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The Stolen Generation
The Aborigines Protection Board Act is passed, giving the Board ‘legal’ control over Aboriginal people on stations and reserves but not missions, in the Northern Territory. -
Day of Mourning
The Day of Mourning was a protest held by Aboriginal Australians on 26 January 1938, the 150th anniversary of British colonisation of Australia. -
Cummeragunja walk-off
the first-ever mass strike of Aboriginal people in Australia occurs, called the Cummeragunja Walk-off. Over 150 Aboriginal people pack-up and leave Cummeragunja Aboriginal Station in protest at the cruel treatment and exploitation of residents by the management. They walk 66kms and cross the border from New South Wales into Victoria in contravention of the rules of the New South Wales Protection Board. The opera Pecan Summer tells the story of the walk-off. -
Policy of assimilation - after WW2
In 1937, the Commonwealth Government held a national conference on Aboriginal affairs which agreed that Aboriginal people ‘not of full blood’ should be absorbed or ‘assimilated’ into the wider population. The aim of assimilation was to make the ‘Aboriginal problem’ gradually disappear so that Aboriginal people would lose their identity in the wider community. -
Pilbara strike
Pilbara strike was a landmark strike by Indigenous Australian pastoral workers in the Pilbara region of Western Australia for human rights recognition and payment of fair wages and working conditions. The strike involved at least 800 Aboriginal pastoral workers walking off the large Pastoral Stations in the Pilbara on 1 May 1946, and from employment in the two major towns of Port Hedland and Marble Bar. -
Electoral act amendment
The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1962 (Cwlth) entitles all Indigenous Australians to enrol and vote in Commonwealth elections. -
begging of land rights movement - Yirrkala petition
The Yolngu people of Yirrkala in Australia’s Northern Territory sent a bark petition to the House of Representatives to protest against mining on the Gove Peninsula. 28 August the petition is presented to the Governor General William De L’Isle. Although it is signed by more senior clan members, the federal government fails to recognise Aboriginal political structure and rejects the petition because of insufficient signatures. -
Freedom Rides and legacy of it.
Integration policy is introduced, supposedly to give Aboriginal people more control over their lives and society. 12 - 26 February Charles Perkins leads a freedom ride by Aboriginal people and students through north-western New South Wales in support of Aboriginal rights. The ride demonstrates the extent of discrimination against Aboriginal people in country towns, including refusal of service in shops and segregated cinemas, swimming pools, hotels and clubs. -
Wave Hill cattle station strike - Gurindji people.
Stockmen and women walk off Wave Hill cattle station owned by British aristocrat Lord Vestey, in protest against intolerable working conditions and inadequate wages. They establish a camp at Watti Creek and demand the return of some of their traditional lands. This begins a seven-year fight by the Gurindji people to obtain title to their land. -
referendum
In the Commonwealth 1967 Referendum more than 90% vote to empower the Commonwealth to legislate for all Aboriginal people and open means for them to be counted in the census. Hopes fly high that constitutional discrimination will end. It also empowers the federal government to legislate for Aboriginal people in the states and share responsibility for Aboriginal affairs with state governments. All states except Queensland abandon laws and policies that discriminate against Aboriginal people. -
Land rights - Mabo ( reversal of Terra Nullius) - wik
The High Court of Australia hands down its landmark decision in Mabo v Queensland. It rules that native title exists over particular kinds of lands - unalienated Crown lands, national parks and reserves - and that Australia was never terra nullius or empty land. -
Road to reconciliation - redfern speech
Labor Prime Minister Paul Keating’s Redfern speech at the launch of the International Year of the Indigenous People acknowledges past wrongs perpetrated against Aboriginal people. -
Bringing them home report
The inquiry was established by the federal Attorney-General, Michael Lavarch, on 11 May 1995, in response to efforts made by key Indigenous agencies and communities concerned that the general public's ignorance of the history of forcible removal was hindering the recognition of the needs of its victims and their families and the provision of services. -
Kevin Rudd's apology to the stolen Generation.
The Australian Parliament apologises to the Stolen Generations. Both the government and the opposition support the apology and say ‘sorry’ to Aboriginal people who were taken away from their families from 1900 to the 1970s. -
References # 1
Aboriginal culture. 2017. Aboriginal history timeline (1970 - 1999). [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/history/aboriginal-history-timeline-1970-1999. [Accessed 27 September 2017].
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Skwirk online education. 2017. Australia after World war II. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.skwirk.com/p-c_s-56_u-490_t-1332_c-5119/tas/sose-history/australia-after-1945/after-world-war-ii/australia-after-world-war-ii. [Accessed 27 September 2017]. -
References # 2
Skwirk online education. 2017. The road to reconcilitation. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.skwirk.com/p-c_s-14_u-120_t-332_c-1143/the-road-to-reconciliation/nsw/the-road-to-reconciliation/changing-rights-and-freedoms-aboriginal-people/-reconciliation [Accessed 27 September 2017]
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creative Spirits. 2017. Aboriginal history timeline (2000 - 2010). [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/history/aboriginal-history-timeline-2000-2010 [Accessed 27 September 2017]