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Federation
Aboriginal people are excluded from the vote, pensions, employment in post offices, enlistment in armed forces and maternity allowance. -
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Australian Aboriginals
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The first and only recording of tasmanian aboriginal language
Tasmanian Aboriginal woman Fanny Cochrane Smith is recorded singing in her native tongue, the first and only recording of Tasmania’s Aboriginal language. -
Western Australia Aboriginies Act
The Western Australia Aborigines Act is passed, making the Chief Protector the legal guardian of every Aboriginal and ‘half-caste’ child under 16 years old. Reserves are established, a local protector is appointed and rules governing Aboriginal employment are laid down. -
Aboriginies Act in Northern Territory
The Aborigines Protection Board Act is passed, giving the Board ‘legal’ control over Aboriginal people on stations and reserves but not missions, in the Northern Territory. -
Aboriginal People Fight in the War
Aboriginal people serve in the war despite the Defence Act 1909 which prohibits any person not of ‘substantially European’ origin from serving. Aboriginal soldiers are among Australian troops at Gallipoli. -
Aboriginal Protection Board
The NSW Aborigines Protection Board is given powers to remove Aboriginal children without a court hearing. This power is repealed in 1940, when the Board is renamed the Aborigines Welfare Board. -
Aboriginal Population
Aboriginal population is estimated to be at its lowest at 60,000 - 70,000. It is widely believed to be a ‘dying race’. Most Australians have no contact with Aboriginal people due to segregation and social conventions. -
11 Aboriginies Die
Following the killing of a European in Dala, Western Australia, 11 Aboriginal people are murdered in police custody; no prosecutions follow. -
Conniston Massacre
Conniston Massacre in the Northern Territory. Europeans shoot 32 Aboriginal people after a European dingo trapper and a station owner are attacked by them.
A court of inquiry rules the Europeans’ action ‘justified’. Aboriginal people are refused legal aid by the federal government. -
Aboriginies Act
Under the Aborigines Act, Aboriginal people can apply to ‘cease being Aboriginal’ and have access to the same rights as ‘whites’. -
Aboriginal Welfare - Conference of Commonwealth and State Authorities
Aboriginal Welfare - Conference of Commonwealth and State Authorities called by the federal government, decides that the official policy for some Aboriginal people is assimilation policy. Aboriginal people of mixed descent are to be assimilated into white society whether they want to be or not, those not living tribally are to be educated and all others are to stay on reserves. -
William Cooper
Aboriginal man William Cooper, in his 70s, leads a delegation of the Australian Aboriginal League to the German Consulate -
The Cummeragunja Walk
Over 150 Aboriginal people pack-up and leave Cummeragunja Aboriginal Station in protest at the cruel treatment and exploitation of residents by the management. They walk 66kms and cross the border from New South Wales into Victoria in contravention of the rules of the New South Wales Protection Board. -
White Australia
White Australia policy succeeds: 99% of Australia’s 7 million people are white. -
First Aboriginal Pilot
19-year old Len Waters becomes the first Aboriginal military pilot to be accepted into the Royal Australian Air Force. He is also the only Aboriginal fighter pilot to server during World War II. Len left the air force in 1946 and died in 1993 aged 69. -
Commonwealth Citizenship
The Commonwealth Citizenship and Nationality Act for the first time makes all Australians, including all Aboriginal people, Australian citizens. But at state level they still suffer legal discrimination. -
Right to Enrol and Vote
Aboriginal people are given the right to enrol and vote at federal elections provided they are entitled to enrol for state elections or have served in the armed forces. -
Assimilation Policy
The federal government convenes the Australian Conference for Native Welfare, with all states and territories represented except Victoria and Tasmania, which claim to have no Aboriginal ‘problem’. The conference officially adopts a policy of ‘assimilation’ for Aboriginal people. -
Opertaion Buffalo
Atomic tests are conducted on Maralinga lands at Emu Field, South Australia. They are code named Operation Totem. A black cloud passes and hundreds of families are forced to leave their homelands because of severe contamination. Further atom tests followed in 1956 at Maralinga, South Australia - Operation Buffalo. -
Federation Council for Aboriginals
The Federal Council for the Advancement of Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders is set up. This group brings together a number of civil rights and Aboriginal welfare organisations. Its work plays a large part in bringing about the 1967 referendum. -
