-
Jan 1, 1500
68000 Years Ago
Current estimates for the arrival of Aboriginal people in Australia -
Jan 1, 1500
Lake Mungo 60 000 Years Ago
Lake MungoAge of Lake Mungo 3 human remains (age range between 56,000 and 68,000 years), south-western NSW, 987 km west of Sydney. Footprints discovered at Lake Mungo are believed to be 23,000 years old. -
Jan 2, 1500
Land Bridge
Land bridges between mainland Australia and Tasmania are flooded. Tasmanian Aboriginal people become isolated for the next 12,000 - 13,000 years. -
Dutchman Willem Jansz
Dutchman Willem Jansz and his ship Duyfken explore the western coast of Cape York Peninsula and were the first Europeans to have contact with Australian Aboriginal people. -
Willam Dampier
William Dampier - WikiVisited the west coast of Australia
William dampier wrote in 1688 that Australia’s Indigenous people were one of the most miserable people in the world -
Further Capturing
BennelongGovernor Phillip captures two Aboriginal men - Bennelong and Colebee. Colebee escapes but Bennelong is kept at Government House for five months. -
Population Estimate 1788
From Official Year Book of the Commonwealth of Australia
252 500 -
Captain Arthur Phillip
Captain Arthur Phillip - WikiCaptain Arthur Phillip entered Botany Bay. A total of nine ships sailed into Botany Bay over three days. Aboriginal people watched the arrival. Resistance and conflict between Europeans and Aborigines begins almost immediately. -
Invasion Day
Australia Day - Invasion DayWhen the first fleet arrived on Australia. It is commonly known as Australia Day but for the Indigenous Australians it is called Invasion Day. -
French Attack on Aborigines
History of Australia (1788–1850)Early February the French fire on Aborigines at Botany Bay. -
First Conflict
The first conflict between the First Fleet arrivals and Aborigines takes place near Rushcutters Bay, Sydney. Two convicts are killed. -
Arabanoo
Arabanoo is the first Aborigine captured by Europeans. Captain Phillip estimates that there are 1 500 Aborigines living in the Sydney Region. -
Smallpox decimates the Aborigines
EoraApril, smallpox decimates the Eora Aboriginal population of Port Jackson, Botany Bay and Broken Bay. The disease spread inland and along the coast. -
Taken to England
Bennelong and a boy named Yemmerrawanie are taken to England by Phillip. They perform the first Aboriginal song to be heard in Europe. Bennelong meets George III. Yemmarrawanie dies in England. In 1795 Bennelong returns to Australia. -
Richmond Hill Battle
The Richmond Hill battle is considered to be the first recorded battle between Aboriginal people defending their country against the British. -
The Black Wars
Beginning of a six-year period of resistance to white settlement by Aboriginal people in the Hawkesbury and Parramatta area. -
Native School
Governor Macquarie opens a school for Aboriginal children at Parramatta called the ‘Native Institution’ to “civilise, educate and foster habits of industry and decency in the Aborigines”. The local Aboriginal people (Koori) remove their children from the school after they realise that its aim is to distance the children from their families and communities. The school closes in 1820. -
Wiradjuri Resistance
Windradyne leads Wiradjuri resistance that will last for two years along the Murray River. -
The Myall Creek Massacre
The Myall Creek Massacre was when a group of white settlers murdered 28 aboriginal men, women and children near the creek. Although seven of the killers were tried and hanged, the Myall Creek Massacre now serves as a reminder of Australia's colonial violence towards Aboriginal people. -
Wangaratta Massacre
20 or more Aborigines are shotby George Faithfull and his men in a 6-hour battle. -
Murray River Massacre
30 Aborigines are shot by government troops. -
Mundaroo - Place of Thunder
Mundaroo comprises some 10,000 acres of bushland and scrub and was inhabited by Aborigines. Mr Bell brought his wife and young family from Carabost Forest by Bullock wagon, to their home which he built for them on the banks of Mundaroo Creek. Aborigines held corroboree on the banks of the creek close to the house. -
Murrumbidgee Station Massacre
Murrumbidgee Station, 7-8 aborigines are poisoned. -
Wangaratta Second Massacre
2 more aboriginals kills -
Aboriginal Protection Board
The Aboriginal Protection Board is established in NSW. Aboriginal people at Maloga Mission on the Murray River are moved to Cumeroogunga. By the end of the 1880s several reserves have been established in NSW. Reserves are set up far enough from towns to limit contact with Europeans. Segregation is a key part of Aboriginal protection policy. White parents object to about 16 Aboriginal children attending a public school at Yass. The Minister for Education, George Reid, stops the children from att -
Death of Murray Jack
Murray Jack the last leader of the Wolgal died in November 1891. He is burried at Cooma. -
Population Estimate 1901
Population Estimate from Commonwealth Year Book of Australia
66 950 -
NSW Aborigines Protection Act
New South Wales Aborigines Protection Act, 1909-1943Aboriginal schools were established followed by exclustion from the white people -
Population Estimate 1921
Population Estimate from Book of the Commonwealth of Australia. 60 479 -
Right To Vote
90% voted to legislate Aboriginal people to be counted in the census. People wished and hoped for the end of constitutional descrimination. The following census was the first to count aborigines due to the referendum.