Rethinking the origins ofterra nullius

This article questions the accepted view of how and when land inhabited by indigenous peoples came to be regarded as uninhabited or ownerless for legal purposes. It suggests that until the nineteenth century the predominant view was that such land was acquired through conquest or cession. This early legal interpretation was supported by government policy which recognised indigenous title to the land. The incorporation of the idea of terra nullius into British law in the nineteenth century seems to have been significantly influenced by the establishment of New South Wales and the debate in and about that colony.