Indigenous Movement in Australia

An overview of the Indigenous rights movement from the beginning of the century.

1770  Aboriginal history timeline (1770 - 1899)

-
1899 https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/history/aboriginal-
history-timeline-1770-1899

1901  Commonwealth of Australia formed.

 Indigenous Australians are excluded from the census and the
lawmaking powers of the Commonwealth Parliament.
 White Australia Policy: comprised various historical policies that
effectively barred people of non-European descent from immigrating to
Australia
 Indigenous people are excluded from the vote, pensions, employment in
post offices, and enlistment in Armed Forces, maternity allowance.

1914  Indigenous men fight alongside non indigenous men in WWI; aka
- Black Diggers but come to a land of racism and segregation
1918

Watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJostEoV-OM

1938  Day of Mourning held by the Aborigines League (est 1932) and the
Aborigines Progressive Association (1937). It is the first major protest
by Indigenous people.
 The manifesto “Aborigines Claim Citizen Rights” and the newspaper
“Abo Call” are published

1949  Australian Citizenship Act gives Indigenous Australians the vote in

 Commonwealth elections if they are enrolled for State elections or have
served in the Armed Forces.

1957  National Aborigines Day Observance Committee (NADOC) formed

with support from Federal and State Governments, churches and major
Indigenous organisations. Its aim is to promote Aboriginal Sunday as a
day to draw community attention to Indigenous people in Australia.

1958  The Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines (later the
Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait
Islanders) begins a ten year campaign to end Constitution's
discrimination against Indigenous people.

1962  All Indigenous people are given the vote in Commonwealth elections.

1967

 Referendum held – 90.7% of Australians vote YES to count Indigenous

Australians in the census and to give the Commonwealth Government
the power to make laws for them.

1970  Aboriginal Legal Service and Aboriginal Medical Service set up in

- Redfern (grassroots activists include Mum Shirl, Fr Ted Kennedy),
1971 along with Aboriginal Housing Company.
 Neville Bonner becomes the first Indigenous member of Parliament
when he filled a casual Senate vacancy.

1972  Tent Embassy established outside Parliament House; it adopts the

Indigenous flag.
 Whitlam Government elected; White Australia policy abolished.
 Department of Aboriginal Affairs established.
 Self-determination adopted as policy for Indigenous people.
 Neville Bonner is elected on the Liberal Party ticket in Queensland.
1975  Whitlam hands back title to Gurindji people.

Whitlam's Gurindji Speech

On August 16, 1975 Prime Minister Gough Whitlam gave the following
speech when handing over freehold title of the Gurindji lands to Vincent
Lingiari. The speech was written by Dr HC 'Nugget' Coombs.

'On this great day, I, Prime Minister of Australia, speak to you on behalf of all
Australians who honour and love this land we live in. For them, I want: first,
to congratulate you and those who have shared your struggle on the victory
you have won in that fight for justice begun nine years ago when, in protest,
you walked off Wave Hill station;

Second, to acknowledge we have still much to do to redress the injustice and

oppression that has for so long been the lot of black Australians; third, to
promise you that this act of restitution we perform today will not stand alone.
Your fight was not for yourselves alone, and we are determined that
Aboriginal Australians everywhere will be helped by it; fourth, to promise
that, through their government, the people of Australia will help you in your
plans to use this land fruitfully for the Gurindji;

Finally, to give back to you formally, in Aboriginal and Australian law,

ownership of this land of your fathers.

Vincent Lingiari, I solemnly hand to you these deeds as proof, in Australian

law, that these lands belong to the Gurindji people, and I put into your hands
this piece of the earth itself as a sign that we restore them to you and your
children forever.

Prime Minister Gough Whitlam pours soil into the hands of traditional land
owner Vincent Lingiari, Northern Territory
1975
 Sources:
http://www.nfsa.gov.au/digitallearning/mabo/info/WhitlamGurindji.htm
http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/58.2000/

 Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) passed.

 Aboriginal Day extended to National Aborigines Week.

