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In 1606, the Dutch landed in Australia and were attacked by the Aborigines. They left and never settled there. -
In 1770, Captain James Cook sailed around Australia. He claimed is for Great Britian. He named it New South Wales. -
Britian could no longer use Georgia as a penal colony after the American Revolution, so they decided to send their prisoners to Australia instead.
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Port Arthur was the strictest prison in the British penal system. It is said that prisoners would commit murder, punishable by death to escape how awful the prison conditions were. They sent prisoners there from 1833-1850's. -
Non-prisoner colonization continued in Australia. There were 7 major colonies there. In 1861, government officials created boundaries to those colonies that still exist today. -
On January 1st, 1901 the Commonwealth of Australia was established -
In 1901, the immigration restriction act of 1901, made it illegal for non-white people to immigrate to Australia. This was reversed after WWII.
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From the beginning of the colonization of Australia, the Aboriginal people were killed, enslaved and separated from the rest of the colonists. Their land and resources were taken. During the 1900's, separation was an official government policy. Many Aboriginal people today do not know what the names of the ancestors are or what tribe they are from. -
In 1967, federal government began changing legislation to start helping the Aboriginal people. -
in 1986, all legal ties to the United Kingdom were severed. Today Australia is a parliamentary democracy with Queen Elisabeth II as queen.
