03/06/2026
This Mabo Day, we commemorate and celebrate the late Eddie Koiki Mabo. Eddie Mabo spent a decade fighting a legal case that would change Australia.
On this day 34 years ago, the High Court delivered its decision in Mabo v Queensland (No 2), overturning terra nullius, the legal fiction that this continent was "land belonging to no one" when the British arrived. It was never empty. First Peoples had lived here, cared for Country, and held law and custom for tens of thousands of years.
The Mabo decision finally recognised that truth in law. Eddie Mabo did not live to see it — he passed away just months before the judgment — but his legacy reshaped the nation.
That same fight for recognition and justice continues today. Here in Victoria, Australia's first Treaty has been signed, with a permanent voice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in State Parliament.
Your Community Health stands firmly behind Treaty and the right of Aboriginal people to self-determination — to make decisions about the things that affect their lives, health and communities. We honour Eddie Mabo's landmark stand for justice and how it has paved the way for a better future for First Peoples.
