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ATSI(Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders)

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ATSI(Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders)

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Australian Aborigines - Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians are the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia, descended from groups that existed in Australia and surrounding islands prior to European colonization. The earliest definite human remains found in Australia are those of Mungo Man, which have been dated at about 40,000 years old, although the time of arrival of the first Indigenous Australians is a matter of debate among researchers, with estimates including thermoluminescence dating to between 61,000 and 52,000 years ago, as well as a suggestion of up to 125,000 years ago.

There is great diversity among different Indigenous communities and societies in Australia, each with its own mixture of cultures, customs and languages. In present-day Australia these groups are further divided into local communities. At the time of initial European settlement, over 250 languages were spoken; it is currently estimated that 120 to 145 of these remain in use, but only 13 of these are not considered endangered.

Aboriginal people today mostly speak English, with Aboriginal phrases and words being added to create Australian Aboriginal English (which also has a tangible influence of Indigenous languages in the phonology and grammatical structure). The population of Indigenous Australians at the time of permanent European settlement has been estimated at between 318,000 and 1,000,000 with the distribution being similar to that of the current Australian population, with the majority living in the south-east, centered along the Murray River.

Since 1995, the Australian Aboriginal Flag and the Torres Strait Islander Flag have been among the official flags of Australia.

Indigenous Australians teach us that reality is a dream or illusion. Within Aboriginal belief systems, a formative epoch known as the Dreamtime stretches back into the distant past when the creator ancestors known as the First Peoples traveled across the land, creating and naming as they went. Indigenous Australia's oral tradition and religious values are based upon reverence for the land and a belief in this Dreamtime.

The Dreaming is at once both the ancient time of creation and the present-day reality of Dreaming. There were a great many different groups, each with its own individual culture, belief structure, and language. These cultures overlapped to a greater or lesser extent, and evolved over time. Major ancestral spirits include the Rainbow Serpent, Baiame, Dirawong and Bunjil.

Traditional healers (known as Ngangkari in the Western desert areas of Central Australia) were highly respected men and women who not only acted as healers or doctors, but were generally also custodians of important Dreamtime stories.

Articles in the News

Could this legend be about a UFO and coincide with Ancient Alien Theory?

Aboriginal legends reveal ancient secrets to science BBC - May 19, 2015
Scientists are beginning to tap into a wellspring of knowledge buried in the ancient stories of Australia's Aboriginal peoples. But the loss of indigenous languages could mean it is too late to learn from them. The Luritja people, native to the remote deserts of central Australia, once told stories about a fire devil coming down from the Sun, crashing into Earth and killing everything in the vicinity. The local people feared if they strayed too close to this land they might reignite some otherworldly creature. The legend describes the crash landing of a meteor in Australia's Central Desert about 4,700 years ago, says University of New South Wales (UNSW) astrophysicist Duane Hamacher. It would have been a dramatic and fiery event, with the meteor blazing across the sky. As it broke apart, large fragments of metal-rich rock would have crashed to Earth with explosive force, creating a dozen giant craters.

Current scientific discoveries seem to verify Aboriginal legends passed down for millennia. Ancient cave art also suggests that ancient Aboriginals understood much about the heavens and perhaps ancient alien visitors (see Wondjina Figures below)

Aboriginal legends an untapped record of natural history written in the stars PhysOrg - March 3, 2015
Aboriginal legends could offer a vast untapped record of natural history, including meteorite strikes, stretching back thousands of years, according to new UNSW research. Dr Duane Hamacher from the UNSW Indigenous Astronomy Group has uncovered evidence linking Aboriginal stories about meteor events with impact craters dating back some 4,700 years. Dr Hamacher, an astrophysicist studying Indigenous astronomy, examined meteorite accounts from Aboriginal communities across Australia to determine if they were linked to known meteoritic events. One of the meteorite strikes, at a place called Henbury in the Northern Territory, occurred around 4,700 years ago. The level of detail contained in the local oral traditions suggested the Henbury event had been witnessed and its legend passed down through generations over thousands of years - a remarkable record.

Overview

The history of Indigenous Australians is thought to have spanned 40,000 to 45,000 years, although some estimates have put the figure at up to 80 000 years before European settlement and as low as 10,000 years. For most of this time, the Indigenous Australians lived as nomads and as hunter-gatherers with a strong dependence on the land and their agriculture for survival.

The path of Australian Aboriginal history changed radically after the 18th- and 19th-century settlement of the British: Indigenous people were displaced from their ways of life, were forced to submit to European rule, and were later encouraged to assimilate into Western culture. Since the 1960s, reconciliation has been the pursuit of European Australian - Indigenous Australian relations.

There are several hundred Indigenous peoples of Australia, many are groupings that existed before the British annexation of Australia in 1788. Before Europeans, the number was over 400.

Indigenous or groups will generally talk of their "people" and their "country". These countries are ethnographic areas, usually the size of an average European country, with around two hundred on the Australian continent at the time of White arrival.

Within each country, people lived in clan groups - extended families defined by the various forms Australian Aboriginal kinship. Inter-clan contact was common, as was inter-country contact, but there were strict protocols around this contact.

The largest Aboriginal people today is the Pitjantjatjara who live in the area around Uluru (Ayers Rock) and south into the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara in South Australia, while the second largest Aboriginal community are the Arrernte people who live in and around Alice Springs. The third largest are the Luritja, who live in the lands between the two largest just mentioned. The Aboriginal languages with the largest number of speakers today are the Pitjantjatjara, Warlpiri and Arrernte.

Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands, and these peoples' descendants. Indigenous Australians are distinguished as either Aboriginal people or Torres Strait Islanders, who currently together make up about 2.6% of Australia's population.

The Torres Strait Islanders are indigenous to the Torres Strait Islands which are at the northern-most tip of Queensland near Papua New Guinea. The term "Aboriginal" has traditionally been applied to indigenous inhabitants of mainland Australia, Tasmania, and some of the other adjacent islands. The use of the term is becoming less common, with names preferred by the various groups becoming more common.

There is great diversity between different Indigenous communities and societies in Australia, each with its own unique mixture of cultures, customs and languages. In present day Australia these groups are further divided into local communities.

The population of Indigenous Australians at the time of permanent European settlement has been estimated at between 318,000 and 750,000, with the distribution being similar to that of the current Australian population, with the majority living in the south-east, centered along the Murray River.

Though Indigenous Australians are seen as being broadly related, there are significant differences in social, cultural and linguistic customs between the various Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups.

Mungo Man, whose remains were discovered in 1974 near Lake Mungo in New South Wales, is the oldest human yet found in Australia. Although the exact age of Mungo Man is in dispute, the best consensus is that he is at least 40,000 years old. Stone tools also found at Lake Mungo have been estimated, based on stratigraphic association, to be about 50,000 years old. Since Lake Mungo is in south-eastern Australia, many archaeologists have concluded that humans must have arrived in north-west Australia at least several thousand years earlier.

History

There is no clear or accepted origin of the indigenous people of Australia. Although they migrated to Australia through Southeast Asia they are not demonstrably related to any known Asian or Polynesian population. There is evidence of genetic and linguistic interchange between Australians in the far north and the Austronesian peoples of modern-day New Guinea and the islands, but this may be the result of recent trade and intermarriage.

It is believed that first human migration to Australia was achieved when this landmass formed part of the Sahul continent, connected to the island of New Guinea via a land bridge. It is also possible that people came by boat across the Timor Sea. The exact timing of the arrival of the ancestors of the Indigenous Australians has been a matter of dispute among archaeologists. The most generally accepted date for first arrival is between 40,000-80,000 years BP.

In 1971 finds of Aboriginal stone tools in a quarry in Penrith in New South Wales were dated to 47,000 years BP. A 48,000 BCE date is based on a few sites in northern Australia dated using thermoluminescence. A large number of sites have been radiocarbon dated to around 38,000 BCE, leading some researchers to doubt the accuracy of the thermoluminescence technique. Radiocarbon dating is limited to a maximum age of around 40,000 years. Some estimates have been given as widely as from 30,000 to 68,000 BCE. Earlier dates are requiring new techniques such as optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS), and the evidence for an earlier date for arrival is growing. Charles Dortch has dated recent finds on Rottnest Island, Western Australia at 70,000 years BP.

The rock shelters at Malakunanja II (a shallow rock-shelter about 50 kilometres inland from the present coast) and of Nauwalabila I (70 kilometers further south) show evidence of used pieces of ochre - evidence for paint used by artists 60,000 years ago. Using OSL Rhys Jones has obtained a date for stone tools in these horizons dating from 53,000-60,000 years ago.

Thermoluminescence dating of the Jinmium site in the Northern Territory suggested a date of 200,000 BCE. Although this result received wide press coverage, it is not accepted by most archaeologists. Only Africa has older physical evidence of habitation by modern humans. There is also evidence of a change in fire regimes in Australia, drawn from reef deposits in Queensland, between 70 and 100,000 years ago, and the integration of human genomic evidence from various parts of the world also supports a date of before 60,000 years for the arrival of Australian Aboriginal people in the continent.

Humans reached Tasmania approximately 40,000 years ago by migrating across a land bridge from the mainland that existed during the last ice age. After the seas rose about 12,000 years ago and covered the land bridge, the inhabitants there were isolated from the mainland until the arrival of European settlers.

Short statured aboriginal tribes inhabited the rainforests of North Queensland, of which the best known group is probably the Tjapukai of the Cairns area. These rainforest people, collectively referred to as Barrineans, were once considered to be a relict of an earlier wave of Negrito migration to the Australian continent, but this theory no longer finds much favor.

There has been a long history of contact between Papuan peoples of the Western Province, Torres Strait Islanders and the Aboriginal people in Cape York. The introduction of the dingo, possibly as early as 3,500 BCE, showed that contact with South East Asian peoples continued, as the closest genetic connection to the dingo seems to be the wild dogs of Thailand. This contact was not just one way, as the presence of kangaroo ticks on these dogs demonstrates. Dingoes began and evolved in Asia. The earliest known dingo-like fossils are from Ban Chiang in north-east Thailand (dated at 5,500 years BP) and from north Vietnam (5,000 years BP). According to skull morphology, these fossils occupy a place between Asian wolves (prime candidates were the pale footed (or Indian) wolf Canis lupus pallipes and the Arabian wolf Canis lupus arabs) and modern dingoes in Australia and Thailand.

Similarly Aboriginal people also seem to have lived a long time in the same environment as the now extinct Australian megafauna, stories of which are preserved in the oral culture of many Aboriginal groups. The recent European scientific belief that it was the arrival of the Australian Aboriginal people on the continent, and their introduction of fire-stick farming, that was responsible for these extinctions is contested by Aboriginal people themselves, and others who argue that mass extinctions of Australian megafauna occurred only 20,000 years ago, with the Ice Age Maxima, during which times much if not most of the continent was reduced to desert and sand-dune conditions.

There is evidence that there may have been a significant reduction in Australian Aboriginal populations during this time, and there would seem to have been specific "refugia", in which Aboriginal populations during this time were confined. Corridors between these areas seem to be routes by which people kept in contact, and they seem to have been the basis of what have been called "Songlines" to the present day.

Songlines, also called Dreaming tracks by Indigenous Australians within the animist indigenous belief system, are paths across the land (or, sometimes the sky) which mark the route followed by localized 'creator-beings' during the Dreaming. The paths of the songlines are recorded in traditional songs, stories, dance, and painting.
A knowledgeable person is able to navigate across the land by repeating the words of the song, which describe the location of landmarks, waterholes, and other natural phenomena. In some cases, the paths of the creator-beings are said to be evident from their marks, or petrosomatoglyphs, on the land, such as large depressions in the land which are said to be their footprints.

By singing the songs in the appropriate sequence, Indigenous people could navigate vast distances, often traveling through the deserts of Australia's interior. The continent of Australia contains an extensive system of songlines, some of which are of a few kilometres, whilst others traverse hundreds of kilometres through lands of many different Indigenous peoples - peoples who may speak markedly different languages and have different cultural traditions.

Since a songline can span the lands of several different language groups, different parts of the song are said to be in those different languages. Languages are not a barrier because the melodic contour of the song describes the nature of the land over which the song passes. The rhythm is what is crucial to understanding the song. Listening to the song of the land is the same as walking on this songline and observing the land.

In some cases, a songline has a particular direction, and walking the wrong way along a songline may be a sacrilegious act (e.g. climbing up Uluru where the correct direction is down). Traditional Aboriginal people regard all land as sacred, and the songs must be continually sung to keep the land "alive".

Molyneaux & Vitebsky note that the Dreaming Spirits "also deposited the spirits of unborn children and determined the forms of human society," thereby establishing tribal law and totemic paradigms.

Following the Ice Age, Aboriginal people around the coast, from Arnhem Land, the Kimberley and the south west of Western Australia, all tell stories of former territories that were drowned beneath the sea with the rising coastlines after the Ice Age. It was this event that isolated the Tasmanian Aboriginal people on their island, and probably led to the extinction of Aboriginal cultures on the Bass Strait Islands and Kangaroo Island in South Australia. In the interior, the end of the Ice Age may have led to the recolonization of the desert and semi-desert areas by Aboriginal people of the Northern Territory. This may have been in part responsible for the spread of languages of the PamaNyungan language phylum, and secondarily responsible for the spread of male initiation rites involving circumcision.

Indigenous Australians were limited to the range of foods occurring naturally in their area, but they knew exactly when, where and how to find everything edible. Anthropologists and nutrition experts who studied the tribal diet in Arnhem Land found it to be well-balanced, with most of the nutrients modern dietitians recommend. But food was not obtained without effort. In some areas both men and women had to spend from half to two-thirds of each day hunting or foraging for food. Each day the women of the horde went into successive parts of one countryside, with wooden digging sticks and plaited dilly bags or wooden coolamons.

They dug yams and edible roots and collected fruits, berries, seeds, vegetables and insects. They killed lizards, bandicoots and other small creatures with digging sticks. The men went hunting. Small game such as birds, possums, lizards and snakes were often taken by hand. Larger animals and birds such as kangaroos and emus were speared or disabled with a thrown club, boomerang, or stone. Many indigenous devices were used to get within striking distance of prey. The men were excellent trackers and stalkers and approached their prey running where there was cover, or 'freezing' and crawling in the open. They were careful to stay downwind, and sometimes covered themselves with mud to disguise their smell.

Frequently disguises were used. Mud also served as camouflage, or the hunter held a bush in front of him while stalking in the open. He glided through water with a bunch of rushes or a lily-leaf over his head until he was close enough to pull down a water-bird. He prepared 'hides' and, with bait or bird calls, lured birds to within grabbing distance. He attracted emus, which are inquisitive birds, by imitating their movements with a stick and a bunch of feathers or some other simple device. Likewise, it was common to use the pelts of animals as a disguise, and imitate them in order to get within striking range of their herd.

Fish were sometimes taken by hand by stirring up the muddy bottom of a pool until they rose to the surface, or by placing the crushed leaves of poisonous plants in the water to stupefy them. Fish spears, nets, wicker or stone traps were also used in different areas. Lines with hooks made from bone, shell, wood or spines were used along the north and east coasts. Dugong, turtle and large fish were harpooned, the harpooner launching himself bodily from the canoe to give added weight to the thrust.

Hunting was frequently organized on co-operative lines. Groups of men combined to drive animals into a line of spearsmen, a brush-fence, or large nets. Sometimes a U-shaped area was fenced and the trapped animals killed. Animals were also trapped in snares, pits, and partly enclosed water-holes. there was a fairly clear division of labour between the sexes in food-collecting, but this was not rigidly maintained.

The main concern was to get food. Hunting was arduous, and the men often had to walk, run, or crawl long distances. In poor country the men often returned empty-handed but the women invariably collected something - perhaps only a few roots and tiny lizards - but sufficient to tide the family over. Inland, the quest for water was a life and death matter. Indigenous Australians survived where others would perish. they knew all the water holes and soaks in their area. They drained dew, and obtained water from certain trees and roots. They even dug up and squeezed out frogs which store water in their bodies.

Before British Arrival

At the time of first European contact, it is estimated that between 315,000 and 750,000 people lived in Australia, with upper estimates being as high as 1.25 million. Population levels are likely to have been largely stable for many thousands of years, and it has been estimated that between 1 and 5 billion people had lived in Australia before British colonization.

The regions of heaviest indigenous population were the same temperate coastal regions that are currently the most heavily populated. The greatest population density was to be found in the southern and eastern regions of the continent, the Murray River valley in particular. However, indigenous Australians maintained successful communities throughout Australia, from the cold and wet highlands of Tasmania to the more arid parts of the continental interior. In all instances, technologies, diets and hunting practices varied according to the local environment.

Post-colonisation, the coastal indigenous populations were soon absorbed, depleted or forced from their lands; the traditional aspects of Aboriginal life which remained persisted most strongly in areas such as the Great Sandy Desert where European settlement has been sparse.

The mode of life and material cultures varied greatly from region to region. While Torres Strait Island populations were agriculturalists who supplemented their diet through the acquisition of wild foods, most Indigenous Australians were hunter-gatherers. Indigenous Australians along the coast and rivers were also expert fishermen. Some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people relied on the dingo as a companion animal, using it to assist with hunting and for warmth on cold nights.

Some writers have described some mainland indigenous food and landscape management practices as "incipient agriculture". In present-day Victoria, for example, there were two separate communities with an economy based on eel-farming in complex and extensive irrigated pond systems; one on the Murray River in the state's north, the other in the south-west near Hamilton in the territory of the Djab Wurrung, which traded with other groups from as far away as the Melbourne area.

On mainland Australia no animal other than the dingo was domesticated, however domestic pigs were utilized by Torres Strait Islanders. The typical indigenous diet included a wide variety of foods, such as pig, kangaroo, emu, wombats, goanna, snakes, birds, many insects such as honey ants, Bogong moths and witchetty grubs. Many varieties of plant foods such as taro, coconuts, nuts, fruits and berries were also eaten.

A primary tool used in hunting is the spear, launched by a woomera or spear-thrower in some locales. Boomerangs were also used by some mainland indigenous peoples. The non-returnable boomerang - known more correctly as a Throwing Stick - more powerful than the returning kind, could be used to injure or even kill a kangaroo.

Permanent villages were the norm for most Torres Strait Island communities. In some areas mainland Indigenous Australians also lived in semi-permanent villages, most usually in less arid areas where fishing could provide for a more settled existence. Most indigenous communities were semi-nomadic, moving in a regular cycle over a defined territory, following seasonal food sources and returning to the same places at the same time each year. From the examination of middens, archaeologists have shown that some localities were visited annually by indigenous communities for thousands of years. In the more arid areas Indigenous Australians were nomadic, ranging over wide areas in search of scarce food resources.

The Indigenous Australians lived through great climatic changes and adapted successfully to their changing physical environment. There is much ongoing debate about the degree to which they modified the environment. One controversy revolves around the role of indigenous people in the extinction of the marsupial megafauna (also see Australian megafauna). Some argue that natural climate change killed the megafauna. Others claim that, because the megafauna were large and slow, they were easy prey for human hunters. A third possibility is that human modification of the environment, particularly through the use of fire, indirectly led to their extinction.

Indigenous Australians used fire for a variety of purposes: to encourage the growth of edible plants and fodder for prey; to reduce the risk of catastrophic bushfires; to make travel easier; to eliminate pests; for ceremonial purposes; for warfare and just to "clean up country." There is disagreement, however, about the extent to which this burning led to large-scale changes in vegetation patterns.

here is evidence of substantial change in indigenous culture over time. Rock painting at several locations in northern Australia has been shown to consist of a sequence of different styles linked to different historical periods.

