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Lorna was taken to a church-run foster home and was later sexually abused. She never saw her mother again. Lorna Cubillo was one of 100,000 Aboriginal children who were removed from their families and put in foster homes or missions run by whites, The authorities wanted to: Cut children off from their culture, assimilate them into white society, and hopefully 'break' out the color as they later marry whites. working in the homes of whites, the girls were often little better than slaves.
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On 'Australia Day' 1938 a meeting was held in Sidney to circulate a document called "Aborigines Claim Citizen Rights" This declared the first time that the Aboriginal people had made a national protest. it was widely in the newspapers and many white Australians now started to take notice of their protest. -
The awareness of the indigenous Australians' second-class status became even more to the public as a result of WWII. Many Aborigines served in the armed forces and thousands moved to towns to work in the wartime industries. Many White Australians felt that if they could fight and die for their country then they deserved a fair go.
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Most aboriginal people were under the control of the Protection or Welfare boards, which decided everything. they were not paid for their labor and were virtually treated as slaves. they were not able to vote, and most talented Aboriginals couldn't represent their state or country. they were not regarded as citizens, and thousands of children were being taken away from their parents. -
After WWII white attitudes towards the first Australians began to change. During 1950s the Indigenous Australians were allowed to vote, drink in hotels, and travel without restrictions. by the early 1960s Aboriginal adults received pensions and maternity benefits. but inequalities remained in pay, voting, access to facilities, control of children, and land rights. -
a group led by Aboriginal activist Charles Perkins made a bus tour through New South Whales. They protested about the discrimination in the shops, theaters, bars, clubs, and swimming pools.
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After a 90% 'yes' vote the government gave Indigenous Australians the right to vote and be counted in the censuses, and ended the protection policies.
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The Embassy said that blacks were now going to get up and fight back on the issues of education, health, police victimization, and locking people up. Bobby Sykes, Aboriginal activist.
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A government commission recommended that Aboriginals should get back to the land they lived in and where they now lived and had traditionally lived
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However, this northern territory law only gave the indigenous people some areas of arid and largely useless land. Other lands were claimed and often thrown out by the courts.
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In May 2000 250,000 people walked across Sydney Harbor Bridge and up to 400,000 marched in Melbourne in December. Many marchers carried signs and banners critical of the prime minister's refusal to say 'Sorry' to Indigenous Australians for past wrongs.