 November 11: The Dismissal

The 1975 Australian constitutional crisis, also known simply as the
Dismissal, has been described as the greatest political and constitutional
crisis in Australian history. It culminated on 11 November 1975 with
the dismissal from office of the Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam of the
Australian Labor Party (ALP), by Governor-General Sir John Kerr, who
then commissioned the Leader of the Opposition, Malcolm Fraser of the
Liberal Party, as caretaker Prime Minister.

1976  Aboriginal Land Rights Act (NT)

1978  Pat O'Shane becomes the first Indigenous law graduate and barrister.

1979  Indigenous people at Noonkanbah protest against an American oil

company's test drilling for oil. The WA Supreme Court grants an
injunction, but tests eventually go ahead.

1983  Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (NSW) recognizes dispossession and
displacement.

1985  Uluru handed back to traditional owners.

1987  Hawke sets up Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.

1988  Bicentenary protest sees tens of thousands march on Australia Day.

 NADOC changes its name to include Torres Strait Islanders; it is now
NAIDOC

1990  ATSIC established.

1991  Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody presents report.

339 recommendations, with the final recommendation being that a
formal process of reconciliation between Indigenous and non-
Indigenous Australia be undertaken.
 Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation established by Act of Parliament
– to have a 10 year-lifespan.

1992  Mabo decision by the High Court overturns terra nullius and rules that
native title exists over unalienated Crown land, national parks and
reserves.
◦ Eddie Mabo (c. 29 June 1936 – 21 January 1992[1]) was an Indigenous
Australian man from the Torres Strait Islands known for his role in
campaigning for Indigenous land rights and for his role in a landmark
decision of the High Court of Australia which overturned the legal
doctrine of terra nullius ("nobody's land") which characterised
Australian law with regard to land and title.
◦ The Mabo Case was a significant legal case in Australia that recognised
the land rights of the Meriam people, traditional owners of the Murray
Islands (which include the islands of Mer, Dauer and Waier) in the
Torres Strait. 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.
 First “Survival Day” concert held at La Perouse (in 1998 the event
moves to Waverley Oval near Bondi Beach).

 10 Dec: Paul Keating's Redfern Park speech for the launch of the
United Nations International Year for the World's Indigenous People
Watch
https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/politics/paul-
keatings-redfern-speech#toc0
1993  Native Title Act.

1995  HREOC National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Children from their Families announced.
 Mid-1990s: NAIDOC wound up as ATSIC assumes responsibility for
NAIDOC Week

1996  Howard Government elected.

 The High Court rules in the Wik decision that native title and pastoral
leases can co-exist.
 Pauline Hanson and her One Nation Party campaign against what they
say is “special treatment” for Aboriginal people.
 Commonwealth Parliament makes statement of commitment to
Reconciliation.

1997  Bringing Them Home, the report of the inquiry into the Stolen
Generations, is released. It recommends a national sorry day to
commemorate the history and effects of removing children from their
families.
 PM Howard makes a personal apology to the Stolen Generations, but
refuses to make an official apology on behalf of Australia.
 At the National Reconciliation Conference on 27th May, hundreds of
people turn their backs on Howard during his speech, in protest at his
refusal to apologise to the Stolen Generations.
 “Sea of Hands” outside Parliament House in Canberra in support of
reconciliation and the Wik decision.

1998  Native Title Amendment Act 1998 is passed; seen by many to reduce
native title rights for Indigenous people.
 First National Sorry Day – over 1 million signatures collected in Sorry
Books.
 John Howard & Liberals re-elected; commits to reconciliation by 2001
in his election victory speech.

2000  Corroboree 2000. Handover of Document for Reconciliation at Sydney

Opera House, more than 300 000 join in the Bridge Walk.

