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40,000 BCE
The first Aborigines arrive from south-east Asia.
By 20,000 BC they have spread throughout the mainland and Tasmania. -
Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon is believed to be the first European to land, see and map Australian soil.
In 1606, Janszoon arrived on the West coast of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland. On his second voyage in 1618, he reportedly landed on the Western Australian coast, two years after Dirk Hartog made landfall on the island that now bears his name. -
Captain James Cook claims it as a British possession and names eastern Australia "New South Wales".
Captain James Cook charts the east coast in his ship HM Endeavour -
British Navy captain Arthur Phillip founds a penal settlement at Sydney.
He had arrived with a fleet of 11 vessels, carrying nearly 800 convicts. The Aboriginal population at the time is thought to number several hundred thousand. The event marked the start of British settlement, and we now commemorate it as Australia Day. It is also referred to as Invasion Day by some, including Indigenous Australians. -
Colony of Western Australia established at Perth by Captain James Stirling.
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South Australia established, with Adelaide as its capital.
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Gold Rush
The discovery of gold in Victoria in 1851 revolutionised Australia as an influx of migrants arrived, and the wealth of the nation increased dramatically. At its peak, two tonnes of gold poured into Melbourne’s Treasury Building each week. Convict colonies were transformed into modern cities, and Australia’s multicultural identity began to take root. -
Federation of Australia
On 1st January 1901, the Constitution of Australia was put into effect and united the British colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia as the collective states of the Commonwealth of Australia. Eight months later, the first Australian flag was hoisted above Parliament. -
Australian Woman Suffrage
Before the Federation, only women in South Australia and Western Australia had the right to vote, but the Women’s suffrage movement led parliament to pass the Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902, which enabled Australian women older than 21 to vote in national elections and stand for the Australian Parliament. It was one of the earliest gender equality movements in Australia. -
Port Arthur Massacre
A lone gunman killed 35 people and injured 23 more at the Port Arthur Historic Site in Tasmania. It was the deadliest shooting rampage in Australian history, and in response, the government introduced tight gun control laws that are among the strictest in the world.