Some have suggested, for instance, that the Last Glacial Maximum, of 20,000 years ago, associated with a period of continental wide aridity and the spread of sand-dunes, was also associated with a reduction in Aboriginal activity, and greater specialisation in the use of natural foodstuffs and products. The Flandrian transgression associated with sea-level rise, particularly in the north, with the loss of the Sahul Shelf, and with the flooding of Bass Strait and the subsequent isolation of Tasmania, may also have been periods of difficulty for affected groups.

Harry Lourandos has been the leading proponent of the theory that a period of hunter-gatherer intensification occurred between 3,000 and 1,000 BCE. Intensification involved an increase in human manipulation of the environment (for example, the construction of eel traps in Victoria), population growth, an increase in trade between groups, a more elaborate social structure, and other cultural changes. A shift in stone tool technology, involving the development of smaller and more intricate points and scrapers, occurred around this time. This was probably also associated with the introduction to the mainland of the Australian dingo.

Many indigenous communities also have a very complex kinship structure and in some places strict rules about marriage. In traditional societies, men are required to marry women of a specific moiety. The system is still alive in many Central Australian communities. To enable men and women to find suitable partners, many groups would come together for annual gatherings - commonly known as corroborees - (see below) at which goods were traded, news exchanged, and marriages arranged amid appropriate ceremonies. This practice both reinforced clan relationships and prevented inbreeding in a society based on small semi-nomadic groups.

The historical record tends to favor distinct and widespread evidence of cannibalism in indigenous communities. That the practice was observed by anthropologists from the time of European settlement and well into the 20th century has been noted by a number of writers, including W.E. Roth in his monumental study "The Queensland Aborigines". In Arnhem Land in northern Australia, a study of warfare among the Indigenous Australian Murngin people in the late 19th century found that over a 20-year period no less than 200 out of 800 men, or 25% of all adult males, had been killed in intertribal warfare.

Impact of British Settlement

In 1770, Lieutenant James Cook claimed the east coast of Australia in the name of Great Britain and named it New South Wales. British colonization of Australia began in Sydney in 1788. The most immediate consequence of British settlement - within weeks of the first colonists' arrival - was a wave of European epidemic diseases such as chickenpox, smallpox, influenza and measles, which spread in advance of the frontier of settlement. The worst-hit communities were the ones with the greatest population densities, where disease could spread more readily. In the arid centre of the continent, where small communities were spread over a vast area, the population decline was less marked.

The second consequence of British settlement was appropriation of land and water resources. The settlers took the view that Indigenous Australians were nomads with no concept of land ownership, who could be driven off land wanted for farming or grazing and who would be just as happy somewhere else. In fact the loss of traditional lands, food sources and water resources was usually fatal, particularly to communities already weakened by disease.

Additionally, Indigenous Australians groups had a deep spiritual and cultural connection to the land, so that in being forced to move away from traditional areas, cultural and spiritual practices necessary to the cohesion and well-being of the group could not be maintained. Proximity to settlers also brought venereal disease, to which Indigenous Australians had no tolerance and which greatly reduced Indigenous fertility and birthrates. Settlers also brought alcohol, opium and tobacco, and substance abuse has remained a chronic problem for Indigenous communities ever since.

The combination of disease, loss of land and direct violence reduced the Aboriginal population by an estimated 90% between 1788 and 1900. Entire communities in the moderately fertile southern part of the continent simply vanished without trace, often before European settlers arrived or recorded their existence.

The Palawah, or Indigenous people of Tasmania, were particularly hard-hit. Nearly all of them, apparently numbering somewhere between 2,000 and 15,000 when white settlement began, were dead by the 1870s. It is widely claimed that this was the result of a genocidal policy, in the form of the "Black War". However, such claims are disputed by historian Keith Windschuttle, who claims that only 118 Aboriginal Tasmanians were killed in 1803-47 and that many of these were killed in self-defense.

Another scholar, H. A. Willis, has subsequently disputed Windschuttle's figures and has documented 188 Palawah killed by settlers in 180334 alone, with possibly another 145 killed during the same period. Such counts do not consider undocumented violence and must be regarded as minimum estimates. It is also claimed, but untrue, that the last Indigenous Tasmanian was Truganini, who died in 1876. This belief stems from a distinction between "full bloods" and "half castes" that is now generally regarded as racist. Palawah people survived, in missions set up on the islands of Bass Strait.

On the mainland, prolonged conflict followed the frontier of European settlement. In 1834, John Dunmore Lang wrote: "There is black blood at this moment on the hands of individuals of good repute in the colony of New South Wales of which all the waters of New Holland would be insufficient to wash out the indelible stains."

In 1838, twenty eight Indigenous people were killed at the Myall Creek massacre; the hanging of the white convict settlers responsible was the first time whites had been executed for the murder of Indigenous people. Many Indigenous communities resisted the settlers, such as the Noongar of south-western Australia, led by Yagan, who was killed in 1833.

The Kalkadoon of Queensland also resisted the settlers, and there was a massacre of over 200 people on their land at Battle Mountain in 1884. There was a massacre at Coniston in the Northern Territory in 1928. Poisoning of food and water has been recorded on several different occasions. The number of violent deaths at the hands of white people is still the subject of debate, with a figure of around 10,000 - 20,000 deaths being advanced by historians such as Henry Reynolds.

Nevertheless, deadly infectious diseases like smallpox, influenza and tuberculosis were always major causes of Indigenous deaths. Smallpox alone killed more than 50% of the Aboriginal population. Reynolds, and other historians, estimate that up to 3,000 white people were killed by Indigenous Australians in the frontier violence.

By the 1870s all the fertile areas of Australia had been appropriated, and Indigenous communities reduced to impoverished remnants living either on the fringes of European communities or on lands considered unsuitable for settlement.

Some initial contact between Indigenous people and Europeans was peaceful, starting with the Guugu Yimithirr people who met James Cook near Cooktown in 1770. Bennelong served as interlocutor between the Eora people of Sydney and the British colony, and was the first Indigenous Australian to travel to England, staying there between 1792 and 1795.

Indigenous people were known to help European explorers, such as John King, who lived with a tribe for two and a half months after the ill fated Burke and Wills expedition of 1861. Also living with Indigenous people was William Buckley, an escaped convict, who was with the Wautharong people near Melbourne for thirty-two years, before being found in 1835. Many Indigenous people adapted to European culture, working as stock hands or laborers. The first Australian cricket team, which toured England in 1868, was principally made up of Indigenous players.

As the European pastoral industries developed, several economic changes came about. The appropriation of prime land and the spread of European livestock over vast areas made a traditional Indigenous lifestyle less viable, but also provided a ready alternative supply of fresh meat for those prepared to incur the settlers' anger by hunting livestock. The impact of disease and the settlers' industries had a profound impact on the Indigenous Australians' way of life.

With the exception of a few in the remote interior, all surviving Indigenous communities gradually became dependent on the settler population for their livelihood. In south-eastern Australia, during the 1850s, large numbers of white pastoral workers deserted employment on stations for the Australian gold-rushes.

Indigenous women, men and children became a significant source of labor. Most Indigenous labor was unpaid, instead Indigenous workers received rations in the form of food, clothing and other basic necessities.

In the later 19th century, settlers made their way north and into the interior, appropriating small but vital parts of the land for their own exclusive use (waterholes and soaks in particular), and introducing sheep, rabbits and cattle, all three of which ate out previously fertile areas and degraded the ability of the land to carry the native animals that were vital to Indigenous economies.

Indigenous hunters would often spear sheep and cattle, incurring the wrath of graziers, after they replaced the native animals as a food source. As large sheep and cattle stations came to dominate northern Australia, Indigenous workers were quickly recruited. Several other outback industries, notably pearling, also employed Aboriginal workers.

In many areas Christian missions provided food and clothing for Indigenous communities and also opened schools and orphanages for Indigenous children. In some places colonial governments provided some resources.

After 1900

In spite of the impact of disease, violence and the spread of foreign settlement and custom, some Indigenous communities in remote desert and tropical rainforest areas survived according to traditional means until well into the 20th century.

In 1914 around 1200 Aboriginal people answered the call to arms, despite restrictions on Indigenous Australians serving in the military. As the war continued, these restrictions were relaxed as more recruits were needed. Many enlisted by claiming they were Maori or Indian.

By the 1920s, the Indigenous population had declined to between 50,000 and 90,000, and the belief that the Indigenous Australians would soon die out was widely held, even among Australians sympathetic to their situation. But by about 1930, those Indigenous Australians who had survived had acquired better resistance to imported diseases, and birthrates began to rise again as communities were able to adapt to changed circumstances.

In the Northern Territory, significant frontier conflict continued. Both isolated Europeans and visiting Asian fishermen were killed by hunter gatherers until the start of World War II in 1939. It is known that some European settlers in the centre and north of the country shot Indigenous people during this period. One particular series of killings became known as the Caledon Bay crisis, and became a watershed in the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

Well into the 20th Century, Indigenous Australians were - both in Australia itself and in many other countries the subject of widespread crude racist stereotyping. For example, the American birth control campaigner Margaret Sanger could write casually: "The aboriginal Australian, the lowest known species of the human family, just a step higher than the chimpanzee in brain development, has so little sexual control that police authority alone prevents him from obtaining sexual satisfaction on the streets" (What Every Girl Should Know, 1920).

By the end of World War II, many Indigenous men had served in the military. They were among the few Indigenous Australians to have been granted citizenship; even those that had were obliged to carry papers, known in the vernacular as a "dog license", with them to prove it. However, Aboriginal pastoral workers in northern Australia remained unfree laborers, paid only small amounts of cash, in addition to rations, and severely restricted in their movements by regulations and/or police action.

On 1 May 1946, Aboriginal station workers in the Pilbara region of Western Australia initiated the 1946 Pilbara strike and never returned to work. Mass layoffs across northern Australia followed the Federal Pastoral Industry Award of 1968, which required the payment of a minimum wage to Aboriginal station workers, as they were not paid by the Pastoralist discretion, many however were not and those who were had their money held by the government. Many of the workers and their families became refugees or fringe dwellers, living in camps on the outskirts of towns and cities.

In 1984, a group of Pintupi people who were living a traditional hunter-gatherer desert-dwelling life were tracked down in the Gibson Desert in Western Australia and brought in to a settlement. They are believed to be the last uncontacted tribe in Australia.

The Path to Reconciliation: 1967 ... Onwards

In 1949, the right to vote in federal elections was extended to Indigenous Australians who had served in the armed forces, or were enrolled to vote in state elections. At that time, those Indigenous Australians who lived in Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory were still ineligible to vote in state elections, consequently they did not have the right to vote in federal elections.

All Indigenous Australians were given the right to vote in Commonwealth elections in Australia by the Menzies government in 1962. The first federal election in which all Aboriginal Australians could vote was held in November 1963. The right to vote in state elections was granted in Western Australia in 1962 and Queensland was the last state to do so in 1965.

The 1967 referendum, passed with a 90% majority, allowed the Commonwealth to make laws with respect to Aboriginal people, and for Aboriginal people to be included in counts to determine electoral representation. This has been the largest affirmative vote in the history of Australia's referendums.

In 1971, Yolngu people at Yirrkala sought an injunction against Nabalco to cease mining on their traditional land. In the resulting historic and controversial Gove land rights case, Justice Blackburn ruled that Australia had been terra nullius before European settlement, and that no concept of Native title existed in Australian law. Although the Yolngu people were defeated in this action, the effect was to highlight the absurdity of the law, which led first to the Woodward Commission, and then to the Aboriginal Land Rights Act.

In 1972, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy was established on the steps of Parliament House in Canberra, in response to the sentiment among Indigenous Australians that they were "strangers in their own country". A Tent Embassy still exists on the same site.

In 1975, the Whitlam government drafted the Aboriginal Land Rights Act, which aimed to restore traditional lands to indigenous people. After the dismissal of the Whitlam government by the Governor-General, a reduced-scope version of the Act (known as the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976) was introduced by the coalition government led by Malcolm Fraser. While its application was limited to the Northern Territory, it did grant "inalienable" freehold title to some traditional lands.

A 1987 federal government report described the history of the "Aboriginal Homelands Movement" or "Return to Country movement" as "a concerted attempt by Aboriginal people in the 'remote' areas of Australia to leave government settlements, reserves, missions and non-Aboriginal townships and to re-occupy their traditional country."

In 1992, the Australian High Court handed down its decision in the Mabo Case, declaring the previous legal concept of terra nullius to be invalid. This decision legally recognized certain land claims of Indigenous Australians in Australia prior to British Settlement. Legislation was subsequently enacted and later amended to recognize Native Title claims over land in Australia.

In 1998, as the result of an inquiry into the forced removal of Indigenous children (see Stolen generation) from their families, a National Sorry Day was instituted, to acknowledge the wrong that had been done to Indigenous families. Many politicians, from both sides of the house, participated, with the notable exception of the Prime Minister, John Howard.

In 1999 a referendum was held to change the Australian Constitution to include a preamble that, amongst other topics, recognised the occupation of Australia by Indigenous Australians prior to British Settlement. This referendum was defeated, though the recognition of Indigenous Australians in the preamble was not a major issue in the referendum discussion, and the preamble question attracted minor attention compared to the question of becoming a republic.

In 2004, the Australian Government abolished The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), which had been Australia's top Indigenous organiation. The Commonwealth cited corruption and, in particular, made allegations concerning the misuse of public funds by ATSIC's chairman, Geoff Clark, as the principal reason. Indigenous specific programs have been mainstreamed, that is, reintegrated and transferred to departments and agencies serving the general population. The Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination was established within the then Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, and now with the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs to coordinate a "whole of government" effort.

In June 2005, Richard Frankland, founder of the 'Your Voice' political party, in an open letter to Prime Minister John Howard, advocated that the eighteenth-century conflicts between Indigenous and colonial Australians "be recognised as wars and be given the same attention as the other wars receive within the Australian War Memorial". In its editorial on 20 June 2005, Melbourne newspaper, The Age, said that "Frankland has raised an important question," and asked whether moving "work commemorating Aborigines who lost their lives defending their land ... to the War Memorial [would] change the way we regard Aboriginal history."

In 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made a formal apology to the Aboriginal people.

Modern day scientists and others often say that the Australian Aborigines arrived in the continent of Australia, by crossing land bridges or landing on the northern shores by canoes.

Dr Raghavendra Rao worked with a team of researchers from the Anthropological Survey of India to sequence 966 complete mitochondrial DNA genomes from Indian 'relic populations'. He said, "Mitochondrial DNA is inherited only from the mother and so allows us to accurately trace ancestry. We found certain mutations in the DNA sequences of the Indian tribes we sampled that are specific to Australian Aborigines. This shared ancestry suggests that the Aborigine population migrated to Australia via the so-called 'Southern Route'".

The 'Southern Route' dispersal of modern humans suggests movement of a group of hunter-gatherers from the Horn of Africa, across the mouth of the Red Sea into Arabia and southern Asia at least 50 thousand years ago. Subsequently, the modern human populations expanded rapidly along the coastlines of southern Asia, southeastern Asia and Indonesia to arrive in Australia at least 45 thousand years ago. The genetic evidence of this dispersal from the work of Rao and his colleagues is supported by archeological evidence of human occupation in the Lake Mungo area of Australia dated to approximately the same time period.

Discussing the implications of the research, Rao said, "Human evolution is usually understood in terms of millions of years. This direct DNA evidence indicates that the emergence of 'anatomically modern' humans in Africa and the spread of these humans to other parts of the world happened only fifty thousand or so years ago. In this respect, populations in the Indian subcontinent harbor DNA footprints of the earliest expansion out of Africa. Understanding human evolution helps us to understand the biological and cultural expressions of these people, with far reaching implications for human welfare."

Appearance

To the early Europeans, the Aborigines of the Sydney district (and later those throughout the whole continent), were primitives, natives or Noble Savages. So, descriptions of them (either written or in sketches/ paintings), were classificatory and comparative. There were a number of physical distinctions between different tribes. It was noted that the Gundungurra who lived in the Blue Mountains west of Camden were taller and stronger than the Eora / Dharawal who lived on the coast. Or so European observers said. Some tribespeople were said to be darker than others (dark brown or black) and were different in other ways, but anyone who indulges in descriptions should ask themselves why they are doing this. People are people and differences of color and shape shouldn't matter. However derogatory descriptions of Aborigines during the 19th century were often a justification for massacres and poisoning of people.

Spears were personal possessions of individual Aboriginal males.

Each tribe had their own particular style of spears. Basically, all spears were made from timber or from the stems of plants. They ranged in length from about 1.5 meters to 4 or 5 meters with various forms of points, tips or blades. Some spear tips were prongs which were used to catch fish; others were made from stone flakes while others were made from fish bones and shells. Spears were mainly used for hunting but they were also used in battles.

Clothing

The Aboriginal people of the Sydney, Illawarra and Shoalhaven district (and most, if not in all parts of Australia), were often observed by early settlers to be naked. The men and women of some tribes are known to have worn a belt around their middle made of hair, animal fur, skin or fiber which they used to carry tools and weapons.

These belts often had a flap at the front, however, this was a modification that was added during European colonization when the British colonists and authorities were concerned about modesty and imposed their standards on the Aborigines - who were unashamed of their nakedness. However, Aboriginal people needed to be warm in winter months and did make cloaks which they made from animal skins e.g.., possum skins. They worn them during the day and used them as blankets during the night. A number of skins were needed to make the garment and they were cleaned, dried and sewn together.

During colonization individual settlers gave the Aborigines their old clothes (known as slops). So the people were often recorded as wearing a variety of clothes such as army or navy jackets, trousers, petticoats and blouses (etc).

From the 1830's a number of Governors issued English blankets to the Aborigines through Magistrates and well respected settlers in various parts of the country. The blankets were not as warm as possums skin cloaks and many Aborigines caught influenza and bronchitis and died from these diseases.

Languages

Although there were over 250-300 spoken languages with 600 dialects at the start of European settlement, fewer than 200 of these remain in use - and all but 20 are considered to be endangered.

Before colonization there were between 200 and 250 Aboriginal languages spoken throughout the continent of Australia. In other words the Aborigines did not speak the same or 'one' language. It has also been estimated that there were as many as 600 languages spoken at the time of colonization. However, it has also been said, that there was one language and several dialects.

The 'one language' theory fits with the theory of the migratory origins of the people in the continent. In other words that all Aborigines belong to the one race as descendants of people who came from Asia, Africa and other places across land bridges. Whether this happened or not is speculative. What is certain, is that the Aborigines who belonged to a particular tribe spoke a language that was different to their neighbors. This fact has led to scientists identifying Language or Cultural groups which were comprised of a number of tribes who spoke the same language. It is also certain that some Aboriginal people spoke more than one language and it is interesting to note, that when the Europeans arrived in this country some Aborigines quickly learned to speak English while the Europeans themselves often struggled to speak even a few Aboriginal words.

In 1888 it was said that the language of the Australian Aborigines was "in fullness of tone, variety of sound, and easy flow, is not to be surpassed. In proof of this it is only necessary to refer to the Aboriginal names of the various locations throughout the colonies.

Some Aboriginal words are still used today. For example the word Bundi is the basis for the name Bondi n Sydney's eastern suburbs which has become the most famous beach in the world. Bennelong Point (the site of the Sydney Opera House) is named after Bennelong an Aborigine of the Manly area who was kidnapped by Governor Arthur Philip); Botany Bay was known as Kamay to the Aborigines of the area; Cronulla is based on the word Kurranulla meaning 'pink shell'; Dapto in the Illawarra district is a corruption of the word Dappeto; Dhurawal Bay on the George's River near Liverpool is named after the traditional tribe of the Sydney district the Dharawal also called the Eora.

