Always Was, Always Will Be

Always Was, Always Will Be Aboriginal Land is an important phrase by the Aboriginal land rights movement. It reasserts that First Nation's peoples in Australia were the very first footprints on the continent, occupying and caring for the land for more than 65,000 years,[1] and that sovereignty of Country has never been ceded.[2] It is sometimes shortened to "Always Was, Always Will Be".[3]

The phrase is said to have originated in the 1980s, with the Barkandji people in far-western New South Wales, Australia, who were fighting for legal recognition and rights as sovereign owners of their homelands.[2] The campaign was led by the late Uncle William Bates, which saw the first national park in NSW returned to its traditional owners. On one of his trips to Country during the campaign, Uncle William's father, Uncle Jim Bates, was telling his son stories of the land. Uncle William said, "Dad, it’s not your land anymore, whitefellas own it," his father replied, "No, they only borrowed it; it always was, and always will be Aboriginal land".[4][5]

The phrase is ubiquitous and synonymous with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land rights, self-determination and sovereignty, often chanted at protests, rallies and celebrations by Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Australia.[6][7] It also responds to the lack of recognition Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples receive in relation to sovereignty, and as a fundamental understanding about the truth of Australia, but sometimes presents a challenge when dealing with Australian immigrant communities.[8]

"Always Was, Always Will Be" is often incorporated into the Acknowledgment of Country. In 2020, "Always Was, Always Will Be" was selected as the theme for NAIDOC Week.[9][10]