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Australia was first discovered in 1770 - WRONG! ❌

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Australia was first discovered in 1770 - WRONG! ❌

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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have been living on this continent for over 60,000 years.

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The English came to Australia and officially invaded this continent in 1788 under Captain James Cook and the HMAS Endeavour. 

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The English came to Australia and officially invaded this continent in 1788 under Captain James Cook and the HMAS Endeavour. 

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The following 233 years have witnessed the loss of countless Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lives. Also the loss of languages, family ties and over 233 years of intergenerational trauma which still affects our First Nations peoples today.

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Explore Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australia

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Historical questions and sources from the Invasion by Captain Cook

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Historical questions and sources from the Invasion by Captain Cook

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Class Activity questions following this link. Please answer the following:
Significance
Why is it important?

History
How did it happen?

Description
What does it look like?

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Secret Instructions to Lieutenant Cook 30 July 1768 (UK)

The Secret Instructions, contained in the Letterbook carried on the Endeavour, include the Additional Instructions which authorised James Cook to take possession of 'a Continent or Land of great extent' thought to exist in southern latitudes. The second page instructs Cook 'with the Consent of the Natives to take possession of Convenient Situations in the Country in the Name of the King of Great Britain'.

James Cook made three voyages to the South Pacific between 1768 and 1779 and on each occasion carried 'Secret Instructions' from the British Admiralty. These contained an outline of the route of the voyage, described the activities he and his men were to undertake, and the manner in which he was to report his progress. They were secret in that they held the real intentions and plans for the voyage, while other papers issued would be made available on demand to show Cook's authority for his command and the enterprise.

On his first voyage, Cook sailed in the Endeavour to Tahiti (to assist in the scientific observation of the transit of the planet Venus) and then as instructed, sailed south in search of the fabled 'Great Southern Continent'.

The Secret Instructions provided that, in the event that he found the Continent, he should chart its coasts, obtain information about its people, cultivate their friendship and alliance, and annex any convenient trading posts in the King's name. Cook followed the coast of New Zealand (thereby debunking Abel Tasman's theory that it formed part of the southern continent), then turned west, reaching the southern coast of New South Wales on 20 April 1770. He sailed north, landing at Botany Bay one week later, before continuing to chart the Australian coast all the way north to the tip of Queensland. There, on Possession Island, just before sunset on Wednesday 22 August 1770, he declared the coast a British possession:

Notwithstand[ing] I had in the Name of His Majesty taken possession of several places upon this coast, I now once more hoisted English Coulers and in the Name of His Majesty King George the Third took possession of the whole Eastern Coast . . . by the name New South Wales, together with all the Bays, Harbours Rivers and Islands situate upon the said coast, after which we fired three Volleys of small Arms which were Answerd by the like number from the Ship.

Cook had recorded signs that the coast was inhabited during the voyage north, and here he noted as he returned to the ship the great number of fires on all the land and islands about them, 'a certain sign they are Inhabited'.

Cook then sailed through Torres Strait, returning to England in May 1771.

Cook's Secret Instructions represent Britain's first official expressions of interest in Australia. They record the quest for scientific discovery, combined with the desire to find exploitable natural resources and to expand Britain's control of strategic trading posts around the globe. The Instructions confidently assume that these varied interests could be made compatible with a respect for the native populations in those countries so identified.

Cook's report of his observations along the New South Wales coastline on his first voyage formed the basis for Britain's decision to establish the colony at Botany Bay in 1788. His careful charting of the coast also formed the basis for the British Admiralty Charts of Australian waters produced by the Hydrographic Office of the Admiralty from its establishment 20 years after Cook's voyage along the eastern coast of Australia.

Cook's second and third voyages involved a fuller exploration of the Pacific and Atlantic, including the search for a north-west passage through the Pacific to the Atlantic. He was instructed to make scientific observations and collect natural specimens, and to show 'every kind of civility and regard' to the natives, at the same time taking care not 'to be surprized by them'. With their consent, he was to take possession in the name of the King of any convenient situations in any country he might discover. Cook eventually reached the north-west passage (the Bering Strait), but it was ice-bound and he was unable to cross it. Returning through the South Pacific, he was killed in the Sandwich Islands on 14 February 1779.