 Sydney Olympics: two very important moments regarding the

indigenous movement:

Famous Australian band Midnight Oil sing “Beds are Burning” in

support of the indigenous movement at the opening ceremony.
Cathy Freeman wins the 400 metres race.
  Peter Garrett and Midnight Oil, wearing "Sorry" and performing "Beds are Burning" at the
Sydney Olympics closing ceremony, September 2000 (Martin Philby/ Getty Images )

Watch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqBRYMdIVzU

Beds are Burning Lyrics

Out where the river broke

The bloodwood and the desert oak
Holden wrecks and boiling diesels
Steam in forty five degrees
The time has come
To say fair's fair
To pay the rent
To pay our share
The time has come
A fact's a fact
It belongs to them
Let's give it back
How can we dance when our earth is turning
How do we sleep while our beds are burning
How can we dance when our earth is turning
How do we sleep while our beds are burning
The time has come
To say fair's fair
To pay the rent, now
To pay our share
Four wheels scare the cockatoos
From Kintore East to Yuendemu
The western desert lives and breathes
In forty five degrees
The time has come
To say fair's fair
To pay the rent
To pay our share
The time has come
 A fact's a fact
It belongs to them
Let's give it back

How can we dance when our earth is turning

How do we sleep while our beds are burning
How can we dance when our earth is turning
How do we sleep while our beds are burning
The time has come
To say fair's fair
To pay the rent, now
To pay our share
The time has come
A fact's a fact
It belongs to them
We're gonna give it back
How can we dance when our earth is turning
How do we sleep while our beds are burning

Watch

 Cathy Freeman wins 400metres 25th September

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBjuhq__XPk

2004  Federal Government introduces legislation to abolish ATSIC.

 TJ Hickey is killed while being followed by police – the Redfern Riot
erupts.
 Mulrunji Doomadgee dies in police custody, sparking a riot on Palm
Island.

2005  ATSIC abolished; National Indigenous Council to replace and advise.

 NIC is not elected, meets four times a year.

2006  Aden Ridgeway chairperson of National NAIDOC committee.

2007  21st June: Howard Government announces its intervention into

Northern Territory Indigenous communities.

2008  13th February: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says 'Sorry' to the Stolen
Generations.

Watch
Sorry, Kevin Rudd's Apology to "The stolen Generation”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3TZOGpG6cM

 Closing the Gap

Closing the Gap is a government strategy that aims to reduce
disadvantage among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with
 respect to life expectancy, child mortality, access to early childhood
education, educational achievement, and employment outcomes. It is a
formal commitment made by all Australian governments to achieve
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health equality within 25 years.

Closing the Gap was developed in response to the call of the Social
justice report 2005 and the Close the Gap social justice campaign. In
March 2008, Australian governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people agreed 'to work together to achieve equality in health
status and life expectancy between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
peoples and non-Indigenous Australians by the year 2030' when they
signed the Indigenous health equality summit statement of intent.

To monitor change, the Council of Australian Governments

(COAG) has set measurable targets to monitor improvements in the
health and wellbeing of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
population. The targets are:
◦ close the gap in life expectancy within a generation
◦ halve the gap in mortality rates for Indigenous children under five
within a decade
◦ ensure all Indigenous four years-olds in remote communities have
access to early childhood education within five years
◦ halve the gap for Indigenous students in reading, writing and numeracy
within a decade
◦ halve the gap for Indigenous students in year 12 attainment or
equivalent attainment rates by 2020
◦ halve the gap in employment outcomes between Indigenous and non-
Indigenous Australians within a decade.

2010  8th November: Prime Minister Julia Gillard announces plans to

recognise Indigenous Australians in the Constitution.

Constitutional reform: Fact Sheet - Recognising Aboriginal &

Torres Strait Islander people in the Constitution

https://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/constitutional-
reform-fact-sheet-recognising-aboriginal-torres-strait-islander-
people

2015  IQ2 Racism Debate: Stan Grant

Watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEOssW1rw0I
2018  Closing the Gap report released 12 year after commencing

Closing the Gap 2018

Watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIZQeJmXTDo&feature=youtu.be
&rel=0&modestbranding=1&autohide=1&showinfo=0

Malcolm Turnbull PM on Closing the Gap

Watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR9Hkl_y3ho&feature=youtu.be&r
el=0&modestbranding=1&autohide=1&showinfo=0

Watch:
You Can’t Ask That – Indigenous episode
http://iview.abc.net.au/programs/you-cant-ask-that/LE1517H008S00

Sources:

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2010/11/08/timeline-indigenous-rights-movement