Aboriginal language had ice age origins News in Science - December 13, 2006

Aboriginal languages may be much older than people think, argues a linguistic anthropologist who says they originated as far back as the end of the last ice age around 13,000 years ago. This challenges existing thinking, which suggests Aboriginal languages developed from a proto-language that spread through Australia 5000 to 6000 years ago. The key to the new hypothesis is prehistoric Australia's single land mass 13,000 to 28,000 years ago, when New Guinea and Tasmania were still attached, says Dr Mark Clendon in the journal Current Anthropology.
Clendon says the continent, known as Sahul, was relatively densely populated on the land bridge connecting northern Australia to New Guinea, now separated by the Arafura Sea. The other populated area was along what is now Australia's eastern seaboard. The two population groups were separated by a vast, cold, windswept, arid stretch of land that covered most of the continent, says Clendon, who was with the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education when he published the research. The eastern group spoke a tongue that became what is known today as Pama Nyungan and includes languages like Pitjantjatjara, Yolngu and Warlpiri. And the Arafurans spoke another family of languages used in northern Australia today. "What I'm suggesting is that Pama Nyungan and non-Pama Nyungan languages go back about 13,000 years to when there was a land bridge between New Guinea and Australia," he says.

Until now, the reason why these two Aboriginal language groups are so different, each with a distinct grammar and vocabulary, has been a mystery. Climate change - Around 11,000 years ago what was the Arafura plain was flooded by rising seas as the ice age ended. This caused the northern people to migrate into either New Guinea or to northern parts of Australia. Meanwhile, increased rainfall and warmer temperatures made inland parts of the continent more habitable and sparked a westward migration of eastern dwellers. This introduced their language group to more central areas of Australia. Both groups maintained their distinct languages, Clendon says. His hypothesis provides an alternative picture to the traditional view that 6000 years ago a single proto-language spread from the Gulf of Carpentaria around Australia, eventually giving rise to existing Aboriginal languages. "We know about changes in climate and sea levels at the end of the Pleistocene era. I'm suggesting the way languages are configured in Australia today are a result of those changes that happened at the end of the ice age."

Provocative but unconvincing - Writing in a reply to Clendon's article, Professor Nicholas Evans, an expert in Aboriginal languages from the University of Melbourne, describes Clendon's hypothesis as "fresh and provocative". However, he says there are flaws in the argument, including that there is only weak evidence of similarities between southern New Guinea and northern Aboriginal languages. Evans says he remains to be convinced about Clendon's proposal. "But it adds a welcome alternative to a field in which we are still a long way from having any clear picture of the unimaginably long human occupation of Sahul," he says.

Diet

Hunting is a word that is used to identify the practice of catching and killing game either as a sport or as a source of food. Gathering is the collecting of food such as plants, berries, eggs or insects. Fishing is another method of obtaining food.The Aborigines who lived in areas which included waterways such as rivers or were on the seacoast, made canoes from bark or tree trunks.

The Eora / Dharawal made canoes which carried up to three or four people for fishing. In other areas, the canoes were much larger and included dugouts and outrigger types. They were made from tree trunks (not just the bark). Aboriginal men and women who lived in coastal regions or in areas where there were rivers, caught and collected food by fishing. Males usually used spears, while females used hand lines with hooks made from shells and rocks as sinkers. Fish species were also caught by the use of fish traps. Some traps were made from rocks in the form of a pen. At high tide fish could swim in and out of them, but some were trapped within the rock walls at low tide. Traps were also constructed from sticks and tree branches across rivers to make a dam. When sufficient numbers were trapped the people would enter the water, scoop up the fish in their hands and throw them onto the river bank to be collected for cooking.

Males hunted animals such as kangaroos, wallabies, echidnas and possums. But also reptiles (snakes and lizards) and birds such as ducks, swans and parrots. They used spears and boomerangs to hit, catch and kill - but also climbed trees to get their food. Sometimes they hunted in parties or groups and each person shared the catch. On these occasions some of the men acted as 'beaters' driving animals towards another group of men who were armed and waiting to spear the animals that were driven towards them. Sometimes they used fire to drive the animals forward.

Aboriginal woman (often carrying babies on their backs) and assisted by young children left the camp on a daily basis searching and collecting berries, yams and other sources of food.

Gathering provided the bulk or main source of food for the Australian Aborigines. It has also been said that some tribes people were mainly 'vegetarians' because 'meat' was not readily available in some areas. It is also a fact that some Aboriginal people ate more marine life (fish, oysters and mussels etc) because these food items were predominant in the area in which they lived.

Survival was highly dependent upon knowledge of the life-cycle of flora and fauna and it is certain that the Aborigines had excellent understanding as they learned to track, hunt and gather food from when they were young children.

In 1972 Australian Anthropologist, Kenneth Maddock said: "Australia is the only continent to have been populated until modern times exclusively by hunters and gatherers..." (The Australian Aborigines. A Portrait of their society). He also quoted statistics showing that in 10,000 BC all human beings (100%) were hunters and gatherers; by 1,500 AD this had reduced to about 1% because mankind had generally developed skills in the cultivation of crops and domestication of animals. By 1960 only 0.001% of the world's population were hunters and gatherers.

The fact that the Aborigines did not cultivate land to grow crops or domesticate animals, they have often been portrayed as being a backward race. However this can be disputed. After all, the Aborigines did harvest crops in the sense that they made a form of flour from various types of flora. Domestication of animals was not possible due to the type (or perhaps kind) of animals that roamed the continent of Australia. For example kangaroos, wombats, possums and snakes.

Sheep and cow were introduced by Europeans. But there is evidence to suggest that the Aborigines of the Cowpastures district (Campbelltown area) herded and killed cattle that had escaped from the Port Jackson area circa 1788 and found there way to that area. These cattle had been transported from Africa and before vandals destroyed it, there was a cave in the Campbelltown area that was called Bull Cave, because of the drawings of cattle on the walls.

Those Aborigines who lived in coastal regions or near waterways caught fish and eels in a number of ways. Males often used a spear but are known to have also built fish-traps by making rectangular areas with rocks, that stood above the water at low tide. This meant that fish could swim into the traps at high tide and were trapped as the tide receded.

In the Illawarra district the Aborigines were often observed barricading (blocking) rivers with tree branches and logs. As fish swam down the river towards the sea they were trapped behind the dam where they were scooped up and thrown onto the shore. The Aborigines also fished from rocks and beaches using hand lines made from plants and hooks made from shells. Stones were used as sinkers.

Aboriginal people had to catch and collect their food, each and every day of their life. They were successful at doing this because they had an intimate knowledge of food-chain cycles, the migration patterns of birds and of the habitat where they lived. No doubt there were times when there were food shortages. But the essential point is that the Aboriginal people had a complete understanding of the flora and fauna within their tribal territory. They also engaged in land management practices - mainly burning grass and weeds.

Their totemic practices protected species because a person could not eat his own totem and others needed permission to catch another person's totem on his land. For example, a man whose totem was a waterfowl would not eat that bird (otherwise it would be a form of cannibalism). Other members of the tribe could not hunt the bird in the territory that belonged to another man. This provided a safe environment for different species.

Society

Aboriginal Australians were social beings who lived in a number of social groups sometimes called bands, clans, sub-tribes and tribes, but essentially in a family or kinship group who were 1) of the same blood-line and 2) were related to other people through totems.

The social groupings of ATSI people meant that their relationships were far more extensive than our own method of identifying people as mother, father, brother, sister and cousins (etc). Aboriginal relationships are difficult to understand but the relationships of an Aboriginal male child are detailed in following script (with western ones shown in brackets), to give some idea of them: The family was usually comprised of father's father (grandfather) and often his brother or brothers who was / were known also known as father's father (no western equivalent); his wife or wives (grandmother); a father (father) and perhaps his brothers (uncles) who was also considered to be an Aboriginal male child's father.

Each family group had a headman or Elder who was the leader of the unit. He decided when to move camp and settled disputes

Food such as oysters, mussels and pippies were enjoyed. Sometimes they cooked them on the ashes of a fire and the Sydney Aborigines are known to have taken a fire with them aboard their canoes when they went fishing. This meant they could cook and eat their catch as they continued catching fish. They also took some of their catch back to the camp to share with others, but eating food while catching it gave them the energy to collect sufficient quantity for others.

Animals, birds and reptiles were also caught and cooked on an open fire. However they 'scorched' rather than cooked these foods. In other words, they did not roast the joint of a kangaroo like Europeans do today. For example by placing a leg of lamb in an oven for an hour or two. The Aborigines simply singed the food to remove feathers, scales and fur and ate partly cooked meat.

Other sources of food included yams (sweet potatoes), berries and intestines such as liver (yuck). But they generally hunted and collected the wide variety of food that was available in the places in which they lived.

One food that was cooked by the Aborigines was a type of bread which was also popular among early European settlers who called it damper. This is made by grinding seeds into flour, mixing this with water into a doughy paste and cooking it in the ashes of a warm fire.

The Aborigines lived within a tribal territory where they obtained their daily food needs. Some tribes lived in desert country, while others lived in mountain, coastal or timbered areas. This meant that the members of different tribes ate different foods. It also meant that some of them were constantly on the move hunting and gathering. Others lived a semi-nomadic life in areas where there were amply food supplies.

The Eora / Dharawal people who lived on the coastal area between the Hawkesbury River and the Shoalhaven River were hunters and gatherers of fish, shellfish, plants and animals. They caught fish such as bream, groper, snapper and whiting; collected shellfish including oysters (rock and mud), cockles and conniwink.

Plant foods included: native cherries, the cabbage palm, water lilies, five-corners and pigface. Animals, birds and reptiles such as kangaroos, ducks and snakes were also hunted for consumption purposes.

Marriage

Every tribe in Australia was divided into a number of small social groups, but for marriage purposes, into two main groups sometimes called marriage moieties. People didn't marry outside of their group. Marriage arrangements were made when children were very young and sometimes before they were born.

Homes

Aboriginal people were social beings as they lived and gathered together in family groups . Their camps were comprised of a number of gunyas (bark huts), but the people also lived in caves or in the open air. Some camps were comprised of as few as 6 to 10 people while in others there were up to 400 people. No doubt the availability of food was a factor in the size of a camp. Each day, various members of the group would leave the camp to hunt and gather food and return to the camp to share the catch with others.

During the 1830s William Govett (surveyor), visited a camp and recorded (in Sketches of New South Wales), that the people usually settled in their camp as night fell and were engaged in a number of activities - normal family life - sharing stories about the happenings of the day, repairing weapons, singing songs and playing games etc. Govett described a young man in one gunya using double sets of strings to make diamonds, squares, circles and other shapes. He also told of an adult amusing a young child by placing a leaf on the back of his left hand, striking it with his finger causing the leaf to ascend perpendicularly to the squeals of delight from the child.

Aboriginal people lived in family groups. The Elder or Elders gunyah (hut) were situated in the center of the camp and others spanned out in circles around the central hut. However, the people often slept in the open and in caves, so it is likely that the Elder decided where he wanted to sleep with his wife or wives and everyone one else spread-out from the spot he had chosen. No doubt some people were more important than others and the most important ones camped near the Elders.

Land

The affinity of attachment to a particular area of land by the Aborigines was based on their Dreamtime beliefs, that the land had been created for them by ancestral heroes and heroines. Every rock, tree and waterhole; every animal, bird and insect; the sky above and all it contained were believed to have been created in the Dreamtime.

At some indefinite time the creators disappeared, however, many were believed to have remained in secret places in the land - in rivers, caves and other places. In other words, the Aborigines believed that their land had been created by spirits who continued to live in the land.

This was a superstitious belief, but it was very important to the Aborigines. For example, there were never any wars of conquest between Aboriginal tribes. They were too superstitious to do this and living in the land of another tribe would have involved them in living among strange and no doubt hostile spirits.

Land was spiritual, but also an economic resource as it provided the people with food, sources of wood, fiber and glue for making spears, utensils and other implements. However the people respected these aspects of their land and were environmentalists in the sense of 'taking care' of the land through their practices of performing increase ceremonies, singing 'Songlines' and relationships with flora and fauna through a system of totemic relationships.

Traditional Aboriginal people (before their society was changed with the arrival of the British into their lands), lived in relatively small groups which have been called clans, bands, family groups, sub-tribes and by a variety of other names.

The larger (well known term) social unit known as a tribe, was made up of a number of smaller social units (clans and bands etc). Maybe we can explain it this way: A clan was a family group made up of a grandfather and his wife or wives, his sons and their wife or wives and their children. A number of these groups formed a tribe. The exact number of clans which comprised a tribe cannot be said precisely, as this varied. However in the Sydney district it is known that in 1788 there were at least 30 clans of the Eora / Dharawal tribe. Each clan had a name for themselves based on the name in their language for the area they lived in. For example the men of Cadi were known as the Cadigal (Cadjigal) females added the postfix eean so the women from Cadi were the Cadieean and they lived around South Head, Elizabeth Bay, Rushcutters Bay to present day Circular Quay. The Gweagal / Gweaeean lived at Kurnell. The clans that formed a tribe were those who believed in the same Dreamtime creation stories, spoke the same language and celebrated the same customs such as initiation rites.

Culture

Culture is a celebration of beliefs and usually (if not always) includes rites of passage from one stage of life to another. Culture is stories and songs.

Particularly because their stories and songs informed them about creation, the relationship between mankind and nature and were the source of their tribal laws. The tradition of initiation was an expression of Aboriginal culture and was carried out for thousands of years in exactly the way that had been ordered by the ancestors in the Dreamtime. On another level the stories and songs were believed to be important for the preservation and conservation of their land and all it contained. This involved singing Songlines that had been sung by the ancestors and the concept of taking care.

Until 1788 the Aborigines of Australia lived and celebrated a culture that was basically unchanged for thousands of years. Each tribe had their own beliefs - their own songs and stories, but until colonization, they were the oldest surviving race in the entire world. They existed as a race of people well before the Egyptians were building the pyramids, while the Greeks were constructing the Pantheon and while Britain was ruled by the Roman Empire. However the first Europeans to arrive in the continent considered the 'natives' to be primitives. This was largely due to a lack of understanding about the culture of the Aborigines.

A cultural group was comprised of two or more tribes that associated with each other for cultural purposes. For example to celebrate corroborees, barter or exchange goods, conduct initiation ceremonies or intermarry.

On the Far South Coast of New South Wales early records show that members of the Yuin tribe often associated with those from the Canberra area. These tribes did not associate with the Dharawal tribe of the Shoalhaven, Illawarra and Sydney districts, who gathered from time to time with the Gundungurra of the Goulburn and Camden area.

The Australian Aboriginal flag was originally designed as a protest flag for the land rights movement of Indigenous Australians but has since become a symbol of the Aboriginal people of Australia. The flag is a yellow disc on a horizontally divided field of black and red. It was designed in 1971 by Harold Thomas, an Aboriginal artist descended from the Luritja of Central Australia. On 14 July 1995, both the Aboriginal flag and the Torres Strait Islander Flag were officially proclaimed by the Australian government as "Flags of Australia" under Section 5 of the Flags Act 1953.

The flag was first flown on National Aborigines' Day in Victoria Square in Adelaide on 12 July 1971. It was also used in Canberra at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy from late 1972. In the early months of the embassy-which was established in February that year - other designs were used, including a black, green and red flag made by supporters of the South Sydney Rabbitohs rugby league club, and a flag with a red-black field containing a spear and four crescents in yellow.

Cathy Freeman caused controversy at the 1994 Commonwealth Games by waving both the Aboriginal flag and Australian national flag during her victory lap of the arena, after winning the 200 metres sprint; only the national flag is meant to be displayed. Despite strong criticism from both Games officials and the Australian team president Arthur Tunstall, Freeman flew both flags again after winning the 400 metres.

The decision (by Prime Minister Paul Keating) to make the Aboriginal flag a national flag was opposed by the Liberal Opposition at the time, with John Howard making a statement on 4 July 1995 that "any attempt to give the flags official status under the Flags Act would rightly be seen by many in the community not as an act of reconciliation but as a divisive gesture." However since Howard took office in 1996, the flag has remained a national flag. This decision was also criticised by Thomas himself, who said the flag "doesn't need any more recognition"

In 1997 the Federal Court of Australia declared that Harold Thomas was the owner of copyright in the design of the Australian Aboriginal flag, and thus the flag has protection under Australian copyright law. Thomas had sought legal recognition of his ownership and compensation following the Federal Government's 1995 proclamation of the design. His claim was contested by two others, Mr. Brown and Mr. Tennant. Since then, Thomas has awarded rights solely to Carroll and Richardson Flags for the manufacture and marketing of the flag.

The National Indigenous Advisory Committee campaigned for the Aboriginal flag to be flown at Stadium Australia during the 2000 Summer Olympics.[5] SOCOG announced that the Aboriginal flag would be flown at Olympic venues. The flag was flown over the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the march for reconciliation of 2000, and many other events.

On the 30th anniversary of the flag in 2001, thousands of people were involved in a ceremony where the flag was carried from the Parliament of South Australia to Victoria Square. Since 8 July 2002, after recommendations of the Council's Reconciliation Committee, the Aboriginal Flag has been permanently flown in Victoria Square and the front of the Town Hall.

Government

In Aboriginal society every person (particular every initiated male) was considered to be equal. No one had authority over anyone else in the sense of ruling them, but this is not to say that there weren't leaders. There are always leaders in any society - people who have personal qualities that others admire. But there were no elected leaders in Aboriginal society. There were also people who performed particular roles. For example clever men also known as Koradjis and as Doctors by Europeans, had or acquired special skills and were considered to be authorities on certain matters.

There were leaders known as Elders. People whom others listened to, asked for advice and generally obeyed when they issued orders. The Elders were considered to be wise in knowledge of the Dreamtime the law and the lore's of the tribe. An Elder was usually a male but gray hair and old age were not the only criteria to be an Elders. In fact some elderly people were not considered to be Elders.

To understand the role of the Elders it is necessary to understand that the Aborigines lived in small family groups also known as clans, bands and sub-tribes. Within the immediate family groups, the eldest males and females were treated with respect and acknowledged as leaders in the sense that they made decisions about the family. For example they settled disputes and decided when the group would move camp to another area. When a number of blood-line families lived together it is likely that the Elder of the group was the person considered by the members to be the wisest of the older people.

In large groups which may have been comprised of several hundred people, a number of Elders met to make decisions on behalf of the group. This has become known as an Elder's Council, but it wasn't a council in the sense of being a form of government. Instead such councils met for the purpose of conducting initiation, marriage and burial ceremonies

In traditional Aboriginal society females were not considered to be Elders. However, older females often acted as midwives and as authorities on other matters relevant to their gender. The role of female Elders today, as spokespersons for groups, appears to be a phenomena of the 20th century.

Law

The Aborigines had a number of laws that governed their society. They ranged from family discipline (whereby children and others were expected to conform and behave to a code of conduct) to laws about trespassing, food taboos, marriage laws or regulations and breaches of acceptable behavior such as rape, murder and stealing.

The source of the laws was sometimes Dreamtime stories that told of the behavior of men, woman and children (sometimes in allegorical forms of animals, birds or reptiles - etc. in which the perpetrators actions were punished by being beaten, speared or by banishment.

Games

Aboriginal boys and girls played a number of games such as running, wrestling, climbing, throwing and ball games. No doubt they were fun to play but they all had a serious purpose. They were not simply for amusement.

Kicking balls made from grass or fur bound with vines taught people agility, but they also had to effect of forming individuals into teams which taught them cooperation and working with others.

Throwing sticks was a form of preparation for spear throwing. Drawing animal tracks in the earth trained children to observe their environment and provided them with the skills necessary to catch food.

