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The Aboriginal flag was designed by Aboriginal artist Harold Thomas in 1970.

The flag is included in the My Place series and specifically in the book page of Laura, as well as being on her webpage and TV episode.

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The Australian Aboriginal flag was designed by artist Harold Thomas in 1970.

The colours of the flag represent the Aboriginal people of Australia and their connection to the land.

The flag was first raised on National Aborigines Day in Adelaide on 12 July, 1971.

The flag has become a symbol of unity and identity for Aboriginal people.

In 1995, the Aboriginal flag was recognised by the Australian Government as an official 'Flag of Australia' under the Flags Act 1953.

The Aboriginal flag was designed and created by artist Harold Thomas, a Luritja man from central Australia and a member of the Stolen Generations. The flag has become a symbol of Aboriginal Australia and holds special legal and political status worldwide.

I've got a symbol that represents me and who I am, whether I live in Redfern or Adelaide or Perth, I'm proud of it. - Harold Thomas

The flag's design consists of a coloured rectangle divided in half horizontally. The top half of the flag is black to symbolise Aboriginal people. The red in the lower half stands for the earth and the colour of ochre, which has ceremonial significance. The circle of yellow in the centre of the flag represents the sun. The designer Harold Thomas says the colours of the flag represent the Aboriginal people of Australia and their spiritual connection to the land.

The flag was first raised on National Aborigines Day in Victoria Square, Adelaide, on 12 July 1971. However, it did not became prolific until 1972 when it was chosen as the official flag for the Aboriginal Embassy in Canberra.

In view of the flag's wide acceptance and importance in Australian society, the Commonwealth took steps in 1994 to give the flag legal recognition. On 14 July 1995, the Governor General of Australia William Hayden proclaimed both the Aboriginal Flag and the Torres Strait Islander Flag to be 'Flags of Australia' under the Flags Act 1953. However it wasn't until 1997 that the Federal Court of Australia officially recognised Harold Thomas as the author of the flag. This decision meant the flag was protected under the Copyright Act 1968 and can only be reproduced in accordance with this legislation or with the permission of Mr Thomas.

For guidance about using the Aboriginal flag, its colours, or the Torres Strait Islander flag refer to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

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The Australian Aboriginal flag was designed by artist Harold Thomas in 1970. The colours of the flag represent the Aboriginal people of Australia and their connection to the land. The flag was first raised on National Aborigines Day in Adelaide on 12 July, 1971.

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As part of government policies, Indigenous children were removed from their homes and placed in missions, orphanages or homes.

In the My Place 2008 episode, Auntie Bev discusses her connection to the Stolen Generations after the National Apology was given.

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One of the darkest events of our nation's history is the forced removal of thousands of Indigenous children from their families.

NITV takes a look at the Stolen Generations, the impact of the removal policies and the fight for an apology, healing and compensation. This explainer draws heavily on the Bringing Them Home Report, which provides a more detailed account of the Stolen Generations including personal testimonies.

The above image is a photograph from Cootamundra Girls Home which ran in NSW from 1911-1968.

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One of the darkest events of our nation's history is the forced removal of thousands of Indigenous children from their families. NITV takes a look at the Stolen Generations, the impact of the removal policies and the fight for an apology, healing and compensation.

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The National Apology was given by Kevin Rudd in recognition of the trauma and damage caused from the Stolen Generations.

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Apology to Australia's Indigenous peoples (2008)

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In My Place, the 2008 episode included the Apology. The camera angles used in this scene depicts the characters' faces  showing the deeply emotional responses people had to the Apology.

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corporateName=National Museum of Australia; address=Lawson Crescent, Acton Peninsula, ACT; contact=+61 2 6208 5000

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2008: National Apology to the Stolen Generations

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The movie 'Rabbit Proof Fence' is the true story of three girls who were taken from their homes, and sent away but managed to escape and walk back home.