The full Secret Instructions are contained in six pages of the Letterbook. The pages are yellowed paper, the ink faded to brown. The Letterbook has a stiff cover with a marbled pattern and is housed in a case covered in paper of a similar marbled pattern.

Long Title:

Secret Instructions for Lieutenant James Cook Appointed to Command His Majesty's Bark the Endeavour 30 July 1768

Features:

This Letterbook, still in its original marbled paper cover, was carried aboard the Endeavour and contains the only surviving set of Cook's original Secret Instructions

Location & Copyright:
National Library of Australia

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Secret Instructions to Lieutenant Cook 30 July 1768 (UK) The Secret Instructions, contained in the Letterbook carried on the Endeavour, include the Additional Instructions which authorised James Cook to take possession of 'a Continent or Land of great extent' thought to exist in southern latitudes.

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Please list the 3 long term affects of English Invasion on the Australian First Nations peoples.

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Please list the 3 long term affects of English Invasion on the Australian First Nations peoples.

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Read over this page and list three effects of loss from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders cultures and lifestyle and list in workbook to read out to the class. Then prepare a short written response summarising your findings.

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Aboriginal History

Aboriginal people have a shared history of colonisation and forced removal of their children. To be culturally competent, we must acknowledge and tell the truth about Australian history and its ongoing impact for Aboriginal people, and we should understand how the past continues to shape lives today.

Before colonisation Aboriginal people lived in small family groups linked into larger language groups with distinct territorial boundaries. These groups had complex kinship systems and rules for social interaction; they had roles relating to law, education, spiritual development and resource management; they had language, ceremonies, customs and traditions and extensive knowledge of their environment. In other words, Aboriginal cultures were strong and well developed, Aboriginal communities were self-determining, and Aboriginal children were nurtured and protected.

European colonisation had a devastating impact on Aboriginal communities and cultures. Aboriginal people were subjected to a range of injustices, including mass killings or being displaced from their traditional lands and relocated on missions and reserves in the name of protection. Cultural practices were denied, and subsequently many were lost. For Aboriginal people, colonisation meant massacre, violence, disease and loss.

Despite the past and present impacts of colonisation, Aboriginal kinship systems, customs and traditions still thrive, and Aboriginal people, families and communities remain strong and resilient.
There is a rich body of literature on the violent history of colonisation in Victoria including massacres, missions, segregation, deaths in custody and land rights.

Some sources you can access for information are:

Stolen Generations

'The Stolen Generations are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who, when they were children, were taken away from their families and communities as the result of past government policies. Children were removed by governments, churches and welfare bodies to be brought up in institutions, fostered out or adopted by white families.

The removal of Aboriginal children took place from the early days of British colonisation in Australia. It broke important cultural, spiritual and family ties and has left a lasting and inter-generational impact on the lives and well-being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people'

The National Apology to The Stolen Generations

On the 13th of February 2008 the Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd delivered an apology to the Stolen Generations. The National Apology to the Stolen Generations came about as a recommendation from The National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal Children from their Families. It highlighted the suffering of Indigenous families under the Commonwealth, state and territory Aboriginal protection and welfare laws and policies.

The National Inquiry then led to the Bringing Them Home report which was tabled in Parliament on 26 May 1997. It contained 54 Recommendations on how to redress the wrongs done to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by the race-based laws and policies of successive governments throughout Australia.

Recommendations 5a and 5b suggested that all Australian Parliaments and State and Territory police forces acknowledge responsibility for past laws, policies and practices of forcible removal and that on behalf of their predecessors officially apologise to Indigenous individuals, families and communities.
Watch the National Apology to The Stolen Generations
Aboriginal Culture

There are many Aboriginal cultures and peoples. Aboriginal cultures exist and thrive in a wide range of communities throughout Australia. The Aboriginal people you work with are not all the same-their culture, what they value and hold dear, how they live and make decisions and their relationships are diverse. As in Western and Eastern cultures, Aboriginal cultures have characteristics they share and others that differentiate them, so it is important to avoid assumptions regarding Aboriginal cultures.

While diversity exists across and within Aboriginal communities, some Aboriginal cultural characteristics are part of all Aboriginal cultures and unite Aboriginal people through shared history and shared experiences. Understanding these cultural characteristics and appreciating their impact for Aboriginal people today is a cornerstone of cultural competence.

'For thousands of years, the original inhabitants of Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people occupied the lands with very different boundaries than today, centred on intimate cultural relationships with the land and sea.