Margaret Wiliiams
Margaret Williams is the first Aboriginal university graduate with a diploma in physical education -
Electoral Act
The Commonwealth Electoral Act is amended to give franchise to all Aboriginal people, extending the right to vote to Aboriginal people in Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory. -
Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker)
Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker) becomes the first Aboriginal Australian to publish a book of verse. She goes on to become one of the best known and most respected authors in Australia and overseas. -
The Referendum
In the Commonwealth 1967 Referendum more than 90% vote to empower the Commonwealth to legislate for all Aboriginal people and open means for them to be counted in the census. Hopes fly high that constitutional discrimination will end. It also empowers the federal government to legislate for Aboriginal people in the states and share responsibility for Aboriginal affairs with state governments. All states except Queensland abandon laws and policies that discriminate against Aboriginal people. -
Redfern Medical Service
Aboriginal Medical Service formed in Redfern. -
Legal service for Aboriginal NSW
NSW Aboriginal Legal Service is formed, followed by Aboriginal pre-school, Black Theatre and the Aboriginal Housing Company. -
Department of Aboriginal Affairs
The Department of Aboriginal Affairs was established by the Whitlam Government. By 1975 offices had been established in all states and only Queensland had not transferred to the department all major responsibilities for Aboriginal policy and administration. -
Racial Discrimination Act
Racial Discrimination Act is passed in the Federal Parliament. The Australian Senate unanimously endorses a resolution put up by Senator Neville Bonner acknowledging prior ownership of this country and seeking compensation for their dispossesion. -
Health Statistics
Health statistics show that 48 in every 1,000 Aboriginal babies in NT die before reaching 1 year of age. This compares to 1 baby in every 1000 in the white population. Of the 6000 Aboriginal children living in Sydney 4000 are underweight. Leprosy still occurs in the Aboriginal populations and alcohol is a serious problem. -
Pitjantjatjara Land Rights Act
Pitjantjatjara people of South Australia are granted land under the Pitjantjatjara Land Rights Act (SA). A large area of the state is returned to the Anangu Pitjantjatjara. Anangu Pitjantjajara, a corporate body, is established to administer some 100,000km of land for the Anangu people. -
The Aboriginal Child Placement Principle
The Aboriginal Child Placement Principle, developed principally due to the efforts of Aboriginal and Islander Child Care Agencies (AICCAs) during the 1970s, is incorporated in NT welfare legislation to ensure that Indigenous children are placed with Indigenous families when adoption or fostering is necessary. This is followed in NSW (1987), Victoria (1989), South Australia (1993), Queensland and the ACT (1999), Tasmania (2000) and Western Australia (2006). -
Pope John Paul
Pope John Paul II addresses the Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders in Blatherskite Park in Alice Springs. -
"Survival Day " (26 January)
Tens of thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people march through the streets of Sydney on Australia Day to celebrate their survival during the previous 200 years, while non-indigineous Australia commerates the bicentenary of their immigration. Aboriginal people rename the day to ‘Survival Day’. -
Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation
The Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation is set up, funded by the federal government, with cross-party support. The Parliament noted that there had not been a formal process of reconciliation to date, “and that it was most desirable that there be such a reconciliation” by 2001. -
Aboriginal Model
In a first for Vogue, Aboriginal model Elaine George of Brisbane becomes the cover girl for the September issue
of Vogue Australia 1993, leading to a career as an international model. Elaine was discovered as a 17 year old at Dreamworld, a Gold Coast amusement park, by freelance photographer Grant Good. -
Seperation of Families
The National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families is established in response to efforts made by key Aboriginal agencies and communities. -
The Wik Decision
The Wik Decision - the High Court reversed Justice Drummond’s judgement. The High Court found that pastoral leases did not necessarily extinguish native title and that both could co-exist but where there was a conflict native title rights were subordinate to the rights of the pastoral lease holder. The federal government develops ‘Ten Point Plan’ outlining a proposed legislative response to the High Court Wik decision, with the aim of limiting Aboriginal land rights. -
Stolen Generation
