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Aboriginals Meet Europeans
Earliest recorded contact between Aboriginal people and Europeans by crew of the Dutch ship Dwyflken under Captain Willem Jansz. During the 1600s part of the Australian coast became known to the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, Brititish and French. -
Captain Cook & 'terra nullius'
1770 Captain Cook lands in Botany Bay, home of the Eora people, and claims possession of the East Coast of Australia for Britain under the doctrine of 'terra nullius'. This means that the British declare the land as uninhabited and can claim ownership. -
First Fleet Diversity of people | Smallpox outbreak
Colony of Port Jackson is established in 1788 and transportation of convicts begins. Some 60 nationalities, ethnic backgrounds and religions are recorded among First Fleet.1789 Outbreak of smallpox introduced by the British leads to the devastation of the Aboriginal population in the Sydney area and later in other areas -
Conflict & colonisation | Aboriginal Resistance
Aboriginal people resist the occupation of their land and the process of colonisation. Pemulwuy leads a campaign of resistance to British settlers on the land of the Darug people.
Governor Macquarie orders punitive campaigns against Aboriginal people living around Sydney - the Darug, Tharawal and Gundangarra. Many Aboriginal people are killed and nations destroyed. A number of massacres of Aboriginal people are recorded over the years as the colony expands. -
Van Dieman's Land
1804: Settlers in Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania) are authorised to shoot Aboriginal people -
Aboriginal missions | School for Aboriginal children established
Aboriginal people begin to be moved onto mission stations where they can be taught European beliefs and used as cheap labour. A policy of absorption of the Aboriginal population is adopted whereby it is hoped that the reproduction of Aboriginal peoples can be controlled.Governor Macquarie establishes the 'Native Institution' - a school for Aboriginal children at Parramatta. The school closes in 1820 when families withdraw their children. -
Different Religions
Different religious groups start to establish their presence. Jewish convicts found the Chevra Kadisha burial society; the first Russian Orthodox religious services are held; the first officially recognised Catholic priests establish the Catholic church in Australia; the first Methodist Church service is held in Van Dieman's Land. -
Conflict and killing of Aboriginal people, Bathurst
Conflict between European settlers and Aboriginal people escalates. Over 100 Aboriginal people are killed in massacre at Bathurst, New South Wales and martial law is declared. -
Assisted migration | Merthyr Tydfil riot leaders arrive in Sydney
Demand for labour cannot be met through convict system so assisted migration begins with 'Emigration Commissioners' appointed in England.
Indentured labourers from Asia, mainly Chinese and Indian, as well as South Sea Islanders begin to arrive.Merthyr Tydfil riot leaders from Wales arrive in Sydney -
British Law | Pinjarra massacre
Colonies are established based on British law and practices. No treaties are made with the original owners of the land. Aboriginal people in Tasmania are forcibly removed and settled on Flinders Island. The living conditions lead to many deaths. Later the community is moved to Cape Barren Island.Pinjarra massacre, Western Australia. Governor Stirling leads mounted police against Aboriginal people and a large number are killed. -
German settlers
British migrants arrive to settle in other mainland locations, including Kangaroo Island, South Australia. German refugee settlers make up 10% of South Australian colony's population within three years of its founding -
Protector of Aborigines | Aboriginal massacre, Gravesend
In London, a Parliamentary Select Committee examines the treatment of Indigenous peoples in all British colonies and reports that genocide is occurring in the Antipodes. It recommends the appointment of a Protector of Aborigines.
The policy of protection for Aboriginal people marks the beginning of involvement of the Catholic Church in missionary work and the establishment of schools for Aboriginal children.
Massacre of Aboriginal people occurs at Gravesend, New South Wales with over 200 killed. -
Myall Creek massacre | Punitive expedition, NSW | German settler arive in SA
Myall Creek massacre in New South Wales - near Inverell, 28 Aboriginal people are killed by settlers, 7 of whom are later hanged. It is the first massacre of Aboriginal people in Australian history where the offenders are punished by law.
Punitive expedition is led against Aboriginal people in Namoi, Gwydir and Big Rivers areas of New South Wales.
German settlers, members of Old Lutheran church fleeing religious persecution in Prussia, begin to arrive in South Australia. -
Canadian exiles | First full-time ethnic schools established
Canadian exiles are transported to New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania) for their part in rebellions of 1837 - 1838.
First full-time ethnic schools in Australia are established by German settlers in South Australia. -
Chinese, Italian, Greek, German migration | Aboriginal massacre | Convict transportation | Assisted Migration
Chinese, Italian and Greek migration begins. German missionaries arrive in South Australia.
Massacre of Aboriginal people occurs at Long Lagoon where the entire community is killed.
Transportation of convicts to New South Wales ends. The last convict transport, The Eden, arrives in Sydney.
Depression in Australian colonies leads to a halt in assisted migration. -
Aboriginal massacre, Rufus River | Caroline Chisholm
Massacre of Aboriginal people occurs at Rufus River with 30 dead.
Caroline Chisholm founds Female Immigrants' Home in Sydney -
Immigration restriction & Racial violence
Victoria passes the first anti-Chinese restriction legislation, imposing a 10 pound poll tax on Chinese arriving in Victoria. -
Torres Strait Islands - European settlement | Pacific Islanders
Government station is established at Somerset, on tip of Cape York peninsula, marking beginning of the impact of European settlement on Torres Strait Islands. Missionary settlement follows, bringing disease and disruption to traditional lifestyles.
Labourers from Pacific Islands are brought to Queensland to work on cotton plantations, marking the beginning of large-scale immigration of South Sea Islanders. -
Truganini dies
Truganini, believed to be the last surviving tribal Tasmanian Aborigine, dies in Hobart -
NSW Aborigines Protecion Board
Truganini, believed to be the last surviving tribal Tasmanian Aborigine, dies in Hobart -
Aboriginal Reserves
Queensland Aboriginal Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act allows the Chief Protector to remove Aboriginal people onto and between reserves and hold children in dormitories. From 1939 until 1971 this power is held by the Director of Native Welfare; the Director is the legal guardian of all Aboriginal children, whether or not their parents are living, until 1965. The legislation is subsequently imitated by South Australia and the Northern Territory -
Aboriginal people denied citizenship
The Constitution denies citizenship, franchise and the right to military duty to Aboriginal People, Asians and Africans. Indigenous people are not included in any census nor regarded as citizens, thus excluding them from civil liberties like Commonwealth voting rights, unless, as in South Australia, they already have the vote in State elections. In Queensland and Western Australia Indigenous people are specifically excluded. -
Vic Aborigines Act | Dreadnought boys
Victorian Aborigines Act extends powers of the Board for the Protection of Aborigines to 'half-castes' as well as 'full blooded' Aboriginal people.
New South Wales devotes half the funds from the Dreadnought Trust to the immigration of British boys aged 15 to 18. Between 1911 and 1914, 1,787 'Dreadnought boys' arrive. -
Depression | 1st Russian orthodox church
Due to the Depression, assisted migration scheme is terminated by Commonwealth government, leading to a sharp decline in immigration.
First Russian Orthodox Church is built in Brisbane. -
Aborigines Act
Under the Aborigines Act, Aboriginal people can apply to 'cease being Aboriginal' and have access to the same rights as 'whites