Digging games trained people to collect food such as yams; climbing games enabled people to develop other survival skills - the main purpose behind all the games that Aboriginal children played.

Dance

Corroboree

A corroboree is a ceremonial meeting of Aboriginal Australians. The word was coined by the European settlers of Australia in imitation of the Aboriginal word caribberie. At a corroboree Aborigines interact with the Dreamtime through dance, music and costume. Many ceremonies act out events from the Dreamtime. Many of the ceremonies are sacred and people from outside a community are not permitted to participate or watch. "Their bodies painted in different ways, and they wore various adornments, which were not used every day."

In the northwest of Australia, corroboree is a generic word to define theatrical practices as different from ceremony. Whether it be public or private, ceremony is for invited guests. There are other generic words to describe traditional public performances: juju and kobbakobba for example. In the Pilbara, corroborees are yanda or jalarra. Across the Kimberley the word junba is often used to refer to a range of traditional performances and ceremonies.

Corroboree and ceremony are strongly connected but different. In the 1930s Adolphus Elkin wrote of a public pan-Aboriginal dancing "tradition of individual gifts, skill, and ownership" as distinct from the customary practices of appropriate elders guiding initiation and other ritual practices (Elkin 1938:299). Corroborees are open performances in which everyone may participate taking into consideration that the songs and dances are highly structured requiring a great deal of knowledge and skill to perform.

Corroboree is a generic word to explain different genres of performance which in the northwest of Australia include balga, wangga, lirrga, junba, ilma and many more. Throughout Australia the word corroboree embraces songs, dances, rallies and meetings of various kinds. In the past a corroboree has been inclusive of sporting events and other forms of skill display. It is an appropriated English word that has been reappropriated to explain a practice that is different to ceremony and more widely inclusive than theatre or opera.

Aborigines held a Corroboree in which there were elements of music, song and movement that imitated or replicated animal movements, hunting prowess, battles or ceremonies of initiation that had been conducted for thousands of years. Corroborees are part of Aboriginal culture. They were not simply dances, but were highly significant events and belong to the Australian Aborigines.

The Australian Aborigines used a limited variety of implements to make musical sounds. The didgeridoo (see separate listing) is probably the best known, but others included rattles, clapping sticks and two boomerangs clapped together. However they do not appear to have used drums. The exception may be the Torres Strait Islander people. Another instrument that wasn't used, was a flute or whistle.

The melodies, tunes, harmonies and rhythms of Aboriginal music included traditional ceremonial songs that were handed down from generation to generation. It was very important in Aboriginal thinking, to replicate the songs that had been first played and sung by the ancestors in the Dreamtime. When the traditional music and songs were used, living men considered themselves to be in the Dreamtime. Particularly during initiation ceremonies.

New songs were created from time to time. They told of important events in the history of the tribe. Events such as great battles or hunting expeditions. Other songs and music were for general amusement or entertainment and early European observations of the Aborigines included camp life where the people played games and sang songs around their camp fires.

Aboriginal Art and Design

Aborigines decorated their bodies with tattoos that conveyed messages particularly at ceremonial times. The patterns represented the totems of individuals or denoted information about the tribe itself.

Death

Death was always a time of sorrow and supernatural fear among traditional ATSI people. Wailing or crying was a common occurrence among the mourners who often painted their bodies with pipe clay, red ochre, or charcoal when a relative or friend died. In some districts people wore a head covering made of feathers. Others beat their bodies with sticks or clubs, or cut themselves with shells or stone knives to cause bleeding. In these instances the period of sorrow or mourning, was considered to be at an end when their wounds were healed.

Relatives and close friends often sat beside a grave of a deceased person, but this was related to their superstitious beliefs. Sitting beside a grave - sometimes shaded with a hut or covering to provide shelter for the mourner or mourners - involved ensuring that the deceased person's spirit had gone to the 'sky camp' or to its spirit-place. Obviously it is impossible to say 'how' they knew or considered when this happened. However after the mourning period was completed, a deceased person's name was never mentioned again. This often involved inventing new words for totems but was based on their superstitious beliefs in a personal spirit and ghosts.

The belief in a personal spirit was based on the Dreamtime stories that told the people that birth was the result of a spirit-child entering a woman's body. Or in some parts of the country, birth had been an act of the creators. For example in Arnham Land the Djanggau Sisters (who were considered to be daughters of the Sun and arrived in the area in a bark canoe with their brother Bralgu)created the land and gave birth to the first-people to live there. In other words birth and death were great mysteries involving supernatural beings.

The people also believed that a person's spirit could visit living people to harm or warn them of danger. This usually resulted in a 'inquiry' about the death of a person who was considered to have died prematurely or in unusual circumstances. The inquiry - usually undertaken in consultation with an Elder or a Clever Man - looked for actions undertaken by some person that had caused the death of an individual. Any culprit was severely punished. The belief in a person spirit also led the people to take great precautions in the burial or cremation of the deceased.

Reincarnation

A number of difference 'races' of people believe or have believed that when a person dies, their soul (or inner spirit) is born again - in the form of an animal, bird, reptile, fish or as another human being. The Eora / Dharawal Aborigines believed in transmigration also known as transmutation or metephsychosis. For example during the 1830s Quaker James Backhouse toured the Illawarra district and recorded that some Aboriginal men were mortified when some Europeans shot and killed some dolphins. The Aborigines of the area believed that after death, their warriors became dolphins. This belief was bolstered by the habit of dolphins to herd fish and to protect people from shark attacks.

Another example of the belief in reincarnation was given by David Collins who noted that when a European was about to shoot a raven, an Aborigine stepped into the firing line to stop him from doing this because 'him brother'. In other words the bird was the man's totem and he was compelled to do everything possible to make sure that the raven wasn't killed.

Spiritual

Aboriginal people are spiritual though they had no formal religion.

The word spirit has many different meanings. For example it can be used to refer to the immaterial part of a human being often called his or her soul or to the personality of people when they are said to have a courageous or cowardly spirit. Or to describe qualities of people or (other) animals when they are said to be high spirited. Spirit can also refer to supernatural beings such as a deity (god) or to evil manifestation such as ghosts.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians believed in a number of spirits. In particular to ancestral spirits; a personal spirit; animal spirits, deceased spirits or ghosts and evil spirits. Their beliefs were founded - like every other aspect of their life - on Dreamtime myths which informed them that their world had been created by was filled with the supernatural. This was something to be taken notice of and was the basis of them being very superstitious people.

Animal Spirits: During the Dreamtime the creators made spirits of every living creature including that of every animal, bird, reptile, insect and form of marine life (etc). Wherever they rested the creators left the spirits of living creatures behind them. This was the origin of life. The Aborigines believed they were intrinsically linked to every other 'species' because of the actions of the creators. They also believed that it was their personal responsibility to ensure the continuation of 'animal' life through the concept of taking care. This involved the singing of songs and performing of ceremonies which were believed to ensure the continuation of the birth of each species.

During the Dreamtime the creators had metamorphosed into various forms of animals, birds and other species. Individuals were linked to the creators through totemic relationships and did not eat their personal totem. To do so would be a form of cannibalism. The practice had the effect of providing a safe sanctuary for different species.

ATSI people also believed that particular animal spirits could harm living people. For example they believed that killing a willy-wagtail would result in the spirit of this bird becoming angry and to the creation of storms of violence which could destroy others.

Evil Spirits: A number of Dreamtime stories related stories of evil spirits. One Queensland story recorded by A.W. Howitt told of a group who went to hunt and fish leaving behind two boys in camp, with instructions not to leave the camp: The boys played about for a time in the camp, and then getting tired of it, went down to the beach where a Thugine came out of the sea, and being always on the watch for unprotected children, caught the two boys and turned them into rocks that now stand between Double Island Point and Inskip Point and have deep water close to them. 'Here you see', the old men used to say, 'the result of not paying attention to what you are told by your elders'."

The Thugine mentioned in this story is one of hundreds of evil spirits whose evil deeds were recorded in stories and songs. Along the south-east coast of New South Wales evil spirits were and are known as Goonges. Generally speaking contemporary Aboriginal people still believe in these spirits. For example if they go to a particular area they believe they must be invited to stay there; if they are not welcome they will feel this and to remain there under these circumstances will result in being punished. Punishment may mean death or injury and this may extend to other members of a family. Some areas are forbidden to women because the male spirits that are believed to live there will punish them if they disobey the trespassing laws.

Beliefs in spirits and ghosts among Aboriginal Australians was common to all tribes throughout the continent, although there were a number of variations in the actual names that were used to describe them. Contextually the beliefs were one aspect of Aboriginal culture and need to be understood from their perspective. Modern day Western understanding tends to 'see' body, mind and spirit as separate entities, which we somehow or other manage to unite into concepts of person or oneness. This understanding can lead to skepticism about spirit as this has largely become associated with religious beliefs. Traditional Aborigines did not think this way. They certainly understood the separate concepts of body and spirit, but in such a way that they seen as being united with other people and every other living creature, in a unique oneness. This applied to the past, present and future in an ontology (philosophy) that humanism, rationalism and science cannot understand.

The Australian Aborigines believed that the land they lived in (and owned) along with all it contained (every rock, tree, waterhole and cave), was created for them during the Dreamtime.

In some areas of the continent the creators were all-powerful figures such as Biami. In other areas creation was the result of the actions of ancestral heroes and heroines. In Central Australia the Tnatantja Pole was responsible for forming mountain ranges and valleys.

Magic

Because Aboriginal society was very spiritual (in the sense that spirits were thought to have made the land and were responsible for birth and sometimes death),it is not surprising that Aboriginal people 'believed' in magic.

It was practiced in a number of ways. For example through the pointing of the bone (sometimes called singing someone) which was believed to cause death. People who had been 'pointed' often died, not as a result of the magic itself, but because of their belief that they would die ie., death through superstition or imagination. In the same way, people were 'cured' of sickness / illness through the use of magic stones and crystals.

Initiations

Boys began a period of initiation from when they were 7 or 8 years of age. The first initiation ceremonies they attended were designed to make them independent on their mothers and other females. At other ceremonies and meetings with older males they were informed about the history and customs of the tribe and were taught how to survive and to be dependent on other males. Initiation continued over a number of years and boys gradually acquired knowledge through learning stories, attending ceremonies and through education by initiated males.

Pain endurance was an important part of initiation of males and was considered to be manly. In theEora / Dharawal tribe teenage boys attended a tooth evulsion ceremony when a front tooth was knocked out during the ceremony. In some tribes boys were circumcised at puberty as a pain endurance test.

Initiation was also a time of obedience as boys were expected to comply with food and other taboos during this time. For example Louisa Atkinson reported in her reminiscences of knowing the Aborigines of the south coast of New South Wales (published as A Voice in the Country: Sydney Mail 19th September 1863), that two boys of the Picton area disobeyed a food taboo and were punished by death.

'For some time the lads are not permitted to mingle with the tribe, or eat particular food. The tooth is knocked out by the point of a boomerang...should they disobey the regulations deadly consequences ensue. This report goes on to report that two initiates killed and ate a duck. Mullich (a Koradji or Clever Man of the area)discovered what they had done: in consequence the lads were surprised when asleep, stunned by a blow of a club, and an insidious poison, administered to them, under which they sank in about three months.

Girls did not participate in initiation ceremonies. At puberty they were married and went to live with their husband. However, their mothers and other women prepared them in knowledge about their bodies and sexual intercourse. Ceremonies included ritual bathing, separation from the main tribal group for varying periods of time and food taboos.

Elders

Traditional Aboriginal people had great respect for older people such as Grandfathers and Grandmothers. However old age, seniority or maturity were not sufficient for a person to be considered an Elder.

Elders (who were usually males), were people who were considered to be wise in tribal knowledge and worldly matters. They were leaders of family or kinship groups who made decisions about moving camp, when boys would be initiated, when girls would be married and settled disputes among other members of the social unit.

Senior females were not considered to be Elders in traditional Aboriginal society. However they did play important roles in tribal matters. For example they decided when girls would undergo rituals in preparation for marriage, conducted or organized ceremonies including those that males and children participated in (but not initiation ceremonies). They also acted as midwives and story-tellers.

Today some Aboriginal people call themselves Elders but are not recognized by traditional people. Sometimes because they are too young to be Elders or live in areas that is not their traditional land. There are also a number of female Elders in society today, but this seems to be an adaptation of the traditional leadership laws. However Aboriginal laws are not and probably never have been static and there is a great need today, for female Aborigines to be involved in achieving rights, recognition and reforms for all ATSI people.

One important aspect of traditional Aboriginal life was the custom of being led by Elders (see Elders). However, Governor Lachlan Macquarie set about changing Aboriginal society by awarding some Aboriginal people with a Brass plates and calling them Kings. This was a breach of traditional tribal laws, but the people who accepted these titles were those 1) who were considered by the authorities to have shown an inclination to accept the new way of life under British Law or 2) to those who had led exploration parties.

Britain was of course based on a monarchy and various Governors and settlers such as Alexander Berry in the Shoalhaven district also rewarded some Aborigines with the title of King. Females were not awarded brass plates as Queens. But the men who accepted the title of King were eager to have it known that their wives were Queens and their children Princes and Princesses. Circa 1810 to 1820 (the period when Governor Macquarie was in charge of the colony), there were many inter-tribal disputes over the awarding of brass plates. In other words the traditional people of various areas resented those Aborigines who did not belong to their tribe, or who had not become Elders, accepting European titles and being styled as Kings over their traditional lands.(also see Brass Plates on our Historical Pages which includes a photograph).

Lore

Aboriginal lore was an important and vital aspect of community life. Lore means 'the facts and stories about a particular subject or topic'. For example Aboriginal people learned their 'laws' from those Dreamtime stories that informed the listeners about acceptable and unacceptable behavior together with the punishment offenders received.

The lore's / laws were serious as they were considered to have originated from the ancestors and therefore were considered to be the law-givers or law-makers and law was an important aspect of Aboriginal life. On the other hand there were those early colonists who believed that the Aborigines were a lawless race of people. They accused them (as some do today), of having a genetic 'fault' as natural thieves and murderers.

It is certainly true that the Aborigines of the Sydney district stole axes and other weapons from the colonists. But history records this as happening after their own weapons and tools were stolen by the convicts (who sold them to sailors who took them back to England to sell them). This is not a justification. It is a simple fact that the Aborigines considered it quid pro quo ie., good enough to steal from those who stole from them.

They also stole corn, potatoes and other food from the early settlers. Perhaps they were starving. On the other hand the early colonists were struggling to survive in the colony and the Aborigines may have stolen their food as a strategy to drive them out of their land. Murder was also exacted by the Aborigines. They believed that anyone who shot one of them should be punished and exacted this on the Europeans.

Aboriginal lore (in songs and stories about a particular topic) also taught and guided the people to survive. Some stories informed them about the life cycle of birds, animals and insects. Others (often called Songlines) were like oral road maps and identified tracks that the people followed when moving around their tribal territory or when visiting other tribes.

Aboriginal lore (law) required a person who did not 'belong' to a particular area, to be invited or granted permission, to enter into the territory of a tribe. In other words, he or she could not simply wander into the land of another tribe. To do so invited hostility that could result in the death of the individual for trespassing.

When someone wanted to visit another tribe, they carried a message stick - a piece of bark or timber that was decorated with symbols. These symbols have sometimes been said to have been a written form of language. This is not correct. But they were a form of passport that identified the intent or authority of the bearer and 'communication' took place verbally (or by sign language), between the 'stranger' and those whom s/he wanted to visit. "The passing of a boundary line by the blacks of another territory was considered as an act of hostility against the denizens of the invaded grounds, and wars were frequently the sequence of such transgressions." (The Aborigines of Australia, Roderick J Flanagan, 1888, pp 46)

Bora

Bora ceremony 1898

A Bora is the name given both to an initiation ceremony of Indigenous Australians, and to the site on which the initiation is performed. At such a site, boys achieve the status of men. The initiation ceremony differs from culture to culture, but often involves circumcision and scarification, and may also involve the removal of a tooth or part of a finger. The ceremony, and the process leading up to it, involves the learning of sacred songs, stories, dances, and traditional lore. Many different clans will assemble to participate in an initiation ceremony.

The word Bora was originally from South-East Australia, but is now often used throughout Australia to describe an initiation site or ceremony. It is called a Burbung in the language of the Darkinjung, to the North of Sydney. The name is said to come from that of the belt worn by initiated men. The appearance of the site varies from one culture to another, but it is often associated with stone arrangements, rock engravings, or other art works. Women are generally prohibited from entering a bora.

In South East Australia, the Bora is often associated with the creator-spirit Baiame. In the Sydney region, large Earth mounds were made, shaped as long bands or simple circles. Sometimes the boys would have to pass along a path marked on the ground representing the transition from childhood to manhood, and this path might be marked by a stone arrangement or by footsteps, or mundoes, cut into the rock. In other areas of South-East Australia, a Bora site might consist of two circles of stones, and the boys would start the ceremony in the larger, public, one, and end it in the other, smaller, one, to which only initiated men are admitted. Matthews (1897) gives an excellent eye-witness account of a Bora ceremony, and explains the use of the two circles.

Bora rings, found in South-East Australia, are circles of foot-hardened earth surrounded by raised embankments. They were generally constructed in pairs (although some sites have three), with a bigger circle about 22 metres in diameter and a smaller one of about 14 metres. The rings are joined by a sacred walkway. While most are confined to south east Queensland and eastern New South Wales, five earth rings have been recorded near the Victorian town of Sunbury, although Aboriginal use has not been documented.

Bora rings in the form of circles of individually placed stones are evident in Werrikimbe National Park in northern New South Wales.

The Aborigines in some parts of Australia the tribes called the places where initiation ceremonies were held, bora grounds. They were called Buna grounds in other parts of the country, but the sites were not randomly chosen and were used for thousands of years by the tribe. The bora ground itself was identified by two circles that were drawn on the ground or were formed by rocks or pebbles. The circles were connected by a path and other symbols were drawn into the earth or carved into trees near the grounds. These symbols were highly significant in ceremonies and also warned people (women and uninitiated youths and strangers), to stay away from the area.

Shaman

Almost all of the Koori (preferred name of Australian aboriginies) shaman are initiated within one large group, called "The Dreamers". This is due to the fact that Australia has some of the strongest, and chaotic magic, around. All of the shaman are needed to put a check on that chaos. A Koori shaman takes only a small penalty for some tasks when astrally perceiving. As a trade off they are unable to mask. Any magician (full or adept) will notice this, whether or not he can assence. Mundanes even can tell when one of The Dreamers has entered the room. A Koori shaman will rarely travel outside of Australia, the need is too great in the outback for that. White Australian shamans cannot join the dreamers, but some are associated with the koori group.

Baiame

The Australian aboriginal shamans - "clever men" or "men of high degree" - described "celestial ascents" to meet with the "sky gods" such as Baiame, Biral, Goin and Bundjil. Many of the accounts of ritualistic initiation bare striking parallels to modern day UFO contactee and abduction lore. The aboriginal shamanic "experience of death and rising again" in the initiation of tribal "men of high degree" finds some fascinating parallels with modern day UFO abduction lore involving the Gray Aliens. The "chosen one" (either voluntarily or spontaneously) is set upon by "spirits", ritualistically "killed", and then experiences a wondrous journey (generally an aerial ascent to a strange realm) to met the "sky god." He is restored to life -- a new life as the tribal shaman.

Wondjina Figures - Gray Aliens

Aboriginal Art

Ritual death and resurrection, abduction by powerful beings, ritual removal or rearrangement of body parts, symbolic disembowelment, implanting of artifacts, aerial ascents and journeys into strange realms, alien tutelage and enlightenment, personal empowerment, and transformation - these and many other phenomena are recurring elements of the extraordinary shamanic tradition.