The 700-page report of the ‘Stolen Children’ National Inquiry ‘Bringing Them Home’, is tabled in Federal Parliament. The report concludes that the forcible removal of children was an act of genocide, contrary to United Nations Convention on Genocide, ratified by Australia in 1949. Australians are shocked by the report’s details. -
Sorry Day
One year after the Bringing Them Home report the first Sorry Day is marked by hundreds of activities around the country. The Australian federal government does not take part in ‘Sorry Day’, saying people who removed Aboriginal children thought they were doing the right thing and people now should not have to say sorry for what people did in the past. Over 1 million signatures in thousands of Sorry Books speak a different language. -
Corroboree 2000 Opera House
Corroboree 2000 is held at Sydney Opera House to mark 10 years of work on Reconciliation. Here, the Council for Aboriginal reconciliation presents to the nation Corroboree 2000 - Towards Reconciliation which includes the documents ‘Australian Declaration towards Reconciliation’ and ‘Roadmap for Reconciliation’. The roadmap outlines four national strategies to advance reconciliation. -
Cathy Freeman
Cathy Freeman wins gold in the women’s 400m at the Sydney 2000 Olympics. The opening and closing ceremonies celebrated Indigenous cultural identity and history and provided some deft political comment on contemporary Aboriginal issues. -
Social justice Report
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Dr William Jonas, presents the Social Justice Report 2001 and Native Title Report 2001 to Parliament. In the report he questions: What happened to reconciliation? Both reports express serious concerns about the nation’s progress in achieving the exercise of Aboriginal rights. -
Shared Responsibility Agreements
The government starts using Shared Responsibility Agreements (SRAs), voluntary written agreements, which set out what outcomes are to be achieved, and the agreed roles and responsibilities of governments and Aboriginal communities in relation to particular projects or activities. -
Northern Territory Intervention
Prime Minister John Howard and Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough announce the Northern Territory intervention. Staged as a response to the ‘Little Children are Sacred’ report, the intervention is widely criticised because it also legislates to remove the permit system for access to Aboriginal land, abolish the Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP), quarantine 50% of welfare payments, compulsorily acquire Aboriginal land and subject Aboriginal children to mandatory health checks. -
The Apology
The Australian Parliament apologises to the Stolen Generations. Both the government and the opposition support the apology and say ‘sorry’ to Aboriginal people who were taken away from their families from 1900 to the 1970s. -
Council of Australian Governments
Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting where state and federal heads announce they will contribute $806 million (federal) and $772 million (all states) into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health over the next four years, the biggest single injection of Indigenous health spending in decades. -
Kevin Rudd says Sorry
The Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says sorry to the Forgotten Australians which include migrants and Indigenous people who were victims of abuse in orphanages and institutions between 1930 and 1970. The Forgotten Australians suffered similar abuse as the members of the Stolen Generations. -
Charles Chicka dickson
Charles ‘Chicka’ Dixon dies aged 81. An activist, Charles was active in the FCAATSI and its campaign for the 1967 Referendum, an active participant of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in the 1970s, and played a major part in establishing Australia’s first Aboriginal legal and medical services. He received a state funeral on March 31st. -
Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation
Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation releases the video FMG’s Great Native Title Swindle showing Fortescue Metals Group head Andrew Forrest addressing a remote Pilbara community meeting. The video shows how powerless and unsupported Aboriginal people are when negotiating with a multibillion-dollar corporation. The video causes big waves in the media. -
Aboriginal Passport
Over 200 people, including newly arrived asylum seekers, receive an Aboriginal Passport. The Aboriginal Passport was first introduced in 1988 by Palawa (Tasmanian) activist, Michael Mansell, and was issued to an Aboriginal Delegation that visited Libya. -
Aboriginal and torres strait islander recognition bill
The Australian Parliament passes with bi-partisan support the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Recognition Bill 2012 which recognises the unique and special place of Aboriginal people and sets out a review process to progress the route to a referendum.