Indigenous Australian Population

1770- Arrival to Australia

1770

• Lieutenant James Cook raises the British Flag and claims the whole East Coast of Australia.
• Lieutenant Cook claimed that Australia was Terra Nullius.
• Aboriginals population was estimated to be 750,000
• Indigenous Australians had not rights to the land at all as they weren't acknowledged by the British.
• Aboriginals resisted the British but were punished

1804- Tasmania .

1804

Tasmania settlers are authorised to shoot Indigenous Australians

1834- Pinjara Massacre .

1834

Governor Stirling leads 25 armed police to Indigenous Australians. Records say that 14 people died. Pinjara suggests that a whole tribe was wiped out.

1843- Indigenous evidence

1843

Governor Gipps unsuccessfully tries to bring in legislation that would allow indigenous Australians to produce evidence in Court

1901- Constitution

1901

• Indigenous Australians were denied rights of the Commonwealth Constitution
• The constitution only mentions Aboriginals to exclude them form the census and from lawmaking/ voting.
• It wasn't until the 1967 Referendum Act where Aboriginals were included
• Aboriginals did not get benefits
• The constitution also stopped Aboriginals from being classed as 'people of Australia'

1915- Removing Children

1915

• Aborigines protection board is given power to remove Indigenous children from their families without a court haring or parental consent.
• It is estimated between the early 1900's and the late 1960's that 1 million children were effected
• Many children effected lost ties with their families and cultural heritage.
• The children were sent to boys and girls homes, churches and institutions where they were only given a number.
• They were taught under white law and rules.

1938- Day of Mourning

1938

To mark the 150th anniversary of NSW colonisation, Jack Patten, Jack Ferguson, William Cooper and Aboriginals supporters held a protest to allow them to gain citizenship rights. They sent there list of demands to the Government and were unsuccessful.

1940- Aborigines Welfare Board

1940

Aborigines Welfare Board replaces the Aborigines Protection Board. They try to make taking children from families more difficult however, taking children still occurred late in the 1960

1951- Assimilation

1951

Canberra officially adopts the policy of assimilation meaning that eventually all Aboriginal or mixed blood will live as white Australians do.

1966- Wave Hill Walk Off

1966

• The 200 Gurindji people that worked on the Wave Hill Station walked off due to unfair treatment and pay.
• The Gurindji people then protested for their land rights.
• The walk off lasted 9 years
• The outcome of the walk off was that the Gurindji people were given back their land by Prime Minister Whitlam in a special ceremony. Prime Minister Whitlam passed the dirt of the land through Vincent Lingari hand- symbolises the acknowledgement of the land.
• This protest inspired the Mabo case

1973- Population

1973

5th of April- figures showed that the Aboriginal population was 116,000 (however, these figures are not always accurate)

1992- Redfern Speech

1992

Prime Minister Keating's speech at Redfern Park acknowledged the wrongs done in the past to Aboriginals and his Speech is one of the most memorable/ important speeches in World History