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63,000 BCE
Evidence of First People
The date of the earliest occupation of the Australian continent is constantly changing. New excavations and improved dating techniques push the date further back into the distant past. -
Janszoon maps northern Australian coast
In late February and early March 1606, Willem Janszoon, captain of the Dutch East India Company ship the Duyfken, became the first European to make recorded contact with and map part of the Australian continent. After sailing about 197 nautical miles down the west coast of Cape York, the Duyfken returned to the port of Banda in present-day Indonesia after a clash with the Wik Indigenous people led to the death of around nine crew members. -
Cpt. Cook claims portion of Australia
Lieutenant James Cook, captain of HMB Endeavour, claimed the eastern portion of the Australian continent for the British Crown in 1770, naming it New South Wales. -
Convict Cargo
Captain Artur Phillip commanded the first fleet of 11 ships that sailed into botany bay, in January 1788. -
Gold Rush
The discovery of gold in the 1850s started a series of rushes that transformed the Australian colonies. -
Eureka Stockade
On 30 November 1854, miners from the Victorian town of Ballarat, disgruntled with the way the colonial government had been administering the goldfields, swore allegiance to the Southern Cross flag at Bakery Hill and built a stockade at the nearby Eureka diggings. Early on the morning of Sunday 3 December, when the stockade was only lightly guarded, government troops attacked. At least 22 diggers and six soldiers were killed. -
Convict Transportation Ends
In 1849, the British Government authorized the conversion of Western Australia from a free settlement to a penal colony. On 9 January 1868 the convict transport Hougoumont arrived at the port of Fremantle. On board were 269 onvicts, the last to be sent to Western Australia. The ship's arrival marked the end of 80 years of continuous penal transportation to the Australian continent. -
Most of the British army withdrew from Australia
British army withdrew from Australia to make the country responsible for the military -
Tenterfield Oration
On 24 October 1889, Henry Parkes delivered a speech at the Tenterfield School of Arts on the need for the Australian colonies to federate into one nation. The Tenterfield Oration is significant because, although politicians had been discussing federation for some time, this was the first direct appeal to the public. -
Federation
Australian became an independent nation on 1 January 1901, when the British Parliament passed legislation enabling the six Australian colonies to collectively govern in their own right as the Commonwealth of Australia. It was a remarkable political accomplishment that had taken many years and several referenda to achieve.