Events
Kimberley strike
This strike was held by indigenous
workers in the Pilbara region of Western Australia,
as they demanded equal
wages and safer working conditions.Wave Hill Land Handover
The Wave Hill land handover was a result of the Gurindji strike,
in which workers walked off of their job, demanding for their land to be given back.
After a 7 yearlong battle for their land,
Gough Whitlam allowed for most of the land in the Northern Territory to be given
back to the aboriginal tribes that had lived there before,
and giving the aboriginals tribes their homes back.Freedom ride
A group of University of Sydney students hired a bus, and went
on a tour throughout Western and coastal New South Whales towns in
hopes of raising awareness for the poor conditions that Aboriginals
were living in. Adopting the name SAFA (Student Action For Aboriginals) they
attempted to sway the opinions of business owners, who wouldn’t
allow indigenous people into their
hotels, cafes, or swimming pools.Racial discrimination act
The RDA was passed by Gough Whitlam in 1975, and was
put into place to assure that no one would be treated unfairly
due to their race or nationality. The RDA is monitored by the
Australian Human Rights committee, which oversees, and judge’s
cases that could in violation of the RDA, including disputes
regarding racism, and it’s showing in land negotiations, job interviews,
selling of goods and services, etc.Gurindji strike and land claim
The Gurindji strike and land claim was a large walk off strike
held by members of Gurindji tribe who worked on the Wave
Hill Cattle station. They demanded that their land be given
back to them, and after strenuous fighting throughout the
1960’s and 1970’s, they finally were granted back their land.
This was Australia’s first successful aboriginal land claim and
was important for future land claims and strikes to come.Day of mourning protests
The day of mourning protests were held on Australia day of 1938,
and were held in protest of 150 years of poor aboriginal treatment,
and land seizure. The Aboriginals that took part in this protest demanded
better treatment than what they had been subjected to throughout
the 150 years since the Whiteman came to Australia, and asked for
better education, and equal status amongst the two races of English, and
Aboriginal.equal pay decision
The equal wages case was brought to court in 1966, at the behest of the
North Australian Workers Union. The aboriginal workers demanded
to have equal pay as the white workers, in order to take one step
closer to being treated equal. In 1968, the aboriginal protesters
finally got what they wanted, and where given equal pay for their work,
one year after a referendum was added to the constitution, classifying
aboriginals as people.Mabo decision
The Mabo decision, was a legal case held in high court for the recognition
of former owners of Aboriginal land. This was the culmination of a
10 year legal case, and ended with the high court ruling that
Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders had right to the lands, rights
that existed before the British came to Australia.Referendum
The Australian referendum in May of 1967 was a vote held to
decide weather changes would be made to certain laws in
Australia's constitution regarding the rights of aboriginals.
The vote received a landslide victory, with 90.77% of voters
voting yes.Native title act
The Native title act was implemented by the Keating government
and aimed to lsten to disputes regarding land ownerships, and
claims held by aboriginals. This was created as a result of the Mabo
descision, and was considered the framework of protection and ercognition
of native title.The Wik decision
The Wik decision was passed down by the high court, regarding the value
of land-ownership and leases on aboriginal land. The case was brought up
by the Wii people of North eastern Australia who claimed that they were the
rightful owners of two large land areas. The court decided in 1996
that the Wik poeple deserved the right to their land, after one appeal
on their behalf.Tent embassy
The aboriginal tent embassy was erected outside of Old Parliament
house on Australia day as a way of representing the government, and
striving for better rights for the aboriginal people. The tent
embassy demanded that aboriginals receive preservation of sacred
sights, ownership of the Northern Territory,
and ownership of certain mines.census
Aboriginals were not counted in
the census until 1967 and
they were seen as flora and
fauna instead of people.apology
This speech was given by Kevin Rudd in 2008 talking about how
the Australian government and people have treated the native
people to this land and how it was wrong of us to do the things we
did.Mutual obligation policy
In 2004 the Australian Government
announced they would be changing
the way they looked at the
system in which aboriginal were
treated in Centrelink.
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