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This website shares personal stories of those who were part of the Stolen Generations. The written testimonies illustrate the perspective of children involved in the Stolen Generations. The interactive map shows where missions and homes were spread across Australia.

Confidential evidence 148 - "I was never proud to be black - I never was. It wasn't until I met my family for the first time in my life that I was actually proud to be who I was."

Confidential evidence 358b
"They used to lock us up in a little room like a cell and keep us on bread and water for a week if you played too much."

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In this section, you will find some of the many stories told by the Stolen Generations and their families about their experiences. This includes all of the stories published in the Bringing them Home report. There are also some videos and links to websites where you can find additional video and audio stories.

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In this section, you will find some of the many stories told by the Stolen Generations and their families about their experiences. This includes all of the stories published in the Bringing them Home report. There are also some videos and links to websites where you can find additional video and audio stories.

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Being part of the Stolen Generations, Roach tells the story from his own perspective of how they took the children away.

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Archie Roach – 'Took The Children Away' at MOTH

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This song was written as a sequel to Roach's song and includes major Indigenous figures in history, celebrating their achievements and rapping about how the children came back.

This song was written just before the annual NAIDOC week. The theme of NAIDOC week for 2020 is 'Always Was, Always Will Be. recognises that First Nations people have occupied and cared for this continent for over 65,000 years.'

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Maverick hip-hop artist Briggs released a song Friday titled 'The Children Came Back' that laudes the championship of Australia's First Peoples.

The song commemorates Indigenous Australians who have triumphed despite the Australian Government's oppressive policies such as cultural assimilation ones that removed children from their families.

Briggs said it encouraged the effort towards reconciliation between First Peoples and non-Indigneous Australians.

"This is a history lesson, a monologue, a celebration and an education in one song," he said.

The single comes ahead of NAIDOC Week, held between 5 and 12 July, a time dedicated to celebrating the cultures and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia, and embraces heroes such as Jimmy Little, Cathy Freeman and Adam Goodes.

It also features 3-year-old Samara Muir who recently appeared in Australian media after her mother brought her encounter with racial abuse from a similar-aged child to the country's attention.

The song is a sequel to Archie Roach's They Took the Children Away, produced 25 years ago for his Charcoal Lane album that pays homage to the generation of Indigenous children who were removed from their families.

It has been released with his blessing. "I love Briggs' song," said Mr Roach. "It's about our Indigenous heroes. Using a part of my song, where it says 'the children came back' is really what the song is about.

"This is a history lesson, a monologue, a celebration and an education in one song"

"I feel proud to be a part of what Briggs hopes to achieve and I really love that he used young children to play the heroes because they are our future heroes."

Briggs' song originally featured in Triple J's 'Like Version' segment, which invites musicians to play a song of their own and one that they love by another musician.

The song was produced by Briggs' Golden Era Records and Skinnyfish Music with support from Reconciliation Australia.

The Children Came Back lyrics
I'm Fitzroy where the stars be I'm Mundine, I'm Cathy Free- -man, that fire inside a me I'm Adam Goodes, and Adam should Be applauded when he stand up You can look to us when that time stop Im Patty Mills with the last shot I'm everything you ask me I'm everything you can't be I'm the dead hearts, heart beat I'm Doug Nicholls, I'm jimmy little I'm William Cooper, I take a stand I'm the walk off, I'm the sound of The children coming home I'm everything you ask me I'm everything you can't be I'm the dead hearts, heart beat Let me take it home, I'm Rumba I'm the sand hills on Cummera I'm Les Briggs, I'm Paul Briggs I'm Uncle Ringo with all them kids Im Uncle Buddy - everybody love me Ain't none below, ain't none above me Im the carvings outta every scar tree Im those flats that birthed Archie Now Mr abbott, think about it - me and you we feel the same That might sound strange, I'm just saying, We both unsettled when the boats came I'm everything you ask me I'm everything you can't be I'm the dead hearts, heart beat

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The Children Came Back: New song celebrates Indigenous heroism ahead of NAIDOC

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Maverick hip-hop artist Briggs released a song Friday titled 'The Children Came Back' that laudes the championship of Australia's First Peoples. The song commemorates Indigenous Australians who have triumphed despite the Australian Government's oppressive policies such as cultural assimilation ones that removed children from their families.

