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Australia becomes a nation?
150,000 people gathered in Sydney's Centennial Park to witness the birth of a nation. But there were no Indigenous Australians in the crowd, parliament or youth choir -
Celebrate or mourn?
A document called 'Aboriginal Claim Citizen Rights' was circulated. This was the first time that Aboriginal people had made a national protest -
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More visible during the war
Many aborigines served in the armed forces and thousands moved to towns to work in the wartime industries. Many white Australians believed that if aboriginal people would fight and die for their country then they deserved a fair go -
Changing Attitudes and Better Treatment
After Worl War II white Australians attitudes changed towards the Aboriginal people. During the 1950's Indigenous Australians were allowed to vote, drink in hotels, travel without any restrictions -
Freedom Riders demand equal treatment
A group led by Aboriginal activist Charles Perkins made a bus tour through New South Wales. They protested about discrimination in shops, theatres, bars, clubs and swimming pools -
Gurindji people demand a better deal
200 workers walked off the cattle station in the Northern Territory. They wanted better wages and conditions, and their traditional land back. The Gurindji eventually owned the area in 1985 -
White voters demand a better deal for first Australians
After a 90% 'yes' vote the government gave Indigenous Australians the right to vote and to be counted in the censuses and ended the protection policies -
Aboriginal tent embassy set up in Canberra
The Embassy said that blacks were now going to fight back on the issues of education, health, police victimisation and locking people up -
Land rights to be granted to first Australians
A government commission recommended that the Aboriginals should get back the land that they traditionally lived on -
First Aboriginal Land Rights Act
This Nothern Territory law only gave the indigenous Australians some area of arid and largely useless land -
Lost Land
In the late 1800s, Britain claimed the lands of Australia because they assumed that nobody owned or lived on them. Some Torres Strait Islanders challenged this. Their people had inhabited Murray Island for thousands of years and they were the rightful owners. In 1992 the high court agreed that terra nullis was wrong and racist, so in 1993 Native Title Act allowed Indigenous Australians to claim the land rights again -
Prime Minister March
250,000 people marched the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Many carried signs and banners critical of the Prime Minister's refusal to say 'sorry' to the indigenous Australians for past wrongs. The people marching showed concern about the need to apologise for the past treatment of Aboriginal People, improve their living standards, provide them with a fair deal over land rights and give their culture more status. This shows that Austrlians of all races want the first Australians to get a better deal -
Olympics
There was great pride when Cathhy Freeman lit the torch at the Sydney Olympics and she also won the 400 metres -
Prime Minister Says Sorry
Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, made a formal apology to Indigenous Australians. He especially apologised to the stolen generation who backgrounds were taken away from them