This map is an attempt to represent all the language, tribal or nation groups of the Indigenous peoples of Australia. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups were included on the map based on published resources available between 1988 and 1994 which determine the cultural, language and trade boundaries and relationships between groups'.

Explore the map in further detail.

Aboriginal Cultural Connections

For Aboriginal people, culture is the foundation upon which everything else is built.

Culture underpins all aspects of life including connections to family and community, connection to Country, the expression of values, symbols, cultural practices and traditional and contemporary forms of cultural expression such as Aboriginal language, ceremonies, cultural events, storytelling, dance, music and art. The following diagram highlights these important cultural connections:

Aboriginal Kinship Ties

Aboriginal people view individuals within a community holistically. Aboriginal understanding of the individual is in relation to the family, the community, the tribe, the land and the spiritual beings of the lore and dreaming. A person's physical, emotional, social, spiritual and cultural needs and well-being are intrinsically linked-they cannot be isolated. The person is not seen as separate, but in relationship to and with others. An Aboriginal perspective views:

the person's relationship to their whole family-not just to their parents and siblings

the person's relationship to their community-not just their family

the person's relationship to the land and the spirit beings which determine lore and meaning.

Within Aboriginal communities, kinship networks are based on relationships of blood, marriage, association and spiritual significance. An Aboriginal person has brothers, sisters, mother, fathers, uncles and aunts, who are additional to relationships by blood or marriage. Aboriginal children understand that these people are important in their life-they are people who will support them and on whom they can rely-they are family. These relationships are maintained through involvement in community. Even if they see each other infrequently, Aboriginal people describe a closeness that exists-'like I saw her yesterday'. Each individual is important, has a role to play in the community and is accepted for both their strengths and limitations. Sharing is a strongly promoted value. There is a strong obligation to share if others are in need. The family, and one's obligations to the family and community, are more important than material gain. The diagram below shows the key features of a traditional Aboriginal family structure.

Respect for Elders

From a very young age, Aboriginal children are told about their relationships and links to others and are taught to show respect to their Elders. In Aboriginal communities, Elders play a vital leadership role.

An Elder is an identified and respected man or woman within the community who has the trust, knowledge and understanding of their culture and permission to speak about it. They are often recognised as being able to provide advice, offer support and share wisdom in a confidential way with other members of the community, particularly younger members.

Some Elders are referred to as Aunty or Uncle, but you should only use these titles when given permission to do so - simply asking is the best way to find out if you can do so or not.

Aboriginal Spiritual Relationship with the Land

Aboriginal people have a deep connection with the land or Country, which is central to their spiritual identity. This connection remains despite the many Aboriginal people who no longer live on their land. Aboriginal people describe the land as sustaining and comforting, fundamental to their health, their relationships and their culture and identity.

For Aboriginal people, their traditional Country and what it represents in terms of their history, survival, resilience and cultural and spiritual identity gives them much to take pride in. In the dominant Australian culture, land is thought of as a commodity to be used, enjoyed and owned - as a place to build a home or grow food or develop a park. Aboriginal people consider the land differently.

Aboriginal spiritual identity and connection to the land is expressed in the Dreamtime. In Aboriginal cultures, the Dreamtime tells of the beginning of life. Different Aboriginal groups have different dreamtime stories, but all teach about aspects that affect daily life. Dreamtime stories teach Aboriginal people about the importance of sharing with and caring for people of their community, of nurturing the land and of the significance of the land and its creatures.

Dreamtime stories pass on the history of Aboriginal people, their relationship with the land and their spiritual connection. For Aboriginal people, their connection to the Dreamtime is still alive and vital today and will remain so into the future. The complex set of spiritual values developed by Aboriginal people and that are part of the Dreamtime include 'self-control, self-reliance, courage, kinship and friendship, empathy, a holistic sense of oneness and interdependence, reverence for land and Country and a responsibility for others.

The following diagram shows how, for Aboriginal people, all aspects of life are interconnected through the centrality of land and spirituality.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flags

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags are particularly important for Aboriginal people. The flags can indicate pride, show great respect and leadership and can enhance healing. The power of messages conveyed by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags should not be underestimated. Mainstream organisations that display the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags demonstrate their support for Aboriginal people and those from the Torres Strait Islands. Understanding the history and meaning of the flags, and displaying the flags appropriately is a step towards creating a culturally safe workplace for Aboriginal staff.

