Australian property law has steadily evolved to facilitate the recognition of new or previously unrecognised property rights. As the scope of the law has widened, modern property rights have become increasingly complex. One of the most famous Australian cases, Mabo, resulted in the acknowledgment of a whole class of property rights that were not previously recognised -native title. Subsequently, the High Court in Yarmirr broadened our understanding of property rights to include within native title the notion of 'sea country'. The evolution of property rights has had fundamental implications when addressing compensation for the impairment or acquisition of land (Indigenous or non-Indigenous) by government. Indeed as understanding of property rights advances, the ambit of compensation is catapulted into uncharted waters. This paper highlights the difficulty of containing property rights to a particular set of descriptors and the effect this has on compensation claims. Further, the current methodology for processing compensation claims exposes a disconnect between the public and the New South Wales (NSW) government. Finally, through an exploration of specific examples of compensation for private property rights, this paper concludes that there is need for a workable consensus on good, bad, and fair compensation.