Aboriginals

Aboriginal Rights 1901-2013

  • Federation

    Federation
    Aboriginal people are excluded from the vote, pensions, employment in post offices, enlistment in armed forces and maternity allowance.
  • The only recording of the tasmanian aboriginal language

    The only recording of the tasmanian aboriginal language
    Tasmanian Aboriginal woman Fanny Cochrane Smith is recorded singing in her native tongue, the first and only recording of Tasmania’s Aboriginal language.
  • Western Australia Act on Aboriginies

    Western Australia Act on Aboriginies
    Western Australia made an act that was passed. Which involved making the Chief Protector the legal guardian of every Aboriginal and ‘half-caste’ child under 16 years old. Reserves are established, a local protector is appointed and rules governing Aboriginal employment are laid down.
  • Aboriginal People fight in War

    Aboriginal People fight in War
    Aboriginal people serve in the war despite the Defence Act 1909 which prohibits any person not of ‘substantially European’ origin from serving. Aboriginal soldiers are among Australian troops at Gallipoli.
  • Aboriginal protection Board

    Aboriginal protection Board
    The NSW Aborigines Protection Board is given powers to remove Aboriginal children without a court hearing. This power is repealed in 1940, when the Board is renamed the Aborigines Welfare Board.
  • Aboriginal Life Span And Populatiion

    Aboriginal Life Span And Populatiion
    Aboriginal population is estimated to be at its lowest at 60,000 - 70,000. It is widely believed to be a ‘dying race’. Most Australians have no contact with Aboriginal people due to segregation and social conventions.
  • Aboriginal Brutality

    Aboriginal Brutality
    Aboriginals that were put into police custody were murdered and there were no tracks left
  • Sir William Cooper

    Sir William Cooper
    Aboriginal man William Cooper, in his 70s, leads a delegation of the Australian Aboriginal League to the German Consulate
  • Right to Enrol And Vote like Normal People

    Right to Enrol And Vote like Normal People
    Aboriginal people are given the right to enrol and vote at federal elections provided they are entitled to enrol for state elections or have served in the armed forces.
  • The Assimilation Policy

    The Assimilation Policy
    The federal government convenes the Australian Conference for Native Welfare, with all states and territories represented except Victoria and Tasmania, which claim to have no Aboriginal ‘problem’. The conference officially adopts a policy of ‘assimilation’ for Aboriginal people.
  • The Electoral Act

    The Electoral Act
    The Commonwealth Electoral Act is amended to give franchise to all Aboriginal people, extending the right to vote to Aboriginal people in Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory.
  • The 1967 Referendum

    The 1967 Referendum
    In the Commonwealth 1967 Referendum more than 90% vote to empower the Commonwealth to legislate for all Aboriginal people and open means for them to be counted in the census. Hopes fly high that constitutional discrimination will end. It also empowers the federal government to legislate for Aboriginal people in the states and share responsibility for Aboriginal affairs with state governments. All states except Queensland abandon laws and policies that discriminate against Aboriginal people.
  • Legal Service for Aborigines

    Legal Service for Aborigines
    NSW Aboriginal Legal Service is formed, followed by Aboriginal pre-school, Black Theatre and the Aboriginal Housing Company.
  • Aboriginal Health statistics

    Aboriginal Health statistics
    Health statistics show that 48 in every 1,000 Aboriginal babies in NT die before reaching 1 year of age. This compares to 1 baby in every 1000 in the white population. Of the 6000 Aboriginal children living in Sydney 4000 are underweight. Leprosy still occurs in the Aboriginal populations and alcohol is a serious problem.
  • The Aboriginal Child PLacement Principle

    The Aboriginal Child PLacement Principle
    The Aboriginal Child Placement Principle, developed principally due to the efforts of Aboriginal and Islander Child Care Agencies (AICCAs) during the 1970s, is incorporated in NT welfare legislation to ensure that Indigenous children are placed with Indigenous families when adoption or fostering is necessary. This is followed in NSW (1987), Victoria (1989), South Australia (1993), Queensland and the ACT (1999), Tasmania (2000) and Western Australia (2006).
  • Survival Day

    Survival Day
    Tens of thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people march through the streets of Sydney on Australia Day to celebrate their survival during the previous 200 years, while non-indigineous Australia commerates the bicentenary of their immigration. Aboriginal people rename the day to ‘Survival Day’.
  • Australia says Sorry

    Australia says Sorry
    One year after the Bringing Them Home report the first Sorry Day is marked by hundreds of activities around the country. The Australian federal government does not take part in ‘Sorry Day’, saying people who removed Aboriginal children thought they were doing the right thing and people now should not have to say sorry for what people did in the past. Over 1 million signatures in thousands of Sorry Books speak a different language.
  • The Council Of Australia's government

    The Council Of Australia's government
    Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting where state and federal heads announce they will contribute $806 million (federal) and $772 million (all states) into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health over the next four years, the biggest single injection of Indigenous health spending in decades.
  • Aboriginal Recognition Bill

    Aboriginal Recognition Bill
    The Australian Parliament passes with bi-partisan support the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Recognition Bill 2012 which recognises the unique and special place of Aboriginal people and sets out a review process to progress the route to a referendum.