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Indigenous rights
Victorian Board for the Protection of Aborigines is established -
Period: to
Indigenous Rights
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Protection
Aboriginal Protection and restriction of the sale of opium Act. -
Westen Australian rights
The Western Australia Aborigines Act is passed. Under this law, the Chief Protector is made 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. -
South Australian Aborigines Act
The South Australian Aborigines Act makes the Chief Protector the legal guardian of every Aboriginal and ‘half-caste’ child under 21 years old. The Chief Protector also has control of where the child lives. The Chief Protector is replaced by the Aborigines Protection Board in 1939 and guardianship power is repealed in 1962. -
Federal government passes the Northern Territory Aboriginals Ordinance.
Federal government passes the Northern Territory Aboriginals Ordinance. The Chief Protector is made the legal guardian of every Aboriginal and ‘half-caste’ child under 18 years old. Any Aboriginal person can be forced onto a mission or settlement, and children can be removed by force. -
NSW Aborigines Protection
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 This power is repealed in 1940, when the Board is renamed the Aborigines Welfare Board. -
Over 600 people removed
Going Home Conference in Darwin. Over 600 people removed as children, from every state and territory met to share experiences, and expose the history of the removal of Aboriginal children from their families and the effects of this policy on Aboriginal people. -
he National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
11 May: The National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families is established to examine the effects of separation, identify what should be done in response, find justification for any compensation and look at the laws of that time affecting child separation.
The inquiry held hearings in all states between December 1995 and October 1996 and received 777 submissions, 69% of those from Indigenous people, 6% from churches and 1% from governmen -
Publication of the Report Into the Separation
26 May: Publication of the Report Into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families, more commonly known as the Bringing Them Home Report. An abbreviated version is called ‘Bringing them Home - Community Guide’. The inquiry made 54 recommendations, e.g. reparations and an apology to Aboriginal peoples. -
Australians for Native Title
January: Australians for Native Title (ANT) launches the Sorry Books campaign where Australians can sign who want to do something in response to the federal government’s refusal to make a formal apology to the Stolen Generations. -
Federal Parliament issues a statement
26 August: Federal Parliament issues a statement of deep and sincere regret over the forced removal of Aboriginal children from their families. -
Australia appears before the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Australia appears before the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The Committee criticises the Commonwealth Government’s inadequate response to recommendations of the Bringing Them Home Report: -
The government denies that a ‘Stolen Generation’ exists
April 4: The government denies that a ‘Stolen Generation’ exists in a submission to the Senate inquiry on compensation for children forcibly removed. -
The British Concise Oxford Dictionary includes the phrase ‘stolen generation’ in its latest edition.
July: The British Concise Oxford Dictionary includes the phrase ‘stolen generation’ in its latest edition. The term is defined as: “Noun. Australian. The aboriginal people forcibly removed from their families as children between the 1900s and the 1960s, to be brought up by white foster families or in institutions.”
November: Pope John Paul II issues a formal apology on behalf of the Vatican to the affected Aboriginal families for the actions of any and all Catholic authorities or organisations i -
Interest Advocacy Centre
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) releases Restoring Identity - the follow up report to the Moving Forward Conference. The report presents a proposal for a reparations tribunal. -
The Ministerial Council for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
The Ministerial Council for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs (MCATSIA) commissions and releases an independent evaluation of government and non-government responses to the Bringing Them Home Report. -
The Commonwealth Government
The Commonwealth Government establishes a memorial to the Stolen Generations at Reconciliation Place in Canberra. -
The organisation Stolen Generations Victoria
The organisation Stolen Generations Victoria is set up as a result of the 2003 report of the Stolen Generations taskforce. Its purpose is to establish a range of support and referral services that will assist Stolen Generation peoples to reconnect with their family, community, culture and land. -
The first Stolen Generations compensation scheme in Australia
The first Stolen Generations compensation scheme in Australia is set up in Tasmania by the Stolen Generations of Aboriginal Children Act 2006 (Tas). The Tasmanian government allocated $5 million to Aboriginal people who qualified for the compensation package. -
In a landmark court case a member of the Stolen Generations has been awarded $525,000
Aug 1: In a landmark court case a member of the Stolen Generations has been awarded $525,000 in compensation by a South Australian court for a liftetime of sorrow and pain [2]. Bruce Trevorrow was taken from his father aged 13 months. He was given to a white family where he grew up until he was ten, unaware of his Aboriginality. He then saw his mother again, but at this stage was a rebellious boy not belonging to either culture.