The Australian aboriginal shamans - "clever men" or "men of high degree" -- described "celestial ascents" to meet with the "sky gods" such as Baiame, Biral, Goin and Bundjil. Many of the accounts of ritualistic initiation bare striking parallels to modern day UFO contactee and abduction lore. The aboriginal shamanic "experience of death and rising again" in the initiation of tribal "men of high degree" finds some fascinating parallels with modern day UFO abduction lore. The "chosen one" (either voluntarily or spontaneously) is set upon by "spirits", ritualistically "killed", and then experiences a wondrous journey (generally an aerial ascent to a strange realm) to met the "sky god." He is restored to life - a new life as the tribal shaman.

Ritual death and resurrection, abduction by powerful beings, ritual removal or rearrangement of body parts, symbolic disembowelment, implanting of artifacts, aerial ascents and journeys into strange realms, alien tutelage and enlightenment, personal empowerment, and transformation - these and many other phenomena are recurring elements of the extraordinary shamanic tradition.

Aboriginal Dreamtime

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Australian Aborigines - Indigenous Australians - Crystalinks

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Australian Aborigines - Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia, descended from groups that existed in Australia and surrounding islands prior to European colonization.

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Australia cf) Newzealand

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남쪽 하늘에는 남십자성(2분만 보세요)

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남쪽 하늘에는 남십자성(2분만 보세요)

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북쪽 하늘에 북극성이 있다면 남쪽 하늘에는 남십자성이 있다ㅣ그리스 신화ㅣ켄타우로스 자리ㅣ하늘의 역사 2강ㅣ박석재 원장

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[Phil Jang의 호주 이야기⑨] 호주는 왜 ‘백호주의’를 포기했나?

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Next News Network. 아시아 각국 베테랑 필진이 기고하는 아시아 뉴스 플랫폼

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An Acknowledgement of Country is an opportunity for anyone to show respect for Traditional Owners and the continuing connection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to Country.

It can be offered by any person and like a Welcome to Country, is given at the beginning of a meeting, speech or event.

There is no specific wording for an Acknowledgement of Country, just be sincere and, if possible, do some research on the Country you are acknowledging.

Suggested wording could include:

I’d like to begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the land on which we meet today. I would also like to pay my respects to Elders past and present.

I’d like to begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the land on which we meet today, the (people) of the (nation) and pay my respects to Elders past and present.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples may also wish to acknowledge their own mob/s and other First Nations peoples present.

An Acknowledgement of Country can be expressed on behalf of an organisation in different forms of communications, such as email signature blocks, websites, and on social media, for example:

Reconciliation Australia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia. We pay our respects to Elders past and present.

Acknowledgement of Country can be adapted and expanded to reflect different contexts. For example an author might acknowledge that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are the land’s first storytellers; or a meeting of scientists might Acknowledge the contributions and sophistication of First Nations knowledges.

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Reconciliation Australia acknowledges and pays respect to the past, present and future Traditional Custodians and Elders of this nation and the continuation of cultural, spiritual and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should be aware that this website contains images or names of people who have passed away.

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Acknowledgement of Country and Welcome to Country - Reconciliation Australia

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There are many ways to appropriately Acknowledge Country or Welcome to Country, so it is key to learn and understand the differences between them, and why they are important. Incorporating Acknowledgement of Country and Welcome to Country into meetings, gatherings, and events shows respect by upholding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural protocols.

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Everlyn Sampi, Tianna Sansbury, Laura Monaghan, David Dalaithngu, Kenneth Branagh, Deborah Mailman, Jason Clarke, Ningali Lawford, Myarn Lawford, Garry McDonald, Roy Billing, Andrew S. Gilbert, Ken Radley

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In 1930s Australia, three Indigenous young girls are brutally torn away from their mother and sent over 1600km away - a distance they will attempt to overcome in order to return home.

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The AIATSIS Map of Indigenous Australia provides further information on Traditional Owners.

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The AIATSIS Map of Indigenous Australia provides further information on Traditional Owners.

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'What was before Lord Vestey born and I born? It was blackfella country.' Vincent Lingiari (Wattie Creek 1966)

Australia's First Peoples have been living on the Australian continent for millenia.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australia is made up of many different and distinct groups, each with their own culture, customs, language and laws. They are the world's oldest surviving culture; cultures that continue to be expressed in dynamic and contemporary ways.

The AIATSIS map serves as a visual reminder of the richness and diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australia. It was created in 1996 as part of the Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia project and attempts to show language, social or nation groups based on published sources available up to 1994.

The map shows only the general locations of larger groups of people which may include smaller groups. There are also variations in the way that some language or group names are spelt. You can view some of these alternate spellings on the list of alternate spellings for names on the AIATSIS map of Indigenous Australia below.

Note that the borders between groups are purposefully represented as slightly blurred and are not meant to be exact. Some of the information shown on the map is contested and may not be agreed to by some traditional custodians - the map isn't suitable for native title or other land claims.

The map isn't the only source of information; if you would like more information about Australian Indigenous languages please see our Austlang database. The National Native Title Tribunal also produces maps that show native title claims determinations.

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The AIATSIS map serves as a visual reminder of the richness and diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australia.

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공식 초상(2022년 모습)

오스트레일리아의 제31대 총리

임기

2022년 5월 23일 ~ 현재

오스트레일리아 노동당의 대표

임기

2019년 5월 27일 ~ 현재

신상정보

출생일

1963년 3월 2일(59세)

앤서니 노먼 앨버니지(Anthony Norman Albanese, 1963년 3월 2일~ )는 오스트레일리아의 정치인으로, 오스트레일리아 노동당 소속이다. 케빈 러드 내각에서 부총리를 지냈으며 2019년부터 오스트레일리아 노동당 대표로 활동했다. 2022년 총선에서 오스트레일리아 노동당을 승리로 이끌어 오스트레일리아의 총리 에 올랐다.

시드니에서 태어나 성모 마리아 성당학교에서 수학했으며, 후에 시드니 대학교에서 경제학을 전공했다. 학창 시절 노동당에 입당했으며, 정계 입문 전까지 평당원 및 검찰연구관으로 활동했다. 1996년 총선 당시 뉴사우스웨일스주 그레인들러 선거구에 출마해 국회의원으로 당선되었으며, 2001년 예비 내각의 각료로 임명되었다.

2007년 총선에서 노동당이 승리하자, 올버니즈는 사회기반시설, 교통, 지역개발, 지방정부 장관이자 하원의장으로 임명되었다. 2010년부터 2013년까지 길라드와 러드 사이의 갈등을 공개적으로 비판했지만, 두 사람 밑에서 각료직은 유지했다. 2013년 6월 전당대회 에 출마해 당 부대표로 선출되었으며, 당일 제15대 연방 부총리에 취임했다.

2013년 총선에서 노동당이 패한 후 전당대회에 출마해 빌 쇼튼과 맞붙었다. 당 역사상 평당원의 참여가 허용된 첫 전당대회였으며, 평당원의 지지를 받았으나 국회의원의 압도적인 지지를 받은 빌 쇼튼 에 밀려 낙선했다. 이후 쇼튼의 예비 내각의 입각했다.

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앤서니 앨버니지 - 위키백과, 우리 모두의 백과사전

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공식 초상(2022년 모습) 오스트레일리아의 제31대 총리 임기 2022년 5월 23일 ~ 현재 오스트레일리아 노동당의 대표 임기 2019년 5월 27일 ~ 현재 신상정보 출생일 1963년 3월 2일(59세) 앤서니 노먼 앨버니지(Anthony Norman Albanese, 1963년 3월 2일~ )는 오스트레일리아의 정치인으로, 오스트레일리아 노동당 소속이다. 케빈 러드 내각에서 부총리를 지냈으며 2019년부터 오스트레일리아 노동당 대표로 활동했다.

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"장애인 연금 수급자인 싱글맘의 아들이자, 공공주택에서 자란 제가 호주 총리가 됐습니다. 제 인생 여정이 많은 호주인에게 영감이 되길 바랍니다."

노동당 후보 앤서니 앨버니지(Anthony Albanese·59)는 5월 21일(이하 현지시각) 호주 31번째 총리로 당선된 후 기념 연설에서 평탄하지만은 않았던 자신의 인생을 회고했다. 호주 최초의 비영국계 총리가 된 앨버니지는 "당신이 어디서 살든, 누구를 믿든, 누구를 사랑하든, 당신의 이름이 무엇이든, 이 모든 것이 당신의 인생을 제약하지 않는 국가로 지속되기를 희망한다"라고 했다.

당선 연설에서 말했듯 앨버니지의 인생 여정은 여느 정치인과는 달랐다. 그는 1963년 시드니 서부에 있는 캠퍼다운에서 태어나 아일랜드 출신 홀어머니 아래서 자랐다. 미혼모였던 어머니는 그에게 '네가 태어나기도 전에 아버지가 교통사고로 사망했다'고 말했다. 하지만 그는 14세 때 "크루즈로 유럽 여행을 하던 중 이탈리아인 승무원을 만나 너를 임신했다"는 진실을 듣게 됐다. 이미 약혼자가 있었던 아버지는 그의 어머니와 결혼할 수 없었고, 어머니는 두 사람의 관계를 비밀에 묻었다. 앨버니지는 2002년 어머니가 사망하자 아버지를 찾아 나섰고, 2009년 46세가 돼서야 아버지와 두 명의 이복형제를 만날 수 있었다.

그의 유년 시절은 풍족하지 않았다. 만성 류머티즘성 관절염을 앓았던 어머니는 임시직 청소부로 일하며 벌어온 돈과 장애연금으로 앨버니지를 키웠다. 돈이 부족할 때는 이웃에게 음식을 얻어 그에게 먹이곤 했다. 어머니는 한 남성을 만나 결혼하기도 했으나, 알코올 중독자였던 새 아버지가 학대를 일삼는 바람에 두 달도 안 돼 헤어지고 말았다. 그는 12세 때 자신이 살던 공공주택의 임대료가 크게 인상되려 하자, 다른 세입자들과 연대하며 이를 막았다. 앨버니지는 "나는 자라면서 '정부가 사람들의 삶을 변화시킬 수 있다'는 사실을 알게 됐다"며 "내가 정치에 입문한 계기"라고 말한 바 있다.

하지만 앨버니지의 어머니는 어려운 환경에서도 그에게 많은 걸 해주려고 애썼다. 앨버니지는 가족 중 유일하게 고등학교 과정을 마친 사람이자, 대학에 진학한 사람이 될 수 있었다. 시드니대학에서 경제학을 전공했으며 학창 시절 노동당 평당원으로 활동하기 시작했다. 그는 "어머니는 나에게 무조건적인 사랑을 줬고, 자신이 한 번도 하지 못했던 경험을 나에게 시켜주려고 지원해줬다"며 "나 또한 나의 아들을 위해 더 나은 세상을 만드는 것이 목표"라고 했다.

앨버니지는 1996년 서른셋의 나이로 뉴사우스웨일스주 그레인들러 지역구에서 하원의원으로 당선돼 정치인의 길을 걷기 시작했다. 2001년부터 예비내각에 참여했고, 2007년 케빈 러드 총리 시절 인프라 및 교통부 장관이 됐다. 2013년 당 부대표 및 연방 부총리에 취임했지만, 노동당이 총선에서 패해 10주 만에 물러났다가 2019년 당 대표가 됐다.

인권, 빈곤, 환경, 의료 문제에 목소리를 높여왔던 앨버니지는 정치 경력 20여 년 만에 총리로 올라섰다. 그는 호주 정부가 수립된 지 121년 만에 처음으로 영국계가 아닌 총리이자, 빈곤한 유년 시절을 경험한 총리가 됐다. 노동당은 8년 9개월 만에 자유·국민 연합을 누르고 정권교체에 성공했다.
연결 포인트 1
노동당 집권으로 호주·중국 관계 개선 가능할까
앨버니지 집권으로 얼어붙었던 호주와 중국의 관계도 점차 개선될 수 있을지 관심이 쏠린다. 양국 관계는 2018년 호주 정부가 중국 기업 화웨이의 호주 5G(5세대 이동통신) 사업 참여를 금지하며 악화했다. 양측 관계는 2020년 4월 모리슨 총리가 코로나19 기원(起源)에 대한 국제 조사를 지지하면서 무역 전쟁으로 치달았다. 중국은 호주산 육류와 석탄 수입을 금지하고, 호주산 보리와 와인에는 관세를 부과했고, 호주는 쿼드(Quad, 미·일·호주·인도 안보협의체), 오커스(AUKUS, 미·영·호주 안보동맹) 등 대중 견제 노선에 동참하며 맞섰다.

최근 중국이 호주 북동쪽에서 약 2000㎞ 떨어진 솔로몬제도와 '질서 유지를 위해 무장경찰을 파견할 수 있다'는 내용의 안보 협정을 체결하면서, 양국 갈등은 더욱 불이 붙었다. 앨버니지는 선거 운동 당시 모리슨 총리에게 "중국과 솔로몬제도 간 안보협정은 외교정책 실패"라며 "제2차 세계대전 이후 가장 큰 실패라고 볼 수도 있다"고 비판했다.

중국은 앨버니지 당선 후 친중국 노선인 노동당 정부 출범을 환영하며 양국 관계 개선에 대한 기대를 드러냈다. 리커창(李克强) 중국 총리는 앨버니지 총리에게 보낸 축전에서 "호주와 과거를 돌아보고 미래를 내다보기 위해 협력할 준비가 돼 있다. 포괄적인 전략 동반자 관계를 발전시키자"고 말한 것으로 전해졌다. 다만 앨버니지는 "호주의 대중국 정책엔 어떤 변화도 없을 것"이라는 의사를 밝혀왔다. 그는 5월 23일 열린 취임 기자회견에서도 "변한 것은 호주가 아니라 중국"이라고 지적하고 "호주는 언제나 우리의 가치를 지켜야 한다"고 강조했다. 그는 이날 도쿄에서 열린 쿼드 정상회의에 참석, 미국과 일본의 대중국 견제 행보에 동참하기도 했다.

치열한 선거를 거쳐 당선된 앨버니지에게 탄탄대로만 남은 건 아니다. 그는 호주의 치솟는 인플레이션으로 어려워진 국민 생계를 해결해야 한다. 지난 3월 기준 호주의 연간 물가상승률은 5.1%까지 치솟으며 2001년 이후 최고치를 기록했고 주택 가격까지 폭등해 국민의 불만이 커진 상황이다. 자유·국민 연합 정권 10년간 적자가 지속되며, 총부채는 1조달러(약 1291조원)를 넘어선 상황이다. 앨버니지는 선거운동 때부터 "임금을 뺀 모든 것이 오르고 있다"며 "집권당이 인플레이션 문제를 제대로 처리하지 못하고 있다"고 비판했다. 그는 공약으로 일자리 확대, 아동·노인 돌봄 예산 확대, 최저임금 5.1% 인상 등을 내세우며 "취약계층의 생활비 상승 고통을 완화시키겠다"고 공언해왔다. 하지만 우크라이나·러시아 전쟁 등 대내외적 변수로 치솟는 인플레이션을 잡기란 어려운 상황이다.

기후 변화 대응도 주요 과제다. 지난 3년간 호주에서는 기후 변화로 인한 기록적인 산불과 최악의 가뭄, 홍수가 발생해 500명이 넘는 사람이 목숨을 잃었다. 세계 최대 산호초 지대인 호주 그레이트 배리어 리프도 대규모 백화현상으로 피해를 봤다.

앨버니지는 2030년까지 탄소 배출량을 43% 감축하겠다고 공약했다. 모리스 전 총리의 목표(2005년 대비 26% 감축)보다 높은 수준이다. 석탄 의존도가 높아 1인당 탄소 배출량이 전 세계 순위권에 뽑힐 정도로 높은 편이기 때문에 전기차 구입을 촉진하고, 재생에너지 투자도 늘리기로 했다. 그는 당선 연설에서 "호주가 기후전쟁을 끝낼 기회를 얻었다"고 강조했다.

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빈민촌서 태어난 사생아 '앤서니 앨버니지', 호주 총리 오르다

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"장애인 연금 수급자인 싱글맘의 아들이자, 공공주택에서 자란 제가 호주 총리가 됐습니다. 제 인생 여정이 많은 호주인에게 영감이 되길 바랍니다." 노동당 후보 앤서니 앨버니지(Anthony Albanese·59)는 5월 21일(이하 현지시각) 호주 31번째 총리로 당선된 후 기념 연설에서 평탄하지만은 않았던 자신의 인생을 회고했다.

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이 넓은 호주 대륙 95%가 텅텅 비어 있는 이유 1분만에 알아보자.

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이 넓은 호주 대륙 95%가 텅텅 비어 있는 이유 1분만에 알아보자.

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이 넓은 호주 대륙 95%가 텅텅 비어 있는 이유 1분만에 알아보자.

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정말 무지막지하게 강한 동물들이 사는 호주

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정말 무지막지하게 강한 동물들이 사는 호주

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정말 무지막지하게 강한 동물들이 사는 호주

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Australia's climate wars: a decade of dithering

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Wombat 네모난 똥을 싸는 호주의 귀여운 동물 

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Wombat 네모난 똥을 싸는 호주의 귀여운 동물 

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네모난 똥을 싸는 호주의 귀여운 동물

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네모난 똥을 싸는 호주의 귀여운 동물#shorts

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한반도 면적 85%가 불에 탔다고

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Global Reef Expedition: Great Barrier Reef(26:09)

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Global Reef Expedition: Great Barrier Reef(26:09)

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Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation

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Global Reef Expedition: Great Barrier Reef

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The Kid LAROI, Justin Bieber - STAY (Official Video)

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Australians all let us rejoice,
For we are young and free;
We've golden soil and wealth for toil;
Our home is girt by sea;
Our land abounds in nature's gifts
Of beauty rich and rare;
In history's page, let every stage
Advance Australia Fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia Fair.

Beneath our radiant Southern Cross
We'll toil with hearts and hands;
To make this Commonwealth of ours
Renowned of all the lands;
For those who've come across the seas
We've boundless plains to share;
With courage let us all combine
To Advance Australia Fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia Fair.

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National anthem of Australia - Advance Australia Fair (lyrics)

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Australia Currency | Australian Dollar. 알록달록하다. 5달러는 알겠고 다른 화폐 인물들이 궁금

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What Type of Money Do They Use in Australia?

Australia's national currency is the Australian dollar (AUD) which comes in polymer (plastic) notes of $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100. Coins are in 5, 10, 20 and 50 cent denominations as well as $1 and $2 denominations.

What is the US to Australian Dollar Exchange Rate?

The exchange rate from USD to AUD varies, although generally the USD is about $.09-$.4 stronger than the AUD. This means $1.00 USD is equivalent to approximately $1.40 AUD on average. Currently $1.00 US dollar to the Australian dollar is equivalent to $1.46 AUD. Comparing Australian currency to the United States dollar, $1.00 Australian dollar is equivalent to $0.68 USD. To check the current exchange rate at any time, go to http://www.xe.com/.

Credit Cards Accepted in Australia

MasterCard and Visa are both commonly accepted in Australia followed by Diners Club cards, accepted in many places, as well as limited acceptance of American Express. Discover credit card is generally accepted in Australia.

Credit card issuers commonly charge anywhere from 1% to 3% for purchases made in other countries.

Before traveling, contact the bank that issued your credit card or debit card and ask about their fees.

