are legally extinguished.

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Eddie Mabo was a man who challenged the Australian legal system fought for the rights of the aboriginal and Torres straits islanders. He was originally a Torres Strait islander who disagree with the Australian laws on land ownership . Thus he fought, in hopes to change them . He was born in 1936 on Murray island located in the Torres Strait . When he was growing up , stringent laws were imposed to the Torres Strait islanders and he felt that the land should be owned by them and not ruled by the Australian government .