On the cliffs of Victoria's Great Ocean Road, in a makeshift courtroom, the Eastern Maar peoples won their long-fought battle for land rights.
The state's first native title determination in a decade was made on Tuesday, covering Ararat to Warrnambool and along much of the coastline and through the Great Otway National Park.
It recognises the traditional owners' rights to access, use and protect the land in line with their laws and customs, along with the right to be consulted on plans to develop the land and its natural resources.
Eastern Maar is a name adopted by people who identify as Maar, Eastern Gunditjmara, Djab Wurrung, Peek Whurrong, Kirrae Whurrung, Kuurn Kopan Noot, Yarro Waetch, Djargurd Wurrung, Gulidjan and/or Gadubanu.
"The court's recognition that the determination area is and always was the country of the Eastern Maar peoples is another significant step forward for them and for the surrounding community," Federal Court Justice Bernard Murphy wrote in his decision.
"From the assertion of British sovereignty in 1788 until the mid-1860s the Aboriginal population in southwest Victoria declined by more than 90 per cent, reflecting the devastating impact of colonisation on Aboriginal communities."
At a ceremony on Logans Beach near Warrnambool, Djab Wurrung man and lawyer Jidah Clark said it was a momentous occasion.
"Some would say this is sort of 25 years in the making, others would say it's 100-plus years in the making," Mr Clark said.
"The seeds of justice are finally starting to blossom."
The state's last previous native title determination recognised the Dja Dja Wurrung people as the traditional owners for part of central Victoria in 2013.
Victorian Minister for Treaty and First Peoples Gabrielle Williams said all Australians would benefit from recognising Indigenous Australians' connection to country and culture.
"As a non-Aboriginal Australian, I'm so very proud of the connection that our first peoples have with this country. And so very grateful for their generosity and sharing that with us," she said.
Ms Williams said the decision sat within a broader context of treaty, truth-telling and the national Indigenous voice to parliament.
"All of these things are geared towards one outcome and that is achieving better outcomes for our First Nations people," she said.
"We know better outcomes are achieved for First Nations people when we put our First Nations people in control of their own affairs."
National Native Title Council chief executive and Gundjitmara Djabwurrung man Jamie Lowe said some Indigenous Victorians had been fighting for their native title claims since legislation was introduced in 1993.
"We've fought hard to survive and we've done that, and this is testament to that recognition that our people, the Maar people, have been here forever," Mr Lowe said.
"It's a bit of a point in time, a point in history that our people are being recognised, and ... on the national landscape, this will be heard."
