A conversation with Gail Mabo on legacy, strength and hope

Gail Mabo is the daughter of land rights activist Eddie Mabo and a member of CommBank’s Indigenous Advisory Council.
National Reconciliation Week [27 May – 3 June] and Mabo Day [3 June] is a chance for her to celebrate and remember.
Gail shares what Mabo Day means to her, how she’s laying the foundation for the next generation, and what gives her hope for the future.

What does National Reconciliation Week mean to you?

There’s a couple of prongs in that because Mabo Day [3 June] falls in Reconciliation Week. For me, it’s celebrating the fact that non-Indigenous people have a moment to think about us as peoples. Then it’s remembering us, acknowledging us and knowing that what my dad fought for was something that changed history to allow Indigenous peoples to speak their language, follow their customs, do their dances and their songs.

To me, it’s a revival of language. When my dad won, he gave everyone the right to re-engage in who they are and no matter how they practice their culture, they do it with pride.

Did you know…

Eddie Mabo was a prominent Torres Strait Islander land rights activist who challenged the concept of terra nullius, meaning “land belonging to no-one”, in the High Court of Australia in 1992, claiming the land belonged to First Nations peoples before British colonisation. Mabo won, establishing the legal doctrine of native title.

How does it feel to carry on your father’s legacy while creating your own?

The first time someone asked me that, I thought it was weird. I thought, “How am I making my own legacy?” But what I’m doing is laying the foundation for the next generation, whether it be my children, my grandchildren or my great-great grandchildren. There’s a foundation of understanding around what Mabo means.

I was told by one of my uncles that it’s about following your own Tagai, which is to follow your star to your destination. How do you define that? It’s up to the individual. Just knowing that we carry a legacy of what my dad did but doing it our own way.

What was the impact of the landmark court case?

The decision that came down in 1992, for me, was powerful. What Dad wanted had come to fruition. It took him a long time and one of my regrets is that he wasn’t here to see the decision. One year, when I celebrated with my children, the clouds gathered and the sound of thunder was rolling and I said, “That’s Ata [grandfather] moving the furniture away. He’s going to dance. He’s going to celebrate because he won.”

We should celebrate as a united front, not a divided front. My dad was fighting for all of Australia, not just for his land. He was fighting to change a 200-year-old law that took away the rights of many peoples, not just Torres Strait Islanders. Mabo Day gives us a platform to say, “Yep, he did it for us and to celebrate this day as ours.”

Gail Mabo is a member of CommBank’s Indigenous Advisory Council.

What work do you do on CommBank’s Indigenous Advisory Council?

It’s interesting to hear what’s going on in the bank and having the brilliance of [First Nations advocate] Sean Gordon and Mick Gooda [former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner] in the room to break things down for me to connect the dots. I listen to what they’re saying and then I put my points of view across on what I see could help.

It’s interesting because in a room full of powerful voices, they don’t let me sit quiet – they want all points of view actually heard and listened to. I have to think about not just myself but my community and my children and grandchildren and how this is going to impact them. So our voices need to be heard and the Advisory Council lets them rise.

What gives you hope for the future?

The younger kids embracing culture, language and dance. There is a shift because there was a generation of adults who didn’t want to know anything. They didn’t want to be Blak. But now it’s pinpointing that this is my strength, these are my people, this is who I am. We’re coming back to that because for a long time it was gone. Hats off to the next generation empowering themselves through the song, dance and knowledge being passed down by their old people.

The CommBank Indigenous Advisory Council provides strategic guidance to the bank on Indigenous affairs, ensuring First Nations voices are heard at the top.

Published: 25 May 2026