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European Exploratiom; Dutch
The first recorded Dutch contact with Australia occurred in 1606 when the Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon and his crew aboard the Duyfken reached the coast of the Cape York Peninsula in northern Australia. This marked the first European landing on Australian soil. -
Abel Tasman discovers Tasmania and New Zealand.
Abel Tasman is officially recognized as the first European to 'discover' New Zealand in 1642. His men were the first Europeans to have a confirmed encounter with Māori. -
Captain James Cook's Landing
Captain James Cook charts the East Coast in his ship HM Endeavour, at Botany Bay. Cook claims it as a British possession and names eastern Australia "New South Wales". -
Settlement of Australia by the British.
British Navy captain Arthur Phillip founds a penal settlement at Sydney. He had arrived with a fleet of 11 vessels, carrying nearly 800 convicts. Britain establishes a penal colony in Sydney Cove. -
The ‘Rum Rebellion’
Twenty years to the day after the founding of New South Wales, the colony's governor, William Bligh, was deposed by the New South Wales Corps. On 26th January 1808, officers and men of the New South Wales Corps marched to Government House in Sydney in an act of rebellion against Governor William Bligh. -
The Gold Rush
Gold was discovered in New South Wales, sparking a rush of immigrants to Australia and dramatically increasing the population and wealth of the colony. Edward Hammond Hargraves is credited with finding the first payable goldfields at Ophir, near Bathurst, New South Wales. -
Battle of the Eureka Stockade, Ballarat.
In 1854 goldminers at the Eureka Stockade, Ballarat rebelled against the Victorian government. -
South Australian women gain voting rights
It was the result of a decade of struggle, and finally gave women in South Australia the right to vote and the right to stand for election to parliament. By 1901 most Australian women can vote. -
Federation of Australia
On January 1st, 1901, the six British colonies united to form the Commonwealth of Australia, becoming a federation and gaining greater self-governance -
Outbreak of World War I
World War I: Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) forces landed at Gallipoli during World War I. 330,000 Australians serve; 60,000 are killed, 165,000 wounded. -
Opening of the Trans-Australian railway.
Stretching across 1,693 kilometres of Australia's driest and most isolated terrain, the Trans-Australian Railway was completed on 17 October 1917 -
The Great Depression
Like much of the world, Australia was deeply affected by the Great Depression, with widespread unemployment and hardship for many Australians. -
Australia in World War II
World War II: Australian Air Force active in Britain; navy operates in Mediterranean; soldiers fight in North Africa and the Pacific. -
Referendum for Aboriginal Rights
A national referendum was held to include Aboriginal people in the census and allow the federal government to make laws for them. It was a major step toward Indigenous rights. -
Australia Act 1986 (Commonwealth)
The Australia Act makes Australian law fully independent of the British parliament and legal system. Turning to Asia. The Australia Act 1986 (Commonwealth) was the final step in Australia's constitutional independence from Britain.