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1901: Commonwealth of Australia formed.
Australians are excluded from the census and the lawmaking powers of the Commonwealth Parliament.
White Australia Policy. Indigenous people are excluded from the vote, pensions, employment in post offices, enlistment in Armed Forces, maternity allowance. -
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Timeline of the land rights movement
Land rights for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples refer to the ongoing struggle to gain legal and moral recognition of ownership of lands and waters they called home prior to colonization of Australia in 1788. -
1938: Day of Mourning held by the Aborigines League
The Aborigines Progressive Association had it's the first major protest by Indigenous people. The manifesto “Aborigines Claim Citizen Rights” and the newspaper “Abo Call” are published. -
1962: All Indigenous people are given the vote in Commonwealth elections.
In March 1962 the Liberal and Country Party government finally gave the right to vote to all Aboriginal people. Aboriginal people now could vote in federal elections if they wished to but it wasn't compulsory. Western Australia gave them the State vote in the same year. Queensland followed in 1965. -
1972: Tent Embassy established outside Parliament House. It adopts the Indigenous flag.
The official flag for the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra after it was first flown there in 1972. Since then, it has become a widely recognized symbol of the unity and identity of Aboriginal people. -
1975: Racial Discrimination Act 1975 - passed.
The Racial Discrimination Act 1975, is a statute passed by the Australian Parliament during the Prime Ministership of Gough Whitlam. The RDA makes racial discrimination in certain contexts unlawful in Australia, and overrides States and Territory legislation to the extent of any inconsistency -
1985: Uluru handed back to traditional owners.
The returning of Uluru in 1985 was a significant highpoint for land rights. On 26 October hundreds of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people atended the ceremony when Governor-General Sir Ninian Stephen handed over the otle deeds to Anangu traditional owners -
1990: ATSIC established.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) ATSIC was the Australian Government body where Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders were formally involved in the processes of government affecting their lives and the lives of their people. -
1993: Native Title Act.
The Native Title Act 1993 is a law passed by the Australian Parliament, the purpose of which is "to provide a national system for the recognition and protection of native title and for its co-existence with the national land management system". This act recognizes the traditional rights and interests to land and waters of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people -
1997: Bringing Them Home
This report of the inquiry into the Stolen Generations is released. It recommends a national sorry day to commemorate the history and effects of removing children from their families. This shows that finally things will change for aboriginals and it shows that European descended people are understanding and apologetic PM Howard makes a personal apology to the Stolen Generations but refuses to make an official apology on behalf of Australia. -
2004: TJ Hickey killed - the Redfern Riot erupts
The 2004 Redfern riots took place on the evening of Saturday 14 February 2004, in the inner Sydney suburb of Redfern, New South Wales, sparked by the death of a young man named Thomas Hickey. His family believed he was chased by a police car and was impaled on his bike due to it. A rally/riot begun shortly after due to the erupting rage that aboriginals felt because his death was from Australia's disadvantages in society with incarceration. -
2008: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says 'Sorry' to the Stolen Generations.
The long-running event of the stolen generation has negatively affected the entire Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. Now that aboriginals were accepted and identified as an important part of Australia the apology was so important to their community because it shows them that Australia really was sorry for what we have done and it provides the steps towards healing for the Stolen Generations, their families and communities.