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The Mabo Case was a significant one in Australian history as it established native title and overturned the principle of 'terra nullius' (empty land) in Australia. It allowed further legal cases of Indigenous people to claim their land under native title.

A further case developing from the Mabo decision was the Wik case. The Wik case was a native title claim on pastoral land in Queensland, and further developing the potential cases of native title.

The 'My Place' book was later edited to include the important Mabo and Wik decisions and the National Apology. The TV series also included an episode in 2008 to include these events.

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Running the case

Legal proceedings for the case began on 20 May 1982, when a group of four Meriam men, Eddie Koiki Mabo, Reverend David Passi, Sam Passi, James Rice and one Meriam women, Celuia Mapo Sale, brought an action against the State of Queensland and the Commonwealth of Australia, in the High Court, claiming 'native title' to the Murray Islands.

The Mabo Case challenged the existing Australian legal system from two perspectives:

On the assumption that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples had no concept of land ownership before the arrival of British colonisers in 1788 (terra nullius).

That sovereignty delivered complete ownership of all land in the new Colony to the Crown, abolishing any existing rights that may have existed previously.

On 27 February 1986, the Chief Justice, Sir Harry Gibbs, sent the case to the Supreme Court of Queensland to hear and determine the facts of the claim. The Supreme Court judge hearing the case was Justice Moynihan. The hearing was adjourned when Eddie Mabo and the people of Mer brought a second case to the High Court challenging the constitutional validity of the Queensland Coast Islands Declaratory Act 1985.

The Queensland Parliament passed the Queensland Coast Islands Declaratory Act 1985 in an attempt to pre-empt the Meriam peoples' case. The aim of the legislation was to retrospectively extinguish the claimed rights of the Meriam people to the Murray Islands.

As a result, the High Court had to consider whether the Queensland legislation was valid and effective. The High Court found the Queensland Coast Islands Declaratory Act to be invalid because it was in conflict with the Racial Discrimination Act 1975. This case became known as Mabo v. Queensland (No. 1) and the decision meant the original case could continue.

Justice Moynihan resumed the hearing of the facts in the case presented by Eddie Mabo and the people of Mer with sittings taking place on Murray Island as well as on the mainland.

'After some argument Moynihan J accepted the plaintiffs' request that the court should adjourn and reconvene on Murray Island for three days, to take evidence, particularly from 16 witnesses, mainly elderly and frail, and also to take a view of the claimed areas of garden plots and adjacent seas... When opening proceedings on the Island on 23 May 1989, Moynihan J 'doubted [whether] the Court has ever sat further north or perhaps further east', and certainly never before on Murray Island. On 26-27 May 1989 the Court also sat in the Magistrates' Court of Thursday Island and heard five Islander witnesses. The visit, as Moynihan J noted in his opening statement, provided a better understanding of the evidence, and of island life. It also revealed the first opposition from some Islanders to the claims being made: two Islanders were called by Queensland during these sittings to oppose Eddie Mabo's claims.' - Brian Keon-Cohen, Barrister[i]

Justice Moynihan handed down his determination of facts on 16 November 1990, which meant the High Court could begin it's hearing of the legal issues in the case.

The case presented by Eddie Mabo and the people of Mer successfully proved that Meriam custom and laws are fundamental to their traditional system of ownership and underpin their traditional rights and obligations in relation to land.

The decision

On 3 June 1992, six of the seven High Court judges upheld the claim and ruled that the lands of this continent were not terra nullius or 'land belonging to no-one' when European settlement occurred, and that the Meriam people were 'entitled as against the whole world to possession, occupation, use and enjoyment of (most of) the lands of the Murray Islands'.

