Terra Nullius Examined

Overview

Unit Title: Colonisation: Voices Unheard
Lesson Number: 3 of 10
Time Allocation: 120 minutes
Year Level: Year 8
Learning Area: Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS)
Curriculum Focus: History
Strand: Historical Knowledge and Understanding
Sub-strand: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and cultures prior to colonisation; the nature of contact, and consequences of colonisation
General Capabilities: Critical and Creative Thinking, Intercultural Understanding, Ethical Understanding

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Achievement Standards (Australian Curriculum V9.0)

By the end of Year 8, students:

• Evaluate the significance of events and developments from a range of perspectives
• Interpret and analyse primary and secondary sources
• Understand the diversity and longevity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories pre- and post-colonisation
• Acknowledge that historical interpretations and perspectives can change over time
• Communicate historical arguments using evidence from sources

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Lesson Title

The Concept of Terra Nullius: A Legal and Moral Examination

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Learning Intentions

Students will:
✅ Understand the meaning and origins of the term terra nullius
✅ Analyse how the concept of terra nullius was used to justify British colonisation
✅ Investigate and interpret primary documents that reflect legal and moral justifications for dispossession
✅ Develop empathy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives on dispossession

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Success Criteria

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
🌱 Define terra nullius and explain its historical application
🌱 Analyse at least two primary sources and extract perspectives
🌱 Discuss the legal and moral implications of viewing Australia as uninhabited land
🌱 Construct empathetic responses to First Nations perspectives on colonisation

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Resources Needed

• Printed timeline cards
• Primary source packs: maps, Governor Phillip’s instructions (1787), letters and journal excerpts (e.g. Watkin Tench)
• Printed copies of Mabo v Queensland (No. 2) excerpts (1992)
• Butcher's paper, markers, post-it notes
• Audio recording or text transcript of an Aboriginal Elder's statement about land, belonging, and country
• Access to whiteboard
• Optional: Clip of dramatization or simulation activity recap from Lesson 2: "First Encounters & Misunderstandings"

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Lesson Sequence (120 minutes)

🪧 Part 1: Hook & Provocation (15 minutes)

Activity: “No One Owns It” Thought Experiment
Introduce a scenario where a student leaves their backpack in the classroom. While they’re gone, another student claims it has no owner and takes it. Ask:

• Legally, who owns the backpack?
• Morally, is this action justifiable?

Bridge to concept: Explain this links to a real historical idea used to claim land as ‘empty’ and available: Terra Nullius.

Write TERRA NULLIUS in large letters on the board.

Ask:

• Have you heard this term before?
• What do you think it means?

Record student’s existing knowledge or assumptions.

🧭 Part 2: Explicit Teaching & Historical Context (25 minutes)

Use direct instruction with visuals and maps to cover:

• Definition of terra nullius – “Land belonging to no one"
• British legal perspective in the late 1700s
• Governor Phillip’s Instructions (excerpts)** – how were British settlers told to behave?
• Contrast with evidence of Aboriginal civilisation – aquaculture, agriculture, language groups, systems of law

Activity (Mini Task): Mythbusting Poster
Using butcher’s paper, the student writes a myth vs fact blog-style poster.
Sample myth: “Aboriginal people didn’t farm the land.”
Fact: "Indigenous communities actively managed land through firestick farming."

📜 Part 3: Source Analysis – Primary Evidence (30 minutes)

Provide source pack: Include 2–3 key primary sources:

• Excerpt from Watkin Tench’s journal describing “uninhabited” areas
• Extract from Governor Phillip’s sailing orders
• British map showing "Terra Australis" pre-contact
• Modern-day quote from Mabo decision (1992): “The fiction… that the land belonged to no one...”

Activity: Voices from the Paper
Guide the student in using a Source Analysis Worksheet to explore:

• Who is the speaker/author?
• What is their context?
• What do they believe about the land?
• Are they reliable or biased?

Stretch Question: How do the sources contrast with Aboriginal oral histories?

🧠 Part 4: Critical Discussion & Empathy Building (20 minutes)

Audio/Transcript Reflection:
Play/read a statement from an Aboriginal Elder speaking of Country, belonging, and disconnection caused by colonisation.

Think-Pair-Share Prompts (1:1 Discussion):

• How does this Elder’s view contrast with the idea of Terra Nullius?
• How would it feel to be told your land doesn’t belong to you?

Creative Response Activity:
Create a short “Letter to the Land”, written from the perspective of an Aboriginal person in the early 1800s discovering this legal fiction being used.

Encourage use of feelings and metaphors: “They called you ‘empty’ but you hold our spirits…”

⚖ Part 5: Legal vs Moral Debate (20 minutes)

Prompt: "Just because something is legal, is it always right?"

Teacher acts as facilitator or ‘debate partner’. Student explores both:

• The legal validity claimed by the British for using terra nullius
• The moral implications of disregarding thousands of years of Indigenous connection to land

Use of Mabo Excerpt (1992):
Highlight that it took 205 years for terra nullius to be overturned.

Bring attention to the resilience and advocacy of Aboriginal people throughout that time.

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🔁 Part 6: Reflection and Assessment (10 minutes)

Exit Ticket: Student answers 3 prompts on a reflection slip:

1. One new fact I learned about Terra Nullius today:
2. One way colonisation affected land rights for Indigenous peoples:
3. One question I still have is:

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Differentiation

• For Extension: Student may create a comparative analysis between Terra Nullius and other colonial legal fictions in history (e.g. in Canada or New Zealand).
• For Support: Provide simplified source excerpts with glossaries and sentence starters for responses. Use visual aids (maps, diagrams) to scaffold understanding.

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Assessment Opportunities

• Informal observation during discussions
• Source Analysis Worksheets
• “Letter to the Land” creative writing task
• Exit Ticket responses

These artefacts may be collected in the student’s Portfolio of Learning, assessed against the success criteria, and inform their ongoing inquiry project across the unit.

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Teacher Reflection Prompts (Post-Lesson)

• Did the student demonstrate empathy and historical understanding?
• What misconceptions, if any, still exist around Terra Nullius?
• How did the one-on-one setting enhance (or limit) the depth of discussion?

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Follow-Up for Next Lesson

Lesson 4 Preview:
"Land Lost, Culture Fragmented" — Exploration of the early impacts of dispossession on language, culture, and relationships to Country. Students will start mapping change over time from pre-1788 to early 1900s.

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🖤💛❤️ Acknowledgement of Country

It is important to begin or close this lesson by acknowledging the Traditional Custodians of the land you are teaching on, and to pay respect to Elders past and present.

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This lesson honours First Nations perspectives and truths, empowering young Australians to reflect deeply on our shared history.