The Aboriginal Flag

Harold Thomas, an acclaimed artist, member of the Stolen Generations and a Luritja man from Central Australia, designed the Aboriginal flag. The flag was originally designed as a protest flag for the land rights movement of Aboriginal Australians. It is a symbol of identity, unity and Aboriginal rights.

The Aboriginal flag is divided horizontally into equal halves of black (top) and red (bottom) with a yellow circle in the centre. The black represents Aboriginal people. The red represents the earth, and spiritual relationships to the land. The yellow represents the sun, the giver of life and protector. Care should be taken to fly the Aboriginal flag properly, because grave offence has been caused when flags have been displayed upside down.

The Aboriginal flag was first raised in Adelaide on National Aboriginal Day on 12 July 1971 and was adopted nationally in 1972 when it was flown above the Aboriginal 'Tent Embassy' in Canberra. In 1995, the flag was proclaimed a 'Flag of Australia' under the Flags Act 1953, to reflect its increasing importance in Australian society.

The Torres Strait Islander Flag

The Torres Strait Islander flag was created as a symbol of unity and identity for Torres Strait Islander people. It was designed by the late Bernard Namok, then a 15-year-old student from Thursday Island. It was recognised by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission in 1992. In 1995, the flag was proclaimed a 'Flag of Australia' under the Flags Act 1953, to reflect its increasing importance in Australian society.

The Torres Strait Islander flag features three horizontal coloured stripes, with green at the top and bottom and blue in the centre, divided by thin black lines. The colour green represents the land, the blue the sea and the black represents Indigenous people. A white dhari (headdress) sits in the centre with a five-pointed white star beneath it. The dhari represents the people of the Torres Strait Islands. The star represents the five major island groups, and the white colour represents peace. Used in navigation, the star is also an important symbol for the seafaring people of the Torres Strait.

Useful links and other information

(1, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13) Source: VACCA Building Respect Partnerships 2010.

(2) AIATSIS Stolen Generations

(3) AIATSIS Apology to Australia's Indigenous peoples

(5) AIATSIS map of Indigenous Australia

(8, 12) Source: Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency, September 2006, Working with Aboriginal Children and Families: A Guide for Child Protection and Child and Family Welfare Workers, Melbourne. Based on material from the NSW Office of the Children's Guardian

(10) Supporting Carers (SNAICC) - Connection to Elders

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Aboriginal Culture and History - Aboriginal Cultural Capability Toolkit - VPSC

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Aboriginal History Aboriginal people have a shared history of colonisation and forced removal of their children. To be culturally competent, we must acknowledge and tell the truth about Australian history and its ongoing impact for Aboriginal people, and we should understand how the past continues to shape lives today. Before...

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Different lifestyles between our First Nations peoples and the English colonisers created conflict and at times chaos. 

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Different lifestyles between our First Nations peoples and the English colonisers created conflict and at times chaos. 

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Go to this sources and complete the activities set here. Use the digital classroom link to research for the answers to the questions.

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This digital classroom will teach you about one of Australia's defining moments in history, the Myall Creek Massacre.

In June 1838 at least 28 unarmed Aboriginal people were massacred by colonists at Myall Creek in New South Wales. In December of the same year seven of those colonists were publicly hanged at Sydney Gaol. They were the first British subjects to be executed for massacring Aboriginal people. It wasn't the first or last massacre - there were many more - but the trial of the accused men helped to change the way the law was put into practice in Australia.

Explore this digital classroom to learn about Australian colonial history, the development of the law and how we should remember this event today.
Guiding classroom questions:

1. Where is Myall Creek?

2. How many people were murdered during the Myall Creek massacre?

3. What happened to the colonists that massacred the Wirrayaraay people?

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Myall Creek Massacre - NSW Schools Reconciliation Challenge

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This digital classroom will teach you about one of Australia's defining moments in history, the Myall Creek Massacre. In June 1838 at least 28 unarmed Aboriginal people were massacred by colonists at Myall Creek in New South Wales. In December of the same year seven of those colonists were publicly hanged at Sydney Gaol.

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Choose a year from 1830 to 1940 and work in groups of four to present your findings after researching your pick. Present a short 10 minute presentation of whether or not your group thinks the treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders was fair and the reasons why.

