Mabo involved the invention of a concept called "native title" which the High Court recognised as an entitlement of the Aboriginal people of Australia. Peter Connolly (1993) has this to say about "native title".
"Native title" was certainly nothing resembling freehold, or exclusive occupation of the great tracts of land over which the Aborigines roamed with the seasons. The rights which their descendants will have lost if native title is extinguished, may, according to the circumstances, include:
— Connolly (1993:90-91)