Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Events
Category: Other
Updated: 25 Nov 2020
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Created byJasmine Duan
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James Cook claims possession of the whole east coast of Australia.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.British Select Committee examines the treatment of Indigenous people in all British colonies and recommends that 'Protectors of Aborigines' be appointed in Austr.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 Aboriginal people. 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.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 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 Aboriginal person if a court found the child to be neglected under the Neglected Children and Juvenile Offenders Act 1905 (NSW).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 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.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.Australian Aborigines Conference held in Sydney. Meeting on January 26, the 150th Anniversary of NSW, Aboriginal peoples 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.A national referendum is held to amend the Constitution. Australians confer power on the Commonwealth to make laws for Aboriginal people. Aboriginal people are included in the census for the first time.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 1975Northern Territory elections are held and for the first time voting is compulsory for Aboriginal people.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.Federal Parliament passes a motion of ‘deep and sincere regret over the removal of Aboriginal children from their parents’. The People's Walk for Reconciliation on 28 May occurs in state/territory capitals throughout Australia.The Social Justice Report 2001 includes a Reconciliation Progress Report. National Library of Australia Oral History Project, Many Voices: Reflections on Experience of Indigenous Child Separation published.
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