- E30, D77 -

Victorian Traditional Owners Settlements Following the historic judgement in favour of Australias original inhabitants in the Mabo case before the Australian High Court in 1992 and the passing of enabling legislation the Commonwealth Native Title Act 1993 there has been substantial and drawnout litigation to establish individual native title claims in many parts of Australia. The Government of Victoria sought to facilitate a faster resolution of native title claims in Victoria through its Traditional Owner Settlement Act 2010. That Act offers an alternative to costly litigation under the Commonwealths regime by empowering Victorian Traditional Owner Groups to negotiate outofCourt settlements directly with the Victorian Government. This policy supported by both ALP and LiberalNational Coalition governments had its first success with the signing of a Recognition and Settlement Agreement between the State of Victoria and the Gunaikurnai People based in Gippsland in Victorias east in October 2010.