This will be made to the class and need to use Power Point with 5 slides.

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Track the History Timeline: The Stolen Generations

The 'Track the History Timeline' documents the history of the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, a history known as 'The Stolen Generations'. It details the history of the forcible removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, recognises the individuals and groups that supported the Indigenous rights movement and acknowledges the achievements of Indigenous peoples throughout this history. Information is primarily taken from the findings of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families.

*This timeline is a support to 'The Stolen Generations' teachers resource for the years 9 and 10 National Curriculum History.

45 000 years ago

Rock engravings in South Australia suggest evidence of land inhabitancy.

James Cook claims possession of the whole east coast of Australia. Cook raises the British flag at Possession Island, off Cape York Peninsula in Queensland.

1788

The First Fleet lands in Port Jackson - British settlement in Australia begins. Clashes between Aboriginal people and the settlers are reported over the next 10 years in the Parramatta and Hawkesbury areas.

Tasmanian Aboriginal people are resettled on Flinders Island without success. Later, the community is moved to Cape Barren Island.

1837

British Select Committee examines the treatment of Indigenous people in all British colonies and recommends that 'Protectors of Aborigines' be appointed in Australia.

The Aborigines Protection Act (Vic) establishes an Aborigines Protection Board in Victoria to manage the interests of Aborigines. The Governor can order the removal of any child from their family to a reformatory or industrial school.

The Aboriginal Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act (Qld) allows the Chief Protector to remove local Aboriginal people onto and between reserves and hold children in dormitories. Until 1965 the Director of Native Welfare is the legal guardian of all 'aboriginal' children whether their parents are living or not.

Australia becomes a Federation. The Constitution states that Aboriginal People will not be counted in the census, and that the Commonwealth has the power to make laws relating to any race of people In Australia with the exception of Aborigines. The federated states therefore retain exclusive power over Aboriginal affairs until the Constitution is amended in 1967.

The Aborigines Act (WA) is passed. Under this law, the Chief Protector is made the legal guardian of every Aboriginal and 'half-caste' child under 16 years old. In the following years, other states and territories enact similar laws.

The Aborigines Protection Act (NSW) gives the Aborigines Protection Board power to assume full control and custody of the child of any Aborigine if a court found the child to be neglected under the Neglected Children and Juvenile Offenders Act 1905 (NSW).

1911

The Aborigines Act (SA) makes the Chief Protector the legal guardian of every Aboriginal and `half-caste' child with additional wide-ranging powers to remove Indigenous people to and from reserves.
The Northern Territory Aboriginals Ordinance (Cth) gives the Chief Protector to assume `the care, custody or control of any Aboriginal or half caste if in his opinion it is necessary or desirable in the interests of the Aboriginal or half caste for him to do so'. The Aborigines Ordinance 1918 (Cth) extends the Chief Protector's control even further.

The Aborigines Protection Amending Act (NSW) gives power to the Aboriginal Protection Board to separate Indigenous children from their families without having to establish in court that they were neglected.

1935

The introduction of the Infants Welfare Act (Tas) is used to remove Indigenous children on Cape Barren Island from their families. From 1928 until 1980 the head teacher on Cape Barren is appointed as a special constable with the powers and responsibilities of a police constable, including the power to remove a child for neglect under child welfare legislation.

1937

The first Commonwealth/State conference on 'native welfare' adopts assimilation as the national policy:

"The destiny of the natives of aboriginal origin, but not of the full blood, lies in ultimate absorption ... with a view to their taking their place in the white community on an equal footing with the whites."

In 1951, at the third Commonwealth/State Conference on 'native welfare', assimilation is affirmed as the aim of 'native welfare' measures.

Australian Aborigines Conference held in Sydney. Meeting on January 26, the 150th Anniversary of NSW, Aborigines mark the 'Day of Mourning'.

The NSW Aborigines Protection Board loses its power to remove Indigenous children. The Board is renamed the Aborigines Welfare Board and is finally abolished in 1969.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is adopted by the newly-formed United Nations, and supported by Australia.

The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide is ratified by Australia. It comes into force in 1951.

A national referendum is held to amend the Constitution. Australians confer power on the Commonwealth to make laws for Aboriginal people. Aborigines are included in the census for the first time.

