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Period: to
Rights Protection in Australia
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Day of Mourn
This was a day to mourn the losses and injustices they endured over the 150 year period since the British had gained control of their land.
William Copper, Secretary of the Australian Aborigines League, William Ferguson, founder of the Aborigines Progressive Association and John Patten, its president, decided to bring Aboriginal people together in a Day of Mourning to protest on this day. -
Joe Lyons Meeting with an Aboriginal delegation
Joe lyons agreeed to meet with an Aboriginal delegation on this day. He listened to a 10-point plan outlining ways the federal government could achieve justice for Aboriginal people. -
Creation of U.N.
Creation of the U.N. - 51 nations joined. In the same year was the creation of the document - Human Rights and Freedoms. -
Universal Declaration of Human Rights wins vote
Evatt presided over the General Assemble session at which 48 members voted in favour of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. No-one voted against it. Respect for Evatt let to UN members voting for him to serve as third president of the General Assembly from 1948 - 1949 -
Right to Vote Federally
Commonwealth Electoral Act provided that Indigenous people should have the right to enrol and vote at federal elections, including Northern Territory elections, but enrolment was not compulsory. Despite this amendment, it was illegal under Commonwealth legislation to encourage Indigenous people to enrol to vote. Western Australia extended the State vote to Aboriginal people. Voter education for Aborigines began in the Northern Territory. 1 338 Aborigines enrolled to vote in Northern Territory el -
14 Day, 3200 kilometre Freedom Ride of NSW
Perkins led 28 others on a 14 day freedom ride of rural NSW. Their aim was to raise awareness of discrimination against Aboriginal people and try to redress it. They targeted towns such as Walgett, Moree and Kempsey, which had a reputation of being racist, including others with better records. -
Referndum
Australians vote in one of the most important referenda in the nation's history. It was important both for its subject matter - place of the Indigenous Australians within Australian scoiety - and for its results: 90.77 per cent of Australian voters voted "yes". Such a high 'yes' vote was remarkable in a country that other nations often judged to be racist and where voters were traditionally reluctant to change the status quo. -
The Aboriginal Land Rights Act (Northern Territory) 1976 (Cwlth)
Prime Minister Whitlam formally handed the Gurindji people at Daguragu the lease of part of their traditional lands. -
Council for Reconciliation Act Passed
The federal parliament passed the Council for Reconciliation Act in 1991. This identified reconciliation as a key goal in the period leading to the 2001 centenary of Australian Federation. The Act established the 20-member council for Aboriginal Reconciliation with representatives from Anoriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups as well as from industry, agriculture, the union movement, employers, the mdia and the major political parties. -
HREOC's "Bringing Them Home" report
This report on the 26th of May 1997 was tabeled in federal parliament. It summarised the rationale for the policy, its negative impact and the continuing feelings of grief and loss that individuals and communities experienced while trying to gain some sense of identity. HREOC found that forcibly removing children from their parents is illegal, went against human rights obligations and against a childs right to grow up with his or her family -
Charles Perkins dies
Charles Perkins dies of a Kidney Failure. The Federal government granted him a state funeral - an honour usually given only to those who have held significant government office -
The Apology
Labour party leader Kevin Rudd became Prime Minister of Australia on 3rd of December 2007. At 9 am on 13th February 2008, the second sitting day of the new parliament, he delivered an apology to the Stolen Generations. Seventeen representatives of the Stolen Generations and four former prime ministers sat listening to this within parliament.