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The Early Years - policy of protectionism
A system that protects government power rather than Aboriginal rights. It was about control, disempowerment and cultural-social genocide -
The Stolen Generation
The phrase Stolen Generation refers to the countless number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were forcibly removed from their families under government policy and direction. -
Strikes and Walkouts - (1936-1949)
In 20th century Australia indigenous workers were treated completely differently from the Caucasian settlers on the continent.Even then Australian law greatly restricted Aboriginal freedoms. Because of this unequal treatment, a large number of Aboriginal people went on strike. -
1938 Day of Mourning & 10 point plan
Created in 1938 by Australia's Aboriginal people to fight the Australian government, the day commemorates 150 years of suffering and indignity inflicted on Aboriginal people by the country's white invaders. -
Policy of Assimilation – after WW2
Policies that enabled Aboriginal Australians to live like white people and have equal rights. -
1962 electoral act amendment
The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1962 received assent on 21 May 1962. It granted all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people the option to enrol and vote in federal elections. Enrolment was not compulsory for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, unlike other Australians. -
1963 – beginning of land rights movement – Yirrkala petition
Yolngu people from Yirrkala in eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory sent the petitions to the Commonwealth Parliament in August 1963. On 13 March that year the Government had removed more than 300 square kilometres of land from the Arnhem Land reserve so bauxite found there could be mined. -
1966 - Wave Hill cattle station strike – Gurindji people.
On 23 August 1966, 200 Gurindji stockmen, domestic workers and their families initiated strike action at Wave Hill station in the Northern Territory. Negotiations with the station owners, the international food company Vestey Brothers, broke down, leading to a seven-year dispute. -
Freedom Rides - 1965 - and legacy of it.
The Freedom Ride was an important contributor to creating an environment for change. It helped move public opinion towards a 'Yes' vote in the 1967 referendum to remove the discrimination against Aboriginal Australians from the Australian Constitution. -
1967 referendum
On 27 May 1967, Australians voted to change the Constitution so that like all other Australians, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples would be counted as part of the population and the Commonwealth would be able to make laws for them. -
Land rights – Mabo ( 1992 – reversal of Terra Nullius) - Wik Case
The Mabo Case was a significant legal case in Australia that recognised the land rights of the Meriam people, traditional owners of the Murray Islands (which include the islands of Mer, Dauer and Waier) in the Torres Strait. -
Road to reconciliation - Redfern Speech( Paul Keating)
The speech was delivered by Keating on 10 December 1992, just over a year into his term as Prime Minister of Australia, to a crowd of predominantly Indigenous people gathered at Redfern Park, in Redfern, Sydney. It was given to launch the International Year for the World's Indigenous People (1993). -
Bringing them home report
Bringing Them Home is the 1997 Australian Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families. The report marked a pivotal moment in the controversy that has come to be known as the Stolen Generations. -
Kevin Rudd's Apology to the Stolen Generation. 2008
On 13 February 2008 Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made a formal apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, particularly to the Stolen Generations whose lives had been blighted by past government policies of forced child removal and assimilation.