By 1969, all states had repealed the legislation allowing for the removal of Aboriginal children under the policy of 'protection'. In the following years, Aboriginal and Islander Child Care Agencies ("AICCAs") are set up to contest removal applications and provide alternatives to the removal of Indigenous children from their families.

Neville Bonner is sworn in as Australia's first Aboriginal Senator.

The Aboriginal Tent Embassy is pitched outside Parliament House in Canberra to demonstrate for Land Rights.

The Commonwealth Government passes the Racial Discrimination Act 1975

The Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act is passed by Commonwealth Parliament in 1976. It provides for recognition of Aboriginal land ownership, granting land rights to 11, 000 Aboriginal people and enabling other Aboriginal people to lodge a claim for recognition of traditional ownership of their lands.

Link-Up (NSW) Aboriginal Corporation is established. It is followed by Link-Up (Brisbane) in 1984, Link-Up (Darwin) in 1989, Link-Up (Tas) in 1991, Link-Up (Vic) in 1992, Link-Up (SA) in 1999, Link-Up (Alice Springs) in 2000, and Link-Up (WA - seven sites) in 2001. Link-Up provides family tracing, reunion and support for forcibly removed children and their families.

The Aboriginal Child Placement Principle, developed principally due to the efforts of Aboriginal and Islander Child Care Agencies ("AICCAs") during the 1970s, is incorporated in NT welfare legislation to ensure that Indigenous children are placed with Indigenous families when adoption or fostering is necessary. This is followed in NSW (1987), Victoria (1989), South Australia (1993), Queensland and the ACT (1999), Tasmania (2000) and Western Australia (2006).

Northern Territory elections are held and for the first time voting is compulsory for Aboriginal people.

The Bicentennial of British Settlement in Australia takes place. Thousands of Indigenous people and supporters march through the streets of Sydney to celebrate cultural and physical survival.

1991

The Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation is set up, funded by the Commonwealth Government. Parliament noted that there had not been a formal process of reconciliation to date, 'and that it was most desirable that there be such a reconciliation' by 2001.

The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody presents its report to the Commonwealth Government. It finds that of the 99 deaths it investigated, 43 were of people who were separated from their families as children.

The High Court of Australia hands down its landmark decision in Mabo v Queensland. It decides that native title exists over particular kinds of lands - unalienated Crown Lands, national parks and reserves - and that Australia was never terra nullius or empty land.

International Year of Indigenous People.
The Commonwealth Government passes the Native Title Act 1993. This law allows Indigenous people to make land claims under certain situations. Claims cannot be made on freehold land (privately-owned land).

The position of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner is established within the Australian Human Rights Commission. The Commissioner's role is to monitor and report to Commonwealth Parliament on the human rights of Indigenous Australians.

The Going Home Conference in Darwin brings together over 600 Aboriginal people removed as children to discuss common goals of access to archives, compensation, rights to land and social justice.

The High Court hands down its decision in the Wik case. Wik concerned land, which is, or has been, subject to pastoral leases.

The Commission presents Bringing them home, its report on the findings of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families to the Commonwealth Government.

The parliaments and governments of Victoria, Tasmania, ACT, New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia all issue statements recognising and publicly apologising to the 'Stolen Generations'.

The Commonwealth Government amends the Native Title Act. This restricts the way in which native title can be claimed.

1999

Federal Parliament passes a motion of 'deep and sincere regret over the removal of Aboriginal children from their parents'.
Mandatory sentencing in Western Australia and the Northern Territory becomes a national issue. Many call for these laws to be overturned because they have greater impact on Indigenous children than on non-Indigenous children.

Statement from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commissioner on mandatory sentencing: http://archive.is/cDBpb 2000

The People's Walk for Reconciliation on 28 May occurs in state/territory capitals throughout Australia.
Australia appears before the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The Committee criticises the Commonwealth Government's inadequate response to recommendations from Bringing them home:

"While noting the efforts by the State party to address the tragedies resulting from the previous policy of removing indigenous children from their families, the Committee remains concerned about the continuing effects of this policy."

2001

The Northern Territory Government repeals its mandatory sentencing laws.
The Northern Territory Government presents a parliamentary motion of apology to people who were removed from their families.

The Social Justice Report 2001 and Native Title Report 2001 are presented to Commonwealth Parliament. Both reports express serious concerns about the nation's progress in achieving the exercise of Indigenous rights.