Debit cards normally have lower fees, but be sure to check all your options. You'll rarely get charged extra by a store in Australia for using a credit card to make a purchase; however you can look for signs or ask the cashier before using your card just to be safe.

ATMs are available throughout Australia. When you contact your bank before traveling, ask if they partner with any banks in Australia that will allow you to use their ATMs without a charge.
Before traveling to Australia, be sure to contact your bank and inform them that you will be traveling and using your credit card overseas. If you fail to inform your bank of your travel plans, your card may be put on hold and you will not have immediate access to your account!

Traveling to Australia? Need help planning your trip, such as finding the best time to go to Australia or the best vacation spots? We'd love to help you!

Contact Us toll free on 888-3592877 (8.30am-5pm, M-F, CT USA)

We're Experts at custom vacations to Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific. Tell us your interests, preferred travel dates and we'll custom build your trip to Australia and send you a Quote (no obligation).

Start planning your next vacation right now! Get A Free Quote

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Australia Currency | Australian Dollar and US Exchange Rate

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Australia's national currency is the Australian dollar (AUD) which comes in polymer (plastic) notes of $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100. Coins are in 5, 10, 20 and 50 cent denominations as well as $1 and $2 denominations. The exchange rate from USD to AUD varies, although generally the USD is about $.09-$.4 stronger than the AUD.

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호주 지폐에 숨겨진 의미와 인물들 이야기

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호주 지폐에 숨겨진 의미와 인물들 이야기

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호주 지폐에 숨겨진 의미와 인물들 이야기

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Pronunciation Differences Between American vs. British English 미국 영어와 영국 영어의 5가지 발음 차이

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Pronunciation Differences Between American vs. British English 미국 영어와 영국 영어의 5가지 발음 차이

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5 Pronunciation Differences btw American and British English [Korean Billy]

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영국영어와 미국영어의 4가지 발음 차이(4 Pronunciation Differences btw British and American English) [Korean Billy]

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Best Things to Do

Experience the very best of Australia with this guide to the country's top things to do.

Things to Know

Understand what's really important in Australia with this guide to things to know before you go.

Transportation

Find your way around Australia with our top tips for road trips, internal flights and long-distance coach and train services.

Visa Requirements

Planning a trip to Australia? Don't forget your visa! Here's everything you need to know about the proper paperwork for tourists.

Money and Costs

Australia is not a cheap destination, but with these money-saving tips, you can stretch your budget further.

Best Road Trips

See some of Australia's icons with these top road-tripping routes.

Traveling with Kids

From its tropical reefs to its snow-covered mountains, Australia is the ultimate family travel destination. Here's what you need to know.

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23 of the best things to do in Australia

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Explore Australia holidays and discover the best time and places to visit.

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지도로 호주탐험하기-호주정부관광청

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지도로 호주탐험하기-호주정부관광청

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지도로 호주 탐험하기 - 호주정부관광청

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이 인터랙티브 지도를 이용하면 호주의 멋진 여행지, 독특한 관광지 및 최고 인기 식당을 찾을 수 있습니다. 오늘 호주 여행을 계획해보세요.

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간단하게 알아보는 호주역사 3:26

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간단하게 알아보는 호주역사 3:26

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간단하게 알아보는 호주역사

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도둑맞은 세대 & 토끼 울타리 Stolen Generation & Rabbit Proof Fence(8:25)

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도둑맞은 세대 & 토끼 울타리 Stolen Generation & Rabbit Proof Fence(8:25)

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도둑맞은 세대 & 토끼 울타리 Stolen Generation & Rabbit Proof Fence

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'풍요의 나라' 오스트레일리아에 대한 불편한 진실

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'풍요의 나라' 오스트레일리아에 대한 불편한 진실

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'풍요의 나라' 오스트레일리아에 대한 불편한 진실

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2억 마리 토끼 토벌 작전

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시드니 오페라하우스 건설과정 (4:03)

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시드니 오페라하우스 건설과정 (4:03)

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시드니 오페라하우스 건설과정 - 호주 가기 전에 꼭 봐야 할 영상 [시드니 여행정보. 호주 여행정보]

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🇦🇺호주 랭킹 _인물편 🇦🇺 호주인종 / 호주종교 / 호주배우 / 호주여배우 / 호주이름 / 호주영어이름 / 호주유튜버 / 호주부자 / 호주연봉 / 호주총리

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호주와 뉴질랜드가 따로 분리된 진짜 이유!!

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호주와 뉴질랜드가 따로 분리된 진짜 이유!!

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호주와 뉴질랜드가 따로 분리된 진짜 이유!!

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이 3가지 호주 억양 중에 뭐를 배우면 좋을까요?

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이 3가지 호주 억양 중에 뭐를 배우면 좋을까요?

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이 3가지 호주 억양 중에 뭐를 배우면 좋을까요?

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The Higher School Certificate (HSC)
is the highest educational award in New South Wales schools. It is awarded to NSW students who have satisfactorily completed Years 11 and 12 at secondary school. To be eligible, students must meet HSC course requirements and sit for the statewide HSC examinations. The HSC is an internationally recognised credential that provides a strong foundation for students wishing to pursue tertiary qualifications, vocational training or employment.

Is the HSC a diploma?
The Higher School Certificate (HSC) is a certificate that recognises the successful completion of secondary education in New South Wales. It is a valuable pathway to further study at university or TAFE institutes, and to the world of work.

ATAR(The Australian Tertiary Admission Rank)
The requirements for ATAR are determined by the universities. The ATAR is
calculated by the Universities Admissions Centre on behalf of universities in NSW and the ACT.
Students wishing to have an ATAR calculated must ensure that this is recorded on their HSC Confirmation of Entry.
Repeating courses or changing courses within a subject area (eg changing from HSC English Advanced and English Extension 1, to HSC English Standard) may have implications for the calculation of a student's ATAR.

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NESA is regularly updating its advice as the coronavirus outbreak unfolds. Get our latest COVID-19 advice

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The Higher School Certificate (HSC) Results and School Rankings-2022

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The Higher School Certificate (HSC) Results and School Rankings-2022

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The following table ranks top 200 or all (available via All button) NSW high schools based on the percentage of exams sat that achieved a DA (Distinguished Achievers) in HSC 2022. Find the best 200 high schools (HSC) in NSW here. For ALL SCHOOLS, please visit Find and compare any high school's HSC rankings and trends. If you think a school is missing, please contact us. Schools are welcome to complete HSC DA results form to get your school on this list and other pages if your school has DAs . You can also find / compare the HSC results and rankings or trends over the years of an individual school or up to 5 schools side-by-side at Compare HSC results/rankings/trends, see an example of an upward trend. Other types of rankings or lists are also available:

Government School Ranking | Selective School Ranking | Independent School Ranking | Catholic School Ranking

Best Schools by Subjects | Schools Sorted by All Rounders | Distinguished Achievers and Schools | Schools Sorted by Top Achievers | Schools Sorted by 1st Place Achievers.

[NEW] HSC and IB ATAR school rankings by percentage of ATAR of 90+, 95+, 99+, 80+ and median ATAR

For the HSC results of other years, please visit School Ranking Home . There are a large range of factors that impact on academic results in addition to the role played by the school itself. These include the SES (Socio Economic Status) background of students, whether the school is selective in its student intake, etc. It is for the reader to do his own research and draw his or her own conclusions. If you continue to browse and use this website you are agreeing to comply with and be bound by this DISCLAIMER.

FAQ: Why is there discrepancy between senior school ranking and high school rating?

Note:

1. All the columns are sort-able. To sort by School Name, Exams Sat, DA or % in ascending or descending order, click on the corresponding column headings. We don't have adequate data for a small number of schools. These schools are not listed here.

2. IB - International Baccalaureates. IB results are not included. See the list of IB Schools.

3. To find more details of the school, click the school. Most of the links will redirect to the corresponding school listing page.

4. See School Rankings Based on Academic Results for more information.

5. ATAR calculator | ATAR Cutoffs |Uni. Course Ranking | Uni. World Ranking.

6. Aim for top results? Find a tutor, amusic teacher or acoaching school.

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The following table ranks top 200 or all (available via All button) NSW high schools based on the percentage of exams sat that achieved a DA (Distinguished Achievers) in HSC 2022. Find the best 200 high schools (HSC) in NSW here. For ALL SCHOOLS, please visit Find and compare any high school's HSC rankings and trends.

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모든 고정관념을 깰 호주에 대한 50가지 사실

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모든 고정관념을 깰 호주에 대한 50가지 사실

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모든 고정관념을 깰 호주에 대한 50가지 사실

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"굴러 온 돌, 박힌 돌 뺐다"… '호주의 날' 맞은 원주민

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"굴러 온 돌, 박힌 돌 뺐다"… '호주의 날' 맞은 원주민

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[글로벌24 이슈] 호주 원주민 ‘끝나지 않은 차별’

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[글로벌24 이슈] 호주 원주민 ‘끝나지 않은 차별’

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호주 프로럭비리그 올스타전의 모습입니다.

호주 원주민 출신 선수들이 이렇게 전통춤을 선보이면서 상대편 비원주민 선수들과 멋진 승부를 다짐하는 모습입니다.

호주는 원래 백인들의 땅이 아닌 이들 원주민들의 땅이었습니다.

오랜 세월이 지났지만 여전히 이들 원주민은 뿌리 깊은 차별 때문에 힘들어하고 있습니다.

이재석 기자와 함께 호주 원주민들의 실상을 알아봅니다.

지금 이 사진을 보면 둘 다 호주 사람이지만 모습은 좀 달라요.

네, 한쪽이 백인이고, 다른 한쪽이 호주 원주민입니다.

18세기에 영국인들이 호주에 첫 발을 디뎠죠, 하지만 그 전부터 호주 대륙엔 원주민들이 살고 있었습니다.

인종이 다르죠.

원주민은 '애보리진'(Aborigine) 이라고 불리기도 합니다.

문제는 이들 원주민이 여전히 사회적 차별을 받고 있다는 거죠.

네, 그동안 원주민 지원책이 없었던 건 아니지만 여전히 뿌리 깊은 차별의식은 호주 사회의 문제가 되고 있습니다.

그래서 원주민을 차별하지 말자는 공익광고까지 나올 정도입니다.

보시겠습니다.

백인 남성 옆에 원주민이 앉습니다.

백인의 속마음은 이렇죠.

"옆에 앉지 않을 거지?"

갈등하던 백인, 멀리 떨어져 앉습니다.

원주민 여성이 가게에 들어왔습니다.

가게 주인 속마음은 이렇죠.

"무슨 짓을 할까?"

버스를 탔는데 원주민 옆자리가 비었습니다.

"눈을 마주치지 말자."

"차별은 호주 원주민들에게 절망과 불안을 줍니다. 누구도 쓸모없는 존재로 취급받아선 안 됩니다."

저런 공익광고까지 만들어질 정도라면 원주민들의 피해의식이 참 크겠어요?

1월 26일이 '호주의 날'입니다.

호주 최대의 국경일인데요,

이 날은 유럽인들이 호주에 들어온 걸 기념하는 날입니다.

하지만 원주민들 입장에서 보면 침략의 역사를 기념하는 날이기도 합니다.

지금 보시는 장면은 2012년 '호주의 날' 당시 모습인데요, 원주민들이 차별 철폐를 주장하는 시위를 벌이고 있죠.

당시 길라드 전 총리는 항의하는 시위대를 피해 겨우 행사장을 빠져나오다 구두를 잃어버리기도 했습니다.

'호주의 날'에 대한 원주민들의 솔직한 생각은 이렇습니다.

"누군가가 내 집에 들어와서 가족들에게 끔찍한 일을 저지르고 잔치를 한다는 의미죠"

"그 날은 원주민들에 대한 학살을 기념하는 날입니다."

실제 호주 원주민들이 사회적, 경제적으로 어려움이 많다고 하죠?

네, 일자리 문제나 교육 수준 등 많은 부분에서 호주 원주민들은 상대적으로 열악한 삶을 살고 있습니다.

사회적 편견과 낮은 교육 수준 때문에 좋은 일자리를 구하기가 힘든 실정입니다.

원주민들의 실업률이 다른 호주인들에 비해 2~3배 높다는 통계도 꾸준히 나오고 있습니다.

자살률도 다른 호주인들보다 2~3배 높습니다.

범죄율도 높아서 교도소에 들어가는 수감 비율이 비원주민들보다 15배 높습니다.

현재 호주 인구는 2200만 명, 원주민은 그 중 2.5%인 55만 명입니다.

그런데 호주 정부도 원주민을 위한 정책을 그동안 펴오긴 했을 텐데요.

그런데 문제는 정권이 바뀔 때마다 일관성이 흔들린다는 데 있습니다.

원주민들 지원에 비교적 호의적인 노동당이 집권할 때와 보수 성향의 자유당이 집권할 때 정책이나 분위기가 달라집니다.

2014년 자유당 토니 애벗 전 총리는 인종차별적 발언을 불법으로 규정한 조항을 개정하려다 야당과 원주민들에게 거센 반발을 사 백지화하기도 했습니다.

원주민들은 이른바 '백호주의'로 불리는 호주 사회의 보이지 않는 백인 우월주의가 없어지지 않는 한 원주민들의 삶이 나아지긴 힘들다고 말합니다.

"나는 원주민이지만 당신에게 위협이 되지 않아요. 물건을 훔치지 않아요. 교육을 받았죠. 마약을 하지 않아요. 오두막에서 살지 않아요."

호주 프로럭비리그 올스타전의 모습입니다.

인종이 다르죠.

원주민은 '애보리진'(Aborigine) 이라고 불리기도 합니다.

보시겠습니다.

백인 남성 옆에 원주민이 앉습니다.

백인의 속마음은 이렇죠.

"옆에 앉지 않을 거지?"

갈등하던 백인, 멀리 떨어져 앉습니다.

원주민 여성이 가게에 들어왔습니다.

가게 주인 속마음은 이렇죠.

"무슨 짓을 할까?"

버스를 탔는데 원주민 옆자리가 비었습니다.

"눈을 마주치지 말자."

1월 26일이 '호주의 날'입니다.

호주 최대의 국경일인데요,

자살률도 다른 호주인들보다 2~3배 높습니다.

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[글로벌24 이슈] 호주 원주민 '끝나지 않은 차별'

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호주 프로럭비리그 올스타전의 모습입니다. 호주 원주민 출신 선수들이 이렇게 전통춤을 선보이면서 상대편 비원주민 선수들과 멋진 승부를 다짐하는 모습입니다. 호주는 원래 백인들의 땅이 아닌 이들 원주민들의 땅이었습니다. 오랜 세월이 지났지만 여전히 이들 원주민은 뿌리 깊은 차별 때문에 힘들어하고 있습니다. 이재석 기자와 함께 호주 원주민들의 실상을 알아봅니다.

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호주, 여전히 '원주민 차별' 논란…어느 정도인가 보니 

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호주, 여전히 '원주민 차별' 논란…어느 정도인가 보니 

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호주, 여전히 '원주민 차별' 논란…어느 정도인가 보니 / JTBC 아침&

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1967년 오늘 호주 원주민이 헌법개정 국민투표를 통해 참정권을 획득했다. wsws.org신대륙을 장악한 유럽인들이 원주민들을 대한 방식은 예외 없이 비열하고 난폭했지만, 영국인들이 호주 원주민(Aborigines)에 가한 폭력과 차별은 무척 근원적이고도 집요했다. 백인 지배자들은 본토 애보리진과 토레스제도 원주민, 태즈메이니아인 등을 토착 동물의 한 종으

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While many people think that the Referendum gave Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples the right to vote, this wasn’t the case.

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Indigenous Constitutional Recognition: The 1967 Referendum and Today

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Indigenous Constitutional Recognition: The 1967 Referendum and Today

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Russell Taylor

This year marks the 50th anniversary of an extraordinary event in the history of Australia and I feel very privileged to be asked to share my perceptions about the nature and impact of this event.

Firstly, I should acknowledge I am neither a lawyer nor an expert on legal constitutional issues. Secondly, although I have great respect for history, I am not a trained historian, and thirdly and importantly, my comments represent my own Indigenous perspective rather than being the Indigenous perspective on the subject.

Perhaps as some indication of the integrity or legitimacy of my perspectives, I would refer to my experience of over 30 years as a senior public administrator involved in Indigenous affairs and, in particular, to the 15 year tenure as the last principal and inaugural Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS)-which ended in December last year. I am extremely proud of my long-term association with AIATSIS.

To provide a reminding 'snapshot' of the social and political environment in 1967, I will highlight the prevailing issues of the time:

Australia was still coming to grips with a new prime ministerial era involving a transition from the long-term Menzies era to the relative new administration and leadership of Harold Holt.

Domestically we continued to enjoy a long economic boom and the burgeoning mining boom was underway.

Australia's involvement in the war in Vietnam was a major cause of social and political unrest, giving rise to emerging fiscal resourcing challenges.

Sadly as an almost 'back to the future' scenario, Hobart bush fires claimed 62 lives and the 1966-67 summer was considered to be the worst cyclone season in eastern Australia on record.

The four digit national post code system was introduced and STD calls were possible in most of eastern Australia.

In the sporting arena, Red Handed won the Melbourne Cup, and, after long-term success, St George did not play in the National Rugby League Grand Final (won by the mighty South Sydney Rabbitohs) and Richmond started a new era by winning the Victorian Football League (now Australian Football League) flag.

From a broader international perspective, the 1960s were rightfully considered to be the age of protest and an era of significant reform across various important socio-political agendas (domestically and internationally) involving a number of prominent individuals as well as powerful collectives.

In May 1967, I was 19 years old and extremely unworldly and unwise regarding political matters, particularly in regard to constitutional matters. Perhaps my main concern at that time revolved around whether or not I was to be conscripted into National Service and how this might affect my life. However, despite my general unworldliness, I was nevertheless keenly aware of the discriminatory place and low social standing of Aboriginal peoples in Australia-developed in a visceral sense through the prism of the lived experience and the history of my own immediate family and kinship and community connections.

Although we were a small Aboriginal family residing in the Sydney inner city waterfront precinct of Millers Point (historically better known as 'The Rocks'), we were far from isolated from the wider Aboriginal community in Sydney (particularly in La Perouse and Redfern). As well, we were in touch (through frequent reciprocal visits and the reliable Koori 'grapevine') with family and other connections from our traditional Kamilaroi country, located in the New England area of New South Wales. Accordingly, this paper includes three components of my personal perspectives:

a short commentary about the history up to 1967 and the nature of the challenges, demands and associated campaign for national constitutional reform on Aboriginal issues

my personal recollection and perspective on the impact of the successful 1967 referendum

my perspective on aspects of the significant challenges associated with constitutional recognition currently facing the nation.

The 1967 referendum questions

The focus of this paper is the second question which was to determine whether two references in the Constitution which discriminated against Aboriginal people should be removed. The sections were:

51. The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to:

...(xxvi) the people of any race, other than the aboriginal race in any State, for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws.

Those championing constitutional reform considered that the removal of the words 'other than the aboriginal race in any State' in section 51(xxvi), as well as the entire removal of section 127, was essential for the campaign to be successful.

It is probably unnecessary for me to state that the campaign was indeed successful, and spectacularly so, because the 1967 referendum saw the highest 'yes' vote ever recorded in a federal referendum with an unprecedented 90.77 per cent vote for change. Interestingly, according to Barrie Dexter, such a successful outcome-'the size of the vote'-came as somewhat of a surprise to then Prime Minister, Harold Holt.

Until that time only four out of the previous 24 referendum questions had been successful. I make the point that politically there was a bipartisan approach to this referendum and a 'no' case was not formulated or publicly articulated. I will comment more about this later in this paper.

