This paper examines the reproduction of racialized social relations in the context of First Nations land rights and restitution in Australia. We focus on the landmark Timber Creek case which tested the rights to compensation under the 1993 Native Title Act and may be considered a watershed moment in Australian land claims.

This study draws on Critical Race Theory to reveal embedded racialized perspectives that perpetuate exclusion and discriminatory outcomes. Court documents including hearing transcripts, case judgements, witness statements, appellant and respondent submissions, and expert reports form the basis of this analysis.

The case highlights how the compensation to landowners was based on racialized assumptions that prioritised neo-liberal values, commercial activities, and reaching a socially acceptable judgement over valuing Aboriginal uses of land. A critical analysis of court documents reveals the pervasiveness of presumed ‘objectivity’ in the use of accounting tools to calculate economic value and the accountability implications of a process based on litigation, not negotiation. These findings reveal the hiding places offered by calculative practices that equate ‘universal truth’ with a regime of Whiteness.

Novel insights, centred on First Nations perspectives of land, accountability, and justice, are offered in this study, drawing on Native Title holders’ submissions to the courts alongside historical and anthropological sources. These perspectives lead to the conclusion that the financial valuation of Native Title land is not in itself problematic, but that these calculations must be approached from the perspective of Aboriginal landowners if accountable outcomes are to be achieved.