In Mabo v. Queensland (No. 2), judgments of the High Court inserted the legal doctrine of native title into Australian law. The High Court recognised the fact that Indigenous peoples had lived in Australia for thousands of years and enjoyed rights to their land according to their own laws and customs. They had been dispossessed of their lands piece by piece as the colony grew and that very dispossession underwrote the development of Australia as a nation.

The new doctrine of native title replaced a seventeen century doctrine of terra nullius on which British claims to possession of Australia were justified on a wrongful legal presumption that Indigenous peoples had no settled law governing occupation and use of lands. In recognising that Indigenous peoples in Australia had prior rights to land, the Court held that these rights, where they exist today, will have the protection of the Australian law until those rights are legally extinguished.

Brian Keon Cohen recalls:

'I rang Murray Island - that is to say, I rang the phone box located, as readers will recall, outside the general store. The conversation went something like this:

"Hello, Bryan Keon-Cohen here, who's that?"
[Inaudible.]
"Do you remember Eddie Mabo's case, that court case about land?"
"Yes."
"Well, I'm ringing you from that Court in Canberra where those top judges are, you know, that High Court."
"Oh yes."
"Well, those judges, they told us their decision just now: Eddie won. You Murray Islanders have won that court case. You own the island under your laws and custom."
[Screams of what I took to be joy, laughter, yelling, much discussion in the background.]
"Hello! Hello! Is anyone there?" says I.
"Oh thank you, thank you, we are very happy, I have to go and tell my Mum. Goodbye."
"Bye. See ya."'

-Brian Keon-Cohen[ii]

The High Court decision in the Mabo v. Queensland (No.2) altered the foundation of land law in Australia and the following year the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth), was passed through the Australian Parliament. This opened the way for claims by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to their traditional rights to land and compensation.

Further reading and sources

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Legal proceedings for the case began on 20 May 1982, when a group of four Meriam men, Eddie Koiki Mabo, Reverend David Passi, Sam Passi, James Rice and one Meriam women, Celuia Mapo Sale, brought an action against the State of Queensland and the Commonwealth of Australia, in the High Court, claiming 'native title' to the Murray Islands.

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Directed and animated by Aboriginal artist Jake Duczynski in collaboration with Jono Delbridge, this short video explains the Mabo decision on native title for the island of Mer.

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Reconciliation Week is held annually from 27 May - 3 June, which is from the anniversary of the 1967 Referendum to Mabo Day. The Bringing them Home report was finished on 26 May.

The 1967 Referendum was important because it included Indigenous people in the Australian Constitution.

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The 1967 Referendum | Australians Together

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Learn about the 1967 Referendum here. What was it and what was achieved. Australians Together has resources covering Indigenous Peoples, history and cultures.

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In this art exhibition, Gail Mabo (the daughter of Eddie Mabo) discusses her artwork 'Tagai'; including the story behind its creation, its significance and connection to her Indigenous community.

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Gail Mabo - 'Under the Stars' | #TogetherInArt Interview

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The interactive documentary, K'gari is an example of Indigenous art and storytelling. It compares a non-Indigenous perspective with an Indigenous perspective of an event in which the non-Indigenous person does not understand the traditions and customs of Indigenous people. The documentary also discusses the name change of the island.

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Unleash the natural forces of K'gari to destroy one of Australia's first fake news stories and return Fraser Island to its rightful name.

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Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody

This song discusses the different view of land between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. One of the lines is 'this land is mine' and the other is 'this land is me'.

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'The Rabbits' is a book by John Marsden and Shaun Tan. Marsden and Tan are Australian, however they are not Indigenous. The Rabbits gives another perspective of the Stolen Generations. Another theme similar to both 'My Place' and 'The Rabbits' is Belonging to Country.