The campaign for reform

The demands and the formal campaign for constitutional reform in Aboriginal affairs leading to the successful 1967 referendum had a long, complex, tortuous and, to say the least, frustrating history. It involved many champions and heroes-Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal alike. In this paper I can't do justice to this struggle or to the role of individual leaders and participants, however I have attempted to paint a succinct picture of these demands-and the associated campaign supporting the 1967 referendum.

Such individual demands had long been supported by various organisations in a long history, which commenced in earnest from the early 1900s. The collective thinking, held by individuals and groups who wished for improvement in the lives and circumstances of Aboriginal peoples, was that the way to achieve such improvement was for the federal government to assume a greater (and controlling) role in Aboriginal affairs. According to Bain Attwood and Andrew Markus, these advocates:

This reform position became a common and shared objective for the various individuals and groups who championed positive change. They included a wide diversity of individuals, political representatives and academics; humanitarian, church, feminist and welfare community groups; trade union representatives and others. However, until the 1960s, such demands appeared to fall on deaf ears as far as the federal government was concerned and certainly were vehemently opposed, to varying degrees and on various grounds, by the states.

At the risk of excluding significant players in the progressive historical demands for reform, I have attempted to summarise some elements of these events and developments (from federation in 1901) and these are included in Attachment 1 to this paper.

Despite the apparent bipartisan political environment, the history of this referendum campaign in the relatively brief period prior to early 1967 involved ongoing parliamentary scrutiny and debate. Significantly, around this time the Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement (FCAA, later the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders) was established in Adelaide in 1958. At its annual conference in 1962, FCAA formally proposed to undertake a national campaign which ultimately became the successful coordinated campaign supporting the 1967 referendum.

During 1962 and 1963, the Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement ran a national petition campaign calling for constitutional change. The campaign highlighted the discriminatory national laws and policies controlling the lives of Aboriginals. It included compelling factual evidence of discrimination involving voting rights, marriage freedom, parenting rights, personal mobility restrictions, property ownership, wage rates, alcohol consumption and the diversity and inconsistency of legal settings within and between states.

Remarkably, through its efforts, the national campaign collected some 103,000 signatures in 94 separate petitions, which were presented to federal parliament and ultimately secured parliamentary support. The referendum was conducted on 27 May 1967 with the 'yes' vote carrying the day and by an overwhelming margin!

Some critique of the campaign regarding myths and/or misrepresentation

The historical records confirm that essentially the 'yes' campaign was based on the call for the attainment of 'citizenship' for Aboriginals and our emancipation from discriminatory legislative restraints on our lives and freedoms, and on enabling the federal government to make special laws for Aboriginals.

However, there is no doubt that in the appeal to the public to support the 'yes' vote, there was a degree of either deliberate or misguided misrepresentation of what the 1967 referendum was all about by those advocating reform. In making this comment, I essentially focus on key interrelated issues-citizenship, voting rights and the nature and degree of the existing legislative discrimination.

Citizenship

The Constitution makes no formal reference to citizenship-and, as others (including Paul Hasluck) have remarked, Aboriginals already had formal citizenship via the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948 (supported in various contexts by state legislation).

Voting rights

Discriminatory legislation

With regard to the discriminatory legislation existing at both a state and federal level, by around 1965 most of the discriminatory laws had been repealed by various federal and state governments (and here I emphasise that I am not referring to discriminatory administrative policies or practices and/or social discrimination but rather legislation).

By 1966, at a federal level, Aboriginal people were entitled to pensions and maternity and unemployment benefits. Progressively, in Victoria in 1957, New South Wales in 1963 and South Australia in 1966, state-based legislation was amended and repealed to remove long-standing oppressive and discriminatory laws.

At the time of the 1967 referendum, Queensland and Western Australia, where Aboriginal people still lived 'under the Act', retained discriminatory legislation covering the rights, lives and freedom of Aboriginal people (although both these states had allowed Aboriginal franchise). In so saying, I do not wish to ignore or dilute the harsh reality of oppression and discrimination still suffered by Aboriginal peoples even after discriminatory legislation had been repealed.

I would certainly not wish to do this when we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of Bringing Them Home, the 1997 report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families. This report highlighted the entrenched assimilationist policies and practices which lie at the heart of the intergenerational trauma suffered by the Stolen Generations and their families.

Sadly, I understand that many of the report's recommendations which go to supporting and healing our 'mob' have yet to be implemented. However, I am simply attempting to show that the degree and influence of discriminatory laws had positively shifted in the lead up to the 1967 referendum-although this situation did not appear to be acknowledged and was certainly not promulgated by the 1967 campaigners.

While I do not make these comments as a criticism of the campaign or the campaigners themselves, it appears to me that those involved in the campaign did misrepresent the issues at stake, either by accident or design. I also restate that the main objective of the campaign was to secure Commonwealth Government primacy in Aboriginal affairs. Obviously the campaigners shaped and presented the case to appeal to a broader societal sense of social justice and fairness, and in ways which were easily digested and understood (and thus avoided any need to articulate the specific details of the amendments and/or any complex legal interpretations relating to these changes). My points here have resonance today in the context of the current constitutional reform discourse and I will come back to this later.

Impact of the 1967 referendum

My perception of the impact of the 1967 referendum has two strands or rather two distinct and separate narratives:

the immediate and short-term impact

the longer term impact.

These two aspects of my perspective are very different to each other.
Immediate and short-term impact
In attempting to describe the immediate and short-term impact of the 1967 referendum I am reminded of one of my late father's sayings. He would utter this expression when his expectations were not met on some key issue or event of personal importance-'They promised us the world and gave us an atlas!' This expression goes some way to describing my perception of the immediate impact of the 1967 referendum.

The campaigners had predicted a brave new world for all us blackfellas and proposed that a successful referendum would bring about great and immediate beneficial reforms through greater recognition, the application of social equality and a new progressive era of Aboriginal affairs. From my personal perspective, however, nothing changed at all in our lives. When the result was announced, I recall a number of family and Aboriginal friends acting rather celebratory about the outcome (including, in particular, my grandmother who was a big fan of Faith Bandler). I personally wondered what all, or indeed any, of the fuss was about!

There was absolutely no evidence to me that anything had changed at all. Indeed, I remember my family discussions gave some prominence to the right to legally patronise and be served in hotels as an important (albeit misconstrued) outcome of the referendum-and I have no recollection whatsoever of any other discussions or mention of the census and/or expectations about changes in Aboriginal affairs. As far as I could tell the referendum outcome had no impact on any of our other Aboriginal relatives and/or friends and community connections.

Certainly, I did observe the local non-Indigenous community appeared to be very satisfied and comfortable with the outcome. I feel our local non-Indigenous friends and community assumed the outcome signalled, somehow overnight, the closure on a bad old racist Australia and the beginning of a good new non-racist country where Aboriginal people would be given 'fair go'. I also agree with the view that many non-Indigenous Australians regarded this line of thinking as an 'act of redemption', in that it resulted in all us blackfellas now being instantaneously the 'same as everyone else', enjoying the same rights and freedoms. I recall that the press coverage (and here I am mainly referring to radio broadcasts) appeared to give this impression.

So from my perspective, apart from some immediate 'feel-good' responses, in the short term the 1967 referendum had very little impact whatsoever. Similarly (and with the benefit of hindsight), it is obvious that the successive federal coalition governments-in the immediate term the Holt administration and in the longer term the Gorton and McMahon administrations-took very little, if any, action at all to alter the status quo and to assume control of Aboriginal affairs immediately following the 1967 referendum outcome. This was despite the weight of the overwhelming 'yes' vote.

Faith Bandler, one of the heroes of the successful campaign, expressed similar views:

In this context we are also heavily indebted to Barrie Dexter for his memoir, entitled Pandora's Box, about his time as a member of the three-man Council for Aboriginal Affairs (together with economist Dr H.C. 'Nugget' Coombs and esteemed anthropologist Professor Bill Stanner) and as the newly appointed head of the Office of Aboriginal Affairs, which was established by Prime Minister Holt later in 1967 following the referendum. Dexter outlines in considerable chronological detail the work of the Council in the context of public policy. In doing so he paints a most salient picture covering the five years following the referendum as a regrettable period of 'political and bureaucratic apathy and a paucity of empathy, understating of and commitment to improving Indigenous lives'.

Dexter describes the initial air of optimism when Prime Minister Holt established both the Council and the Office of Aboriginal Affairs. However, the following quote from Dexter summarises his view of the period following the referendum-and in my view appropriately describes the successive coalition governments' commitment and actions up until 1972:

So from a number of perspectives, and particularly my own, the immediate to short-term impact of the 1967 referendum was negligible.
Longer term impact
My perceptions about the longer term impact of the 1967 referendum are very different to my thoughts and negative perception about its immediate short-term impact. I consider the longer term impact to be both positive and extremely profound. I am reluctant to use the word symbolic in this context because, while the outcome could be accurately described as being symbolic in many ways, in my view the impact also had a much greater, tangible, transformative nature, and therefore is both symbolic and substantial in its historical influence.

I base this view on a variety of integrated thoughts and evidence which collectively have convinced me that the outcome of 1967 referendum does represent an unprecedented critical and momentous tipping point in the history of progressive (and regressive) developments involving Australia's Aboriginal or, as it is nowadays referred to, Indigenous affairs sector.

Regardless of any myths and/or misrepresentations, I believe very strongly that the majority of my fellow Indigenous Australians take considerable comfort, confidence and moral strength from the 1967 referendum outcome. Many of us consider the outcome to represent the historic high point in our relationship with the nation and we collectively own and cherish this historic marker, despite any pragmatic assessment of what it was all actually about.

Even if not entirely accurate, it is good to talk about citizenship in the context of the 1967 referendum as a collective marker and moral compass point regarding our existence and dignity, our cultural integrity, our quest for recognition and respect for our place in the fabric of the nation. It is good to own such a collective historic tipping point in history as I believe it acts as a uniting influence in our arguments for change and for a better world.

A new beginning

The referendum outcome was directly responsible for the involvement of the federal government in Indigenous affairs-something we take for granted today. I have no doubt the progressive public policy and administrative reforms initiated firstly by Holt through the work of the embryonic Council for Aboriginal Affairs and later, and to a much greater degree, under the Whitlam government and by successive governments (both Labor and coalition) draw from and/or owe their origins to the strident 'call to arms' represented by the positive 1967 referendum outcome. This work resulted in the dismantling of residual discriminatory laws and policies of governments and paved the way for, and supported, more enlightened approaches and developments.

Another critical and tangible (as opposed to symbolic) outcome was that the federal government was given the power to make special laws on behalf of Indigenous Australians. While as Indigenous Australians we might now question or debate whether this power has historically been used beneficially or detrimentally (for example, the Northern Territory intervention and the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 three times), there is absolutely no doubt such powers represent a substantive reform and a real outcome of the 1967 referendum.

Assimilation/self-determination and beyond

At the time, some commentators may well have considered that the overwhelming 'yes' vote appeared to validate the policy of 'assimilation' in the collective desire for equality. However, conversely it appears clear to me that the 1967 referendum, which in the longer term heralded a more enlightened policy approach, actually acted as a catalyst in the dismantling of the policy of 'assimilation'-initially into an era of 'self-determination' and then beyond.

This reform better acknowledged our existence, influence and voice as a distinct cultural group, and more accurately captured our position and aspirations as Indigenous Australians and our preferred relationship with governments. Hopefully such reforms can continue to lead to the elusive-and yet to be achieved-era of genuine 'empowerment', where the principles of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, supported by real and shared engagement with 'our mob', are central and provide the fundamental template and drivers for any federal and/or state approaches, policies and practices in Indigenous affairs.

Census

Another significant impact which owes its origins to the 1967 referendum involves the national census and its collation from 1967 of extremely significant information about the size, composition and nature of Australia's Indigenous population.

Such information is of critical importance to the public policy community (and others, including service delivery agencies and educators) and to the creation and shaping of policy, programs and projects aimed at addressing the wicked, intractable degree of intergenerational disadvantage suffered by Indigenous Australians. The national Closing the Gap campaign and associated initiatives rely upon such demographic information to provide the basis for setting aspirations, as well as for assessing progress at the various regional, state and national levels. Closing the Gap is important business and a direct and tangible result of the 1967 referendum.

Recognition and rights

I make the observation that the public policy and administration changes flowing from the 1967 referendum also coincided with-and tended to better recognise and support-emerging Indigenous collectives (for example, Aboriginal legal and health services and Aboriginal land councils) and the formation of a collective Indigenous identity and related movements.

Such groundbreaking individuals and groups sought a range of reforms (including initially land rights) but were particularly assertive in demanding greater recognition (domestically and internationally) of Indigenous Australians as a distinct, unique and resilient cultural group and as Australia's First Nations peoples. This involved recognition of both our rights as citizens as well as our special or unique rights as the First Peoples of Australia.

Professor Larissa Behrendt wrote:

The size of the 'yes' vote

It is doubtful whether the overwhelming result of 1967 would be possible today. I say this with all due respect. However, I do so knowing that political and public perceptions have diversified and shifted considerably since 1967 and, of course, in 1967 there was the absence of a 'no' case-which would be unlikely today. I provide more comment about this later in the paper when reflecting on contemporary challenges.

High point and tipping point

Similarly, as further fundamental evidence of the significant and profound impact of the 1967 referendum, I would highlight the innumerable times that the event has been and continues to be referred to in public (and other) discourse by various Indigenous thought leaders, commentators, activists, politicians, academics, public servants, educators and others. Invariably, such references provide thoughts and discussions of a comparative nature involving the circumstances and the outcomes prevailing then and those of the present.

Invariably, in this context, the 1967 event and its significance are positively judged and portrayed as having acted as a catalyst for change and as basis for right and proper consideration of Indigenous matters which need to be recognised and/or resolved.

Such common and frequent references to the 1967 referendum outcome on anniversary dates and at other special occasions serve to highlight and reaffirm the significance of the event and its impact on society. In particular the importance and significance placed on the event by both Indigenous Australians and others during such times clearly reaffirms the weighty historical impact on the nation.

So in summary, I believe the 1967 referendum to be a watershed event, extraordinarily powerful in both symbol and substance. I believe it represents both a high point and tipping point in the history of Australia as a result of:

the unprecedented success in the landslide 'yes' vote

its success in securing the federal government's involvement in Indigenous affairs, and related positive influence on dismantling discriminatory laws and policies and the breaking down of the 'assimilationist' policy regime applying up to the 1970s and since that time

its contribution to the improvement of the nation's capacity to better recognise and understand the scope and size of our Indigenous population and the degree of disadvantage suffered by Indigenous Australians-and therefore to design strategies to address such disadvantage

the beneficial impact on the nature of the relationships between Indigenous Australians, governments and mainstream Australia

its positive influence in the acceptance and recognition of Indigenous Australians as a resilient, culturally rich and unique First Nations peoples

its unifying and mobilising effect on Indigenous Australians, as individuals and collectives, in our efforts to advocate for a better future and to do so with greater support and understanding from a more informed mainstream Australia.

A parity of esteem

I wish to record further personal thoughts about both the short-term and long-term impact of the 1967 referendum-which reflect my feelings at age 19 and which remain unchanged to the present day.

I strongly feel that in addition to addressing issues of equality and equity and the associated quest to 'close the gap' in various elements of our health, education and other socio-economic indicators, Indigenous Australians share another important aspirational objective. I refer to this quest as seeking a 'parity of esteem'.

Many people who know me are aware that I have spoken about this objective often and for some time. My long-held thoughts have been most eloquently articulated more recently by Noel Pearson, who stated:

there is a basic democratic problem in our Country. Unless this nation continues to harbour that old pseudo-scientific belief in the inferiority of its Indigenous peoples-for some a matter of romantic tragedy and for others an unsentimentally brutal truth-then there is something wrong with the nation as a whole, rather than with the parlous minority.

By the attainment of a parity of esteem, I refer to the reaching of a point in time whereby Indigenous Australians and our identities, our cultures, our languages, our histories and our dignity as resilient peoples are afforded the same degree of respect as other cultures. In this and in the Australian context, I am specifically referring to the cultures collectively referred to as Western cultures.

As Indigenous Australians, as the most resilient cultural group on the planet, we are tired of being too often referred to, treated and considered as peoples whose cultures, languages, beliefs and histories are somehow inferior or secondary to others. We seek greater acknowledgement and respect for who we are and our place in the nation and the world.

In seeking this parity of esteem I believe we Indigenous Australians do not wish to deny, denigrate or usurp the cultures of others or to takeover the world. We simply seek to establish our rightful place in the nation and globally-we seek genuine mutual regard for the integrity and dignity of our ways of knowing, our ways of thinking, our ways of doing and who we are.

Despite the claims for a better world articulated by the successful 1967 referendum campaigners and despite other positives, I believe we did not go anywhere near achieving a parity of esteem at that time. Without ignoring the obvious goodwill and good faith involved, I feel the outcome of the 1967 referendum was driven by other societal influences more concerned with providing benevolent and patronising support to deal with the Aboriginal 'problem', rather than as a means of giving expression to the concept I refer to as a parity of esteem. Today we still have some way to go in this quest before we can really believe we have reached, truly share and maintain a parity of esteem between Indigenous Australians and other Australians.

Indigenous constitutional recognition-what does it mean?

I need to record that Indigenous constitutional recognition to me refers to having embedded in our Constitution both symbolic and substantive content which acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia, acknowledges and values the richness and diversity of our cultures, and provides permanent safeguards to ensure we have a role in decision-making and will be treated fairly.

There is universal acceptance that the original Constitution, supposedly the founding document of the nation, was drafted with a complete absence of any Indigenous considerations whatsoever save some elements of discrimination and exclusion. The 1967 referendum left some significant issues unresolved, including formal recognition of Indigenous Australians (and left unchanged the voting veto on the basis of race in section 25).

I acknowledge that Indigenous recognition, in the way I have defined it, can happen outside the Constitution (through common law and other legislative provisions). However, if we concur that the Constitution is truly the foundation document of Australia, that it provides the structural basis for our system of government, and somehow reflects our values as a nation, then I believe as Australians we must support the need for amendment.

Indigenous constitutional recognition-contemporary challenges

I wish to acknowledge the 2017 First Nations National Constitutional Convention conducted under the auspices of the Referendum Council and convened in Central Australia from 23 to 26 May. This event, which was the culmination of 12 Indigenous-only 'dialogue' forums convened around the nation, is attempting to determine the preferred position (involving both symbolic and practical reform) on constitutional recognition from the perspective of Indigenous Australians.

While I have not been involved in these events, in my previous role at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, I was involved in the scoping, planning and scheduling of these events in consultation with the eight Indigenous members of the Referendum Council under the leadership of one of my heroes, Patricia Anderson AO.

From a broader perspective, the First Nations National Convention has as a guiding template for possible Indigenous constitutional recognition the work and recommendations of two significant national consultations. These are the 2012 final report of the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Australians and the 2015 final report of the Australian parliamentary Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. The First Nations National Convention can also draw from the Referendum Council's 2016 discussion paper on the topic.

In the interest of brevity, and for the purpose of this paper, I do not intend to articulate the details of each and every recommendation in either of these reports and discussions, but will make some selective comments about their deliberations and findings.

Both the Joint Select Committee and the Expert Panel have indicated there is strong national support for Indigenous constitutional recognition and this appears to be confirmed by the surveys conducted by RECOGNISE as part of its recent public campaign to raise awareness of the issue. Importantly, both the committee and Expert Panel have opted for a range or package of amendments rather than any single amendment to the Constitution.

