Brendan Thoms was born in New Zealand in 1988. He lived permanently in Australia from 1994 but never applied for Australian citizenship. Thoms had long-standing familial connections to Australia. His maternal great-great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother were all born in Queensland. They were Australian citizens and recognised members of the Gungarri People. Thoms’s brother had also been living in Australia since 1994, while his sister was born in Queensland in 1995. She was a citizen and, like Thoms, identified and was recognised as Gungarri.

Daniel Love was slightly older. Born in 1979 in Papua New Guinea, Love lived in Australia from 1984. Like Thoms, although not a citizen, Love had close familial connections in Australia. His paternal great-grandparents were born in Queensland and were descendants of First Nations peoples. Love’s paternal grandfather was born in Queensland and served during World War II in the Australian Military Forces in the Middle East, New Guinea, and Papua, settling in Papua following the war, where he met Love’s paternal grandmother. Papua was, at the time, under Australian authority, and she became an Australian citizen in 1961. Love’s father, too, was a citizen, as was his sister. Love identified as a member of the Kamilaroi People, and was recognised as a member by one Elder.