National Library of Australia Oral History Project, Many Voices: Reflections on Experience of Indigenous Child Separation published.

The first member of the Stolen Generations is awarded compensation in the NSW Victims Compensation Tribunal for the sexual assault and injuries she suffered after authorities removed her from her family.

As part of the Victorian Government's response to the Bringing them home Report, Victoria establishes a Stolen Generations taskforce.

2003

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner publicly criticises the failure of governments to provide financial and social reparations for members of the Stolen Generation, a national apology, or the appropriate mechanisms for individuals that were forcibly removed to reconnect with their culture.

2004

The Commonwealth Government establishes a memorial to the Stolen Generations at Reconciliation Place in Canberra.
461 'Sorry Books' recording the thoughts of Australians on the unfolding history of the Stolen Generations are inscribed on the Australian Memory of the World Register, part of UNESCO's programme to protect and promote documentary material with significant historical value.

2005

The National Sorry Day Committee announces that in 2005, Sorry Day will be a 'National Day of Healing for All Australians' in an attempt to better engage the non-Indigenous Australian community with the plight of the Stolen Generations.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) is dismantled by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission Amendment Act 2005 (Cth) and replaced by a Commonwealth Government appointed advisory board.

Volume two of the Western Australian Aboriginal Child Health Survey is released. The report says that 12.3% of the carers of Indigenous children aged 0-17 in Western Australia were forcibly removed from their families. Compared with other Indigenous children, the children of members of the 'Stolen Generations' are twice as likely to have emotional and behavioural problems, to be at high risk for hyperactivity, emotional and conduct disorders, and twice as likely to abuse alcohol and drugs.

2006

The first Stolen Generations compensation scheme in Australia is set up in Tasmania by the Stolen Generations of Aboriginal Children Act 2006 (Tas).

2007

The tenth anniversary of the Bringing them home report is recognised around Australia with a number of different events.

The first Stolen Generations compensation case is successful in the Supreme Court of South Australia. The Trevorrow judgment recognised the existence of the policy of removing Aboriginal children from their families and the detrimental long-term effects of that policy on both the removed children and on the wider Aboriginal community. It found that even though the State of South Australia had guardianship powers over Aboriginal children, those powers were formulated for the 'care and protection' of Aboriginal children, and did not extend to removal of children from their natural parents.

2008

The federal government publically apologises to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia for the forced removals of their children throughout history.
Response to Government to the National Apology to the Stolen Generations' by Tom Calma - 13 February 2008.

The Federal Parliament opens for the year with a Welcome to Country, for the first time ever.

2009

The Federal Government establishes the National Congress of Australia's First Peoples.

The Australian Government formally endorses the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Declaration specifically recognises that even though everyone is equally entitled to human rights, Indigenous people have not always enjoyed those rights.

2010

The Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is established. The Panel's job is to hear from Australians about the best way to recognise indigenous people in our Constitution.

2012

An Act of Recognition Bill is passed through parliament. The Bill demonstrates the Parliament's commitment to acknowledging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' unique and special place in our nation's history.

2013

A 10-year National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan was released. The plan outlines state and federal government priorities in order to close the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander life expectancy gap by 2030.

The Australian Parliament passes the Aboriginal and Torre Strait Islander People's Recognition Act 2013 with bi-partisan support, which recognises the need to acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Australia's constitution.

The Victorian Government appointed Aboriginal man Andrew Jackomos as Victoria's first Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People. The appointment of an Aboriginal children's commission was a result of the Protecting Victoria's Vulnerable Children's Inquiry recommentations.

2014

Adnyamathanha man Adam Goodes, an AFL player and community leader, receives the Australian of the Year Award for his "leadership and advocacy in the fight against racism both on the sporting field and within society"

2015

Faith Bandler, a political activist and writer, dies at the age of 96. She was well known for her 10 year campaign leading up to the 1967 Referendum.

Note:

For the latest up-to-date information about the status of the recommendations of the report go the Social Justice section of the website at:

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Track the History Timeline: The Stolen Generations

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The history of the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. This timeline is a support to 'The Stolen Generations' teachers resource for years 9 and 10 National Curriculum History. This timeline details the history of forcible removal of Indigenous children from their families, individuals and groups who supported the movement for indigenous recognition and rights and achievements of indigenous peoples.