-
Day of Mourning is held
The Day of Mourning was a protest held by Aboriginal Australians on 26 January 1938, the sesquicentenary of British colonisation of Australia.
Also the significance in this event was that it was the first major protest and that it was the begining of this movement. -
Period: to
Indigenous Rights and Freedoms Timeline
-
Indigenous Australians are given the right to vote in federal elections
Voluntary enrolment and voting at federal elections extended to all Australian Aboriginals. This was the first time that these Aboriginals can vote in federal elections in Australia as well. From here onwards, these people were allowed to vote. They allowed voting in the first place because people want to control their nation properly and to get the advantage in controlling the country the way their wanted as well, -
Freedom Rides
Freedom Riders travel around NSW highlighting discrimination which was based on the protest that took place in the Day of Mouring celebrations. -
Referendum Passes
The 1967 referendum made history: Australians voted overwhelmingly to amend the constitution to include Aboriginal people in the census and allow the Commonwealth to create laws for them. -
Aboriginal Tent Embassy established
Aboriginal people erected the Tent Embassy in 1972 in Canberra to protest against a court decision over mining operations on Aboriginal land.
Many struggles and battles later, the Embassy has become a heritage-listed landmark for Aboriginal protest. -
Voting for Indigenous Australians is made compulsory
Compulsory enrolment and voting for Australian Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders introduced.
Number of Senators increased from 64 to 76 (12 each State and two each Territory) and number of Members of the House of Representatives increased from 125 to 148.
Franchise qualification changed to Australian citizenship.
British subjects on the roll immediately before 26 January 1984 retained enrolment rights.
They are also been treated more equally just as anyone else. -
Uluru returned to traditional owners
Twenty-five years ago, on 26 October 1985, it was the focus of a ceremony held to transfer custodianship of Uluru and neighbouring Kata Tjuta to its Anangu traditional owners. The ceremony, performed in the shadow of the immense rock, remains one of the most significant moments in the Aboriginal land-rights movement. -
Compulsory voting for Indigenous Australians
ATSIC (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission) created – elected regional councils and a board of commissioners made decisions on policy and funding. ATSIC elections were conducted by the Australian Electoral Commission. -
Mabo Decision
On 3 June 1992, the High Court by a majority of six to one 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 land of the Murry Islands. -
'Bringing them home report'
On 26 May 1997 the report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families, entitled Bringing Them Home, was tabled in Parliament. -
Corroboree March for Reconciliation
Robert James Wallace, Participants in the Corroboree 2000 'Sorry' Sydney Harbour Bridge Walk. On 27–28 May 2000, the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation convened a major national event, Corroboree 2000, which was a landmark for reconciliation in Australia. -
Apology to the Stolen Generations
'Sorry' apology to Stolen Generations. On February 13th, 2008, Aboriginal people across all Australia were deeply moved and in tears: The Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, had finally apologised to the Stolen Generations and said 'sorry'.
