-
federation is celebrated in 1901, with the six colonies becoming the Commonwealth of Australia.
-
-
In 1903, the Commonwealth Naturalisation Act excludes all non-Europeans from the right to apply for naturalisation, or from bringing spouses and children into the country.
-
In 1905 immigration recovers. State funds are allocated for advertising campaigns to attract British immigrants and schemes such as the Closer Settlement Scheme assist British immigration.
-
In 1910, the Victorian Aborigines Act extends the powers of the Board for the Protection of Aborigines to cover 'half-caste' as well as 'full-blood' Aborigines.
-
In 1914, the outbreak of the First World War brings immigration to a halt.
-
In 1920, the Commonwealth government assumes responsibility from the states for immigrant selection.
-
In 1922, the Scheme sees the British government assist migrants to come to Australia and settle on the land.
-
In 1924, a local businessman establishes the Big Brother Movement, one of numerous enterprises which organises for English schoolboys to live and work on Victorian farms.
-
In 1925, the Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association is formed, requesting full citizenship rights for Aborigines and land as compensation for dispossession.
-
In 1929, the Depression brings a halt to immigration assistance schemes.
-
In 1938, the government decides to accept 15,000 Jewish refugees from Nazism over three years; only 7,500 reach Australia before war breaks out.
-
In 1945, the first Commonwealth Immigration Department is established, with Arthur Calwell as its first minister.
-
In 1955, the number of post-war immigrants to Australia reaches one million.
-
A 1967 referendum overwhelmingly votes for Aboriginal people to be governed by Federal legislation and included in the Australian Census.
-
In 1975, the Racial Discrimination Act prohibits discrimination on the grounds of race, religion, colour, descent or ethnicity.
-
In 1985, the title of Uluru (Ayers Rock) National Park to traditional Aboriginal owners.
-
In 1997, the One Nation Party is founded on a platform opposed to multiculturalism, Asian immigration and Aboriginal land claims.
-
In May 2000, 250,000 people march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge to say 'sorry' to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for past injustices.
