DAVID MARK: The nine-week old baby, Azaria Chamberlain, was attacked or taken by a dingo in 1980.
It's taken three decades of legal proceedings, but today the Northern Territory coroner finally given a reason for the baby's death.
Azaria Chamberlain's disappearance from a campground at Uluru in 1980 became one of Australia's most sensational legal cases.
It saturated the media for years.
There were emotional scenes in court today as the findings were handed down.
Even the coroner's voice quivered as she delivered what's likely to be the final chapter in a legal battle that's lasted 30 years.
Sara Everingham reports from Darwin.
SARA EVERINGHAM: Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton and Michael Chamberlain emerged from the Darwin Magistrates Court to applause.
Flanked by her lawyer, her former husband, Michael Chamberlain, and one of their children, Lindy Chamberlain said she hoped the findings would also serve as a warning to others about the potential dangers of dingoes.
LINDY CHAMBERLAIN: I wasn't going to cry but I think Aiden started me off. Obviously we're relieved and delighted to come to the end of this saga. No longer will Australia be able to say that dingoes are not dangerous and only attack if provoked.
We live in a beautiful country but it is dangerous and we would ask all Australians to be aware of this and take appropriate precautions and not wait for somebody else to do it for them.
SARA EVERINGHAM: Michael Chamberlain also reflected on the long-running legal saga.
In spite of doubts about the criminal justice system in the Northern Territory, he said now the truth is out.
MICHAEL CHAMBERLAIN: This has been a terrifying battle, bitter at times, but now some healing and a chance to put our daughter's spirit to rest.
SARA EVERINGHAM: The hearing was held in a small, packed court room.
The tension inside was palpable, particularly as the coroner read this statement, the one the Chamberlains had been hoping to hear.
ELIZABETH MORRIS: Azaria Chamberlain died at Uluru, then known as Ayres Rock, on the 17th of August 1980. The cause of her death was as the result of being attacked and taken by a dingo.
SARA EVERINGHAM: Thirty two years since Lindy Chamberlain cried out that a dingo had taken her baby, the official record agrees.
Back in 1982 a jury found Mrs Chamberlain guilty of Azaria Chamberlain's murder and she was sentenced to life imprisonment.
After a Royal Commission, the Chamberlains had their convictions quashed in 1988.
A third coronial inquest 17 years ago left an open finding on the cause of death.
The Chamberlains pushed for this fourth inquest with the hope there'd be a formal finding that the cause was a dingo.
Coroner Elizabeth Morris considered new evidence of attacks by dingoes.
ELIZABETH MORRIS: It is obvious, not just from these findings, but from other injuries and deaths since, dingos can and do cause harm to humans.
SARA EVERINGHAM: After she handed down her findings, coroner Morris's voice quivered as she directly addressed the Chamberlains and their extended family sitting in the front row of the small gallery.
ELIZABETH MORRIS: Mrs Chamberlain-Creighton, Mr Chamberlain, Aiden and your extended families, please accept my sincere sympathy on the death of your special and loved daughter and sister, Azaria.
I'm so sorry for your loss. Time does not remove the pain and sadness of the death of a child.
SARA EVERINGHAM: After the hearing there was applause in the court. There were some tears as the Chamberlains embraced members of their family and their legal team.
Then they were given Azaria Chamberlain's death certificate which reflects the coroner's latest findings.
Two years ago Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton said it would also be nice to get an apology.
Today the Northern Territory Opposition Country Liberal's leader, Terry Mills, also called on the Northern Territory Government to apologise to the Chamberlains.
He declined to apologise on behalf of his party, which was in government when Lindy Chamberlain was convicted of murder and sent to prison.
TERRY MILLS: It's not my position to provide an apology on behalf of a former government. I stand as the Opposition leader here in 2012. I entered the Parliament in 1999.
I'm making a reflection as a father of a daughter who was 29 today, recognising how difficult it is to bear the burden of a loss of a child, notwithstanding the additional impost that's been placed upon the Chamberlains, that after all these years and with the finding today, that an apology is owed to the Chamberlains.
SARA EVERINGHAM: The Northern Territory's Attorney-General Rob Knight was not available for an interview.
Northern Territory coroner Elizabeth Morris did not make any recommendations in her findings.
She said given the time that's passed since Azaria's death, she did not intend to make any findings about dingo control and management.
Today's findings bring an end to one of the longest-running legal cases in Australia's history, and one that that created many headlines around the world.
DAVID MARK: Sara Everingham reporting.