EXPLAINER: Where does the phrase 'Always Was, Always Will Be' come from?

It's an important reminder that First Nations peoples have occupied and cared for this land for over 65,000 years.

We hear the words in Welcomes to, and Acknowledgements of, Country. We hear them at protests and gatherings. We hear the words come out of the mouths of our Uncles and Aunties; our trailblazers.

Always Was, Always Will Be is not just a slogan on a T-shirt and it's not just a chant. It's the truth.

When we say those five words, we make it known that we are still here, still strong.

The phrase has been chanted during protests. Source: Coffin Birth, Charlotte Allingham

The origin of Always Was, Always Will Be

According to the Australian Museum, the phrase was born out of the 1980s Aboriginal land rights movement in far-western New South Wales.

The late Barkandji man Uncle William Bates was at the forefront of that movement, leading protests for the rights and land of his people.

Uncle William once told his father, "It's not your land anymore, whitefellas own it."

"No, they only borrowed it; it always was, and always will be Aboriginal land," his father Uncle Jim Bates replied.

As the first Aboriginal Legal Service field officer hired in Far West NSW in 1974, Uncle William rallied together communities and land councils to pool funds and start buying back Traditional lands.

Alongside other staunch activists, Uncle William's advocacy saw the first national park in NSW returned to Traditional Owners.

The late Uncle William Bates (Barkandji) talks to a group of people at the Weinteriga Station opening after it was purchased by the Traditional Owners, 1985. Source: Bates family, The Australian Museum

The meaning of Always Was, Always Will Be

Always Was Always Will references the enduring custodianship First Nations people have with the land, and challenges the notion of terra nullius.

During protests and rallies, the call of "Always Was, Always Will Be" receives the staunch answer: "Aboriginal land."

The phrase serves as an important reminder that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have occupied and cared for this land for over 65,000 years.

Laura McBride, First Nations director at the Australian Museum, says that it is an affirmation that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were the first on this continent and that their sovereignty has never been ceded.

"It continues to respond to the lack of recognition of First Nations sovereignty that is at the core of much of this nation’s structural inequalities and marginalisation," the Wailwan Kooma woman writes.