Native Title is the recognition in Australian law that Indigenous people have a system of law and ownership of their land that pre-dates European settlement.
Yes. The purpose of a Native Title application is to have the Federal Court of Australia make a determination that Native Title exists and also to say who has the Native Title and what the Native Title rights and interests are.
If no-one contests the Native Title application the Court may make an unopposed determination.
If all the parties involved reach an agreement through mediation, the Court may make a consent determination.
If the people involved in mediation do not reach an agreement then the Native Title application goes to Court for a litigated determination, and the parties involved will have to argue their case before a Judge. This is called litigation.
Parties may be required to file anthropological and historical reports with the Court and to give copies to other parties.
Once an application goes to trial, the parties will be required to give evidence in court to establish whether Native Title does or does not exist in the claimed area.
The Federal Court determines if Native Title exists or not.