In considering these reports, the Referendum Council has summarised the key proposals as including:

drafting a statement acknowledging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians as an introduction or preamble to a proposed new law-making power in the Constitution, or enshrining it as a statutory Declaration of Recognition outside the Constitution

inserting a prohibition against racial discrimination into the Constitution

providing for an Indigenous voice to be heard by parliament and the right for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to be consulted on legislation and policy that affects us

However, as the saying goes, the devil is always in the detail! And it also goes without saying that not only do we need to concern ourselves with the details about the content of any proposed amendments to the Constitution but we also need to have strong regard to the processes that support any referendum.

An obvious and fundamental concern about the issue of Indigenous constitutional recognition is that of securing the necessary double majority, that is a majority of 'yes' votes in a majority of states. This represents a momentous challenge in any referendum and, in my view, is particularly the case with this issue!

I quote Patrick Dodson:

History shows us that Australians tend to be cautious when it comes to changing the constitution, particularly if the proposition put to the voting public is not well understood.

Adding to my thoughts and Dodson's words, and to highlight the challenges involved, I echo the four principles adopted by the Expert Panel in developing its findings. These were that proposals must:

contribute to a more unified and reconciled nation

be of benefit to and accord with the wishes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

be capable of being supported by an overwhelming majority of Australians from across the political and social spectrums

There is considerable challenge in addressing these significant conditions today.

And further, the Expert Panel held concerns, as I certainly do, that:

For many Australians, the failure of a referendum on recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples would result in confusion about the nation's values, commitment to racial non-discrimination, and sense of national identity. The negative impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples would be profound'.

To which I would add that any negative impact would perhaps have a much deeper and more profound effect on, and say much more about, mainstream Australians and the nation with regard to its standing and position internationally-and any such negative impact would inevitably be long-term!

Importantly, in this context, the following factors of concern have also been articulated by the Expert Panel and again, in my view, are all extremely valid and reflective of the challenges ahead. According to the report, these factors are:

whether there is strong support for the proposals to be put at referendum across the political spectrum

whether the referendum proposals are likely to be vigorously opposed by significant and influential groups

the likelihood of opposition to the referendum proposals from one or more State governments

whether the Government has done all it can to lay the groundwork for public support for the referendum proposals

whether there would be sufficient time to build public awareness and support for the referendum proposals

whether the referendum would be conducted in a political environment conducive to sympathetic consideration by the electorate of the referendum proposals

I believe that the response to these questions today would be either a resounding 'no' or give rise to serious uncertainty and I suggest that much more needs to be done. I will come back to these concerns.

To further help set the context from an Indigenous perspective, I refer to statements made at a very recent Indigenous dialogue forum held in Brisbane. The following positions were articulated by Indigenous participants, including members of the Referendum Council:

Aboriginal people are interested in 'proper substantive change' and 'As somebody said at one of the dialogues, if we can't do something spectacular here it's not worth doing', 'People are rejecting minimalism, some sort of poetry or nice words. What we are asking for is very modest, we just want to have a say in the affairs and legislation that affects us' (Pat Anderson AO, co-chair of the Referendum Council).

'Indigenous People were focused on the best model, not on how to construct a successful referendum' and 'That means that politicians are looking at something very different from what Aboriginal people are looking at, and that tension will play out' (Megan Davis, a council member and Professor of Law at the University of New South Wales).

Indigenous Australians are rejecting the 'elite', 'politicians' model' for changing the constitution and instead are 'overwhelmingly voicing a desire for changes that give them direct power over their future' (Professor Davis).

The 'minimalist' model is the idea conservatives in the government are most likely to support-'What we are hearing is that's not enough. They want a bit of action; they want something substantive as well' (Professor Davis).

Indigenous people 'appear to show interest in all of the substantive reforms that actually lead to some sort of structural change: the kind of reforms that will change the way in which business is conducted between the Government and Indigenous communities' (Professor Davis).

From my perspective, these comments are extremely salient and instructive!

The discussions at the Indigenous dialogues will have no doubt covered wide-ranging issues, questions and positions which embrace various extremes, from that of those who champion substantive constitutional reform to those who have no interest in the Constitution and therefore do not see any value in or need for change. I respect all such views.

In this paper I am not ignoring either the 'S' word or the 'T' word-and I readily recognise that both the issue of sovereignty and the concept of a treaty (or treaties) will provide legitimate grounds for discussions at the Indigenous dialogues and the National Convention. However, I am attempting to stick to the script in my discussion around the issue of Indigenous constitutional recognition.

Treaty or treaties

I am aware that the issue of and any discussion about a treaty (or treaties) has been dismissed and/or assigned to an unspecified time in the future by our political leaders. I am also aware some political players feel that the concept of a treaty either detracts or places restraints around progressing constitutional recognition. I believe that this does not need to be the case and that constitutional recognition and the concept of a treaty are not mutually exclusive and can be integrated or linked in ways which can bring value and meaning to both.

I place on record my view that constitutional reform and the establishment of a treaty-or a package of treaties-between the federal government and Indigenous Australians are both worthwhile aspirations. I believe that there is considerable value and benefit to the nation in pursuing and securing both meaningful constitutional change and agreement in the form of a treaty (or treaties) in order to address unresolved issues of sovereignty and historical grievances.

I believe that as a nation, Australia should recognise that where treaty making has been used internationally (for example, New Zealand, Canada and the United States), such instruments and processes have served these nations and the relationship with their Indigenous peoples very well in the past and will continue to do so.

Concluding perspective

The preferred and legitimate Indigenous position on constitutional recognition has not yet been established and any final recommendations made to the government via the Referendum Council are awaited with particular interest. There are very strong indications that the Indigenous peoples involved in the dialogues are not simply discussing but advocating quite substantive reforms to the Constitution.

Accordingly, we have a potential convergence-or perhaps confrontation-of a package involving substantive Indigenous reform (assuming it is supported by the Referendum Council in any considered recommendations to government) versus conservative positions of what the government and others might support.

The conservative position would probably be based on a practical consideration of what might be achievable in a referendum process and other opposing views, including 'the pendulum has swung too far' type of responses from the past. As Professor Megan Davis has suggested, it will be very interesting to see how this 'tension' will play out.

Challenges

However without specific knowledge of the Indigenous preferred position, and to reflect my own Indigenous perspective on the challenges facing the country at the present time, I record the following personal thoughts:

Securing strong support across the political spectrum for the proposals to be put at referendum will be extremely challenging. I hold this view in the context of the current political environment and the machinations of major parties, minor parties and independents, and their respective propensity for adversarial and oppositional positions and behaviours. I also note the emergence of xenophobic positions and re-emergence of the fear and/or loathing of racial and cultural difference playing out in the political and public discourse, both domestically and internationally.

Similarly, I do not feel that a referendum today would be conducted in a political environment conducive to sympathetic consideration by the electorate.

Much more needs to be done, and undoubtedly more time is needed to create public awareness, before Australians can be satisfied the government has done all it can to lay the groundwork for effective public engagement and support, or otherwise, for any referendum proposals, and to dispel perceived concerns about a lack of interest.

There is considerable risk that any referendum proposals may not be seen by electors as genuine and meaningful, so we need to avoid risking rejection on the basis that the proposals are inadequate or 'tokenistic'-my fears here relate more to the Indigenous electorate and their perspectives and likely positions.

Misgivings

To complete my own Indigenous perspectives and obvious misgivings about the current challenges, I would add the following points:

Most Indigenous Australians support both symbolic and substantive reform and they will resoundingly reject any reform that is only symbolic, cosmetic or minimalistic in nature.

If any substantive reforms are rejected or seriously diluted or compromised by the government then I believe the Indigenous leadership, supported by the Indigenous electorate, will simply walk away.

From an Indigenous perspective, Indigenous constitutional recognition will take 'as long as it takes' and the timeframe will not be hijacked or unduly influenced by the political convenience or expedience and agendas of others.

Indigenous constitutional recognition should not be achieved at any price. I am deeply concerned that any public, social or political airing of the arguments for and against constitutional change carries a real threat to our social cohesion. With this in mind, I make the following points:

The public debate around any proposed Indigenous constitutional recognition needs to be absolutely respectful by all involved.

All campaigners and advocates need to be fully aware of the sensitivities in any arguments and the potential for hurtful and divisive impact and fallout.

The risk in causing any immediate or longer term damage to social cohesion and unity needs to be anticipated by the avoidance of any ill-considered public statements and positions.

Racism and cultural denigration will divide us and will deter and even destroy any real and potentially beneficial engagement.

Put simply, I seek to protect my family, my children and grandchildren from harm by being denigrated and/or dismissed as second class Australians because of some misguided, uninformed or racist contribution to the debate.

We claim to uphold the values of a democratic country and so surely in such an important public discourse we can display all the respectful qualities of a truly civil society. This is certainly my fervent hope.

Hand in hand with these misgivings, I reiterate my hard held concerns that an unsuccessful referendum dealing with Indigenous constitutional recognition would deal a tremendous blow to Australia's international standing as a modern nation which values its reputation for liberal thinking, equality and human rights. Further, on this issue:

Indigenous Australians do think about, respect and cherish our reputation as a county internationally.

Such nationalistic pride is not the exclusive province of non-Indigenous Australia. Mind you, as Indigenous Australians, we approach these matters from very different cultural and historical paradigms and experiences. To a very large degree that is what the concept of Indigenous recognition in the Constitution is all about! It is about recognition and respect for our existence and history before and since 1770, and the resilience of our peoples and our cultures as the First Australians within a modern, multicultural nation made up of and shared by more recently arrived Australians.

The indelible global blemish on the Australian nation created as a result of an unsuccessful referendum outcome would last for a very long time indeed-given the time frame required to achieve any redress (and which would require revisiting the same constitutional referendum processes).

I repeat my view that such an outcome would speak much more harshly about the broader Australian nation than about its minority Indigenous population.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would like to briefly revisit the issue of a 'parity of esteem' that I raised earlier. In this paper I have voiced strong reservations and concerns about the challenges in achieving Indigenous constitutional recognition. Nevertheless, I remain optimistic in the firm belief that Indigenous constitutional recognition is an honourable aspiration for all Australians, which is achievable and well overdue.

However, I would hope whatever the proposals may be and however we may conduct the debates, we could together as a nation make some significant progress towards achieving the illusive 'parity of esteem'. If we were to do this, through stronger mutual regard and respect for each other, I have no doubt Australia would be a better country and that all our lives and life choices, and those of our children and their children, would be greatly enriched and be much more rewarding and fulfilling.

In so saying, I believe that the 'wonderful achievement of collaboration between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia', which Megan Davis and Marcia Langton spoke about when referring to the impact of the 1967 referendum, could be revisited and repeated at some time in the very near future.

Attachment 1

The following information provides a succinct history of the demands and claims for constitutional reform relating to Indigenous Australians from federation until the 1967 referendum.

1910
Public records disclose that very soon after federation, and specifically in 1910, the Australian Board of Missions was prominent in its call for the federal government to assume control of Aboriginal affairs on a shared basis with the states.

1913
The Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science (supported by its committee on Aboriginal welfare) made similar demands after the Commonwealth assumed control of the Northern Territory in 1911 (prior to this the NT was administered by the South Australian government). At the time, the Aboriginal population (and the Aboriginal 'problem') was in the clear majority in the Northern Territory.

1920s
The Association for the Protection on Native Races (involving church and anthropological interests) urged the Royal Commission on the Constitution to recommend the Constitution be amended to enable the federal government to assume 'supreme control for all Aborigines'. These demands were supported by others, including the Australian Federation of Women Voters, the Victorian Women Citizen Movement and the Australian Board of Missions.

At the same time, international interest and advocacy through the London-based Anti-Slavery and Aborigines Protection Society raised the spectre of Australia's reputation as an emerging nation and its place in world affairs and position on human rights.

1929-33
The 1929-31 papers of the Royal Commission on the Constitution recorded that the majority of the commission failed to support the collective calls for reform.

1930s
Concerted reform efforts of humanitarian, scientific and feminist community advocates were supported by various Aboriginal bodies, with the Australian Aborigines' League being the most prominent.

1938
The famous Aboriginal 'Day of Mourning' protest was held in Sydney to protest against Australia's sesquicentennial celebrations. Once again the call for the federal government to assume control of all Aboriginal affairs was the overriding issue-and importantly the protestors called for a national program that would 'raise all Aborigines throughout the Commonwealth to full Citizen Status and civil equality with whites in Australia'.

1939-45
During World War Two, advocacy for reform slowed but still continued. In 1942, when the issue of reform of Commonwealth powers was raised, the Association for the Protection of Native Races (and others) championed constitutional change to bring about federal control of Aboriginal affairs.

1942-44
A Curtin Labor government-sponsored constitutional convention recommended that certain powers be transferred to the Commonwealth for five years. As a result, in 1944, proposals essentially covering post-war reconstruction were presented in a referendum, including transferring the power for Aboriginal affairs to the Commonwealth. It is of interest that the issue was specifically referenced with regard to Australia's post-war 'special responsibility towards the native peoples of the South-West Pacific' (including those of New Guinea). No doubt such considerations included sensitivities around international concern over Australia's treatment of its own Indigenous people. The referendum failed.

1945-50
After the war years, advocacy for constitutional reform continued involving various advocacy bodies including the National Missionary Council, the Association for the Protection of Native Races and the Aborigines Uplift Society. Such campaigns were supported and indeed greatly influenced by Aboriginal organisations such as the Aborigines Progressive Association (led by Bill Ferguson) and the Australian Aborigines' League (led by Doug Nicholls and Bill Onus).

1950s
The 1950s saw the successful establishment in Melbourne of a national organisation, the Council for Aboriginal Rights, to take up the cudgel. Its main initial thrust was to test existing laws against the standards of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

By this time, the calls for constitutional reform had begun to gain traction. In the late 1950s the involvement of prominent socialist and feminist activist, Lady Jessie Street, who was the Australian representative of the Anti-Slavery Society, together with other socio-political developments, gave the reform objectives much more prominence and influence.

Undoubtedly, Lady Street's actions in elevating the treatment of Australian Aboriginals to the international stage and purview of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights was very powerful-and indeed compelling in the context of engaging the interest and support of the Australian public.

1956
Street's involvement coincided with the Australian Government's decision in 1956 to allow the British government to test atomic bombs in the Warburton Ranges in Central Australia, which resulted in the traditional Aboriginal people being driven off their ancestral lands. A report on the plight of these people disclosed deplorable treatment and ignited an explosion of protest from various groups, including politicians, church people, the Council for Aboriginal Rights (Shirley Andrews) and the Australian Aborigines' League (Doug Nicholls and Bill Onus), as well as the Women's International League of Peace and Freedom, the Council for Civil Liberties, members of the Communist Party of Australia, and of course the public at large.

As a result, renewed calls for constitutional change emerged with considerable public support and further public airing of the plight of the Warburton Ranges Aboriginals. Their wretched status and the horrific conditions they lived in fanned the fire of reform.

By this time, the calls for federal control of Aboriginal affairs (via constitutional change) were being indivisibly connected to the need for both the repeal of discriminatory racial laws and the conferring of full citizenship rights.

1950-early 1960s
Despite the apparent bipartisan political environment, the history of this referendum in the two-year period leading up to early 1967 involved ongoing parliamentary scrutiny and debate (championed by parliamentarians such as Bill Wentworth, Gordon Bryant and Kim Beasley snr). Significantly, it was around this time that the Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement (later the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders) was established in Adelaide in 1958. At its annual conference in 1962 the organisation formally proposed to undertake a national campaign-which ultimately became the successful coordinated campaign supporting the 1967 referendum.

1962-the petition campaign
From 1962 to 1963 the Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement prosecuted a strategy known as the petition campaign, which sought to highlight to the public the legal discrimination faced by Aboriginal people as fundamental evidence to support constitutional change. This campaign (led by Shirley Andrews, Gordon Bryant, Barry Christopher and Stan Davey) showcased the discriminatory laws and policies controlling the lives of Aboriginals. It included compelling factual evidence of discrimination involving voting rights, marriage freedom, parenting rights, personal mobility restraints, property ownership, wage rates, alcohol consumption and the diversity and inconsistency of laws governing Aboriginals within and between states.

Despite the bipartisan political environment, the public campaign nevertheless had an interesting and somewhat testing journey. This included agreement to and rejection of a referendum by the Menzies government in 1965-which incidentally had been heavily influenced by the Student Action for Aborigines' 'Freedom Ride' protest in country New South Wales (led by Charles Perkins) which exposed to an unprecedented degree the entrenched nature and reality of racial discrimination.

Remarkably the national campaign ultimately collected some 103,000 signatures in 94 separate petitions. In addition to the public discourse, the campaign gave rise to many (supportive and opposing) cabinet and parliamentary debates and deliberations (involving a number of political luminaries including Robert Menzies, Holt, Beasley, Bryant, Billy Snedden and Hasluck) and led to two private members bills (introduced by Arthur Calwell and Billy Wentworth).

1967-referndum conducted
Ultimately parliamentary support was secured and on 27 May 1967 the referendum was conducted, with the 'yes' vote carrying the day and by an overwhelming margin.

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Indigenous Constitutional Recognition: The 1967 Referendum and Today

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Indigenous Constitutional Recognition The 1967 Referendum and Today

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Apology to Australia's Indigenous Peoples

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Apology to Australia's Indigenous Peoples

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Apology to Australia's Indigenous Peoples, 2008, The Hon Kevin Rudd (author and signatory) (born 1957), Gemma Black (calligrapher) (born 1956), Gifts Collection, Parliament House Art Collection, Canberra ACT. Commissioned by The Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, 2008.

About this collection highlight

In 1995 a National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families commenced, headed by the President of the Human Rights and Equality Commission, Sir Ronald Wilson.

By the end of 1996 nearly 800 submissions had been heard and in May 1997 the Bringing Them Home report was tabled in Parliament concluding that:
For individuals, their removal as children and the abuse they experienced at the hands of the authorities or their delegates have permanently scarred their lives. The harm continues in later generations, affecting their children and grandchildren.
After winning the 2007 election, former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered an official apology on 13 February 2008. He expressed regret for past government policies that resulted in the forced removal of Indigenous children from their families.
That today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history. We reflect on their past mistreatment. We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations-this blemished chapter in our nation's history. The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future. We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians. We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country. For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry. To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry. And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry. We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation. For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written. We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians. A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again. A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity. A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed. A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility. A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia

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Apology to Australia's Indigenous Peoples

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Apology to Australia's Indigenous Peoples, 2008, The Hon Kevin Rudd (author and signatory) (born 1957), Gemma Black (calligrapher) (born 1956), Gifts Collection, Parliament House Art Collection, Canberra ACT. Commissioned by The Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, 2008.

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Mabo Day: The decision that expelled terra nullius from Australian law | ABC Australia

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Mabo Day: The decision that expelled terra nullius from Australian law | ABC Australia

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Mabo Day: The decision that expelled terra nullius from Australian law | ABC Australia

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It's 30 years since the Mabo decision was handed down, overturning terra nullius |

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It's 30 years since the Mabo decision was handed down, overturning terra nullius |

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It's 30 years since the Mabo decision was handed down, overturning terra nullius | ABC News

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Mabo Day & Native Title: Who was Eddie Mabo & what is his legacy? - Behind the News

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Mabo Day & Native Title: Who was Eddie Mabo & what is his legacy? - Behind the News

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Mabo Day & Native Title: Who was Eddie Mabo & what is his legacy? - Behind the News

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Eddie Koiki Mabo presents a guest lecture about the Torres Strait Islander community

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Eddie Koiki Mabo presents a guest lecture about the Torres Strait Islander community

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Eddie Koiki Mabo presents a guest lecture about the Torres Strait Islander community

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미·영·호주 안보동맹 '오커스' 출범

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