Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in
Australia before
British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the
Aboriginal peoples
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
of the Australian mainland and Tasmania, and the
Torres Strait Islander peoples from the seas between Queensland and Papua New Guinea. The term Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples or the person's specific cultural group, is often preferred, though the terms First Nations of Australia, First Peoples of Australia and First Australians are also increasingly common; 812,728 people
self-identified as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin in the 2021
Australian Census, representing 3.2% of the total population of Australia. Of these indigenous Australians, 91.4% identified as Aboriginal; 4.2% identified as Torres Strait Islander; while 4.4% identified with both groups.
[Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: Census](_blank)
www.abs.gov.au Since 1995, the
Australian Aboriginal flag and the
Torres Strait Islander flag have been among the official
flags of Australia
This is a list of flags of different designs that have been used in Australia.
National flags
Other flags recognised under the Flags Act 1953
Sources:
Personal flags
Sovereign
Governor-General
State Governors
Prime Mi ...
.
The time of arrival of the first human beings in Australia is a matter of debate and ongoing investigation. The earliest conclusively human remains found in Australia are those of
Mungo Man LM3 and Mungo Lady, which have been dated to around 50,000 years
BP. Isolated for millennia by rising sea water after the last Ice Age, Australian Aboriginal peoples developed a variety of regional cultures and languages, invented distinct
artistic
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of wh ...
and
religious
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...
traditions, and impacted the environment of the continent in a number of ways through hunting, fire farming and the introduction of the
dog
The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...
. Technologies for warfare and hunting like the
boomerang
A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning ...
and spear were constructed of natural materials, as were musical instruments like the
didgeridoo.
Although there are a number of cultural commonalities among indigenous Australians, there is also a great diversity among different communities. The 2022 Australian census recorded 167 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages used at home by some 76,978 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
At the time of European colonisation, it is estimated that there were over 250
Aboriginal languages. It is now estimated that all but 13 remaining indigenous languages are considered endangered. Aboriginal people today mostly speak English, with Aboriginal phrases and words being added to create
Australian Aboriginal English (which also has a tangible influence of Indigenous languages in the phonology and grammatical structure). Around three quarters of Australian place names are of Aboriginal origin.
[''Australian Place Names''; Brian & Barbara Kennedy; Hodder & Stoughton; 1992]
The indigenous population prior to European settlement was scarce, with estimates ranging widely from 318,000 to 1,000,000 in total, with the distribution being similar to that of the current Australian population, the majority living in the south-east, centred along the
Murray River
The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest ...
. The
First Fleet of British settlers arrived on instructions to "live in amity and kindness" with the Aboriginal population.
[Arthur Phillip: 1788. The Foundation Year](_blank)
Australian Dictionary of Biography Nevertheless, a population collapse principally from disease followed European colonisation, beginning with a
smallpox epidemic spreading three years after the arrival of Europeans.
Massacres
A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...
and
frontier conflicts involving European settlers also contributed to depopulation. From the 19th to the mid-20th century, government policy removed many
mixed heritage children from Aboriginal communities, which was judged "
genocidal" in the
Bringing Them Home Report (1997).
Terminology
Variations
There are a number of appropriate terms to use when referring to Aboriginal peoples of Australia, but there is general agreement that it is important to respect the "preferences of individuals, families, or communities, and allow them to define what they are most comfortable with" when referring to Aboriginal people.
The word '
aboriginal' has been in the English language since at least the 16th century to mean "first or earliest known, indigenous". It comes from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''ab'' (from) and ''origo'' (origin, beginning). The term was used in Australia to describe its
Aboriginal peoples
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
as early as 1789. It became capitalised and was employed as the common name to refer to both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, although today the latter are not included in the term. The term "Aborigine" (as opposed to "Aboriginal") is disfavoured, being regarded as having
colonialist connotations.
While the term "Indigenous Australians" has grown in popularity since the 1980s, many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples dislike it, feeling that it is too generic and removes their identity. However, many people find the term useful and convenient, and it can be used where appropriate.
In recent years, "First Nations", "First Peoples" and "First Australians" have become more common.
Being as specific as possible, for example naming the
language group
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The term "family" reflects the tree model of language origination in his ...
(such as
Arrernte),
demonym relating to geographic area (such as
Nunga), is considered best practice and most respectful.
Terms "Black" and "Blackfella"
The term "Black" has been used to refer to Aboriginal Australians since European colonisation. While originally related to
skin colour and often used pejoratively, the term is used today to indicate Aboriginal heritage or culture in general and refers to any people of such heritage regardless of their level of skin pigmentation. In the 1970s, many Aboriginal activists, such as
Gary Foley
Gary Edward Foley (born 1950) is an Aboriginal Australian activist of the Gumbainggir people, academic, writer and actor. He is best known for his role in establishing the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra in 1972 and for establishing an Abo ...
, proudly embraced the term "Black", and writer
Kevin Gilbert's book from the time was entitled ''Living Black''. The book included interviews with several members of the Aboriginal community, including
Robert Jabanungga, reflecting on contemporary Aboriginal culture. Use of this term varies depending on context and its use needs care as it may be deemed inappropriate. The term "Black" has sometimes caused confusion with
African immigrants.
''
Living Black
''Living Black'' is a current affairs program aired on SBS, Australia, addressed primarily to the interests of Australia's indigenous community. Karla Grant has been executive producer of this program, which she developed, since 2002. She has al ...
'' is an Australian news and current affairs program covering "issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians". It is presented and produced by
Karla Grant, an
Arrernte woman.
A significant number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people use the term "
Blackfella" and its associated forms to refer to Aboriginal Australians.
Blak culture
Contemporary Aboriginal arts are sometimes referred to as a "Blak" arts movement, reflected in names such as BlakDance, BlakLash Collective, the title of
Thelma Plum's song and album, ''
Better in Blak'', the Blak & Bright literary festival in Melbourne, Blak Dot Gallery, Blak Markets and Blak Cabaret.
The use of ''blak'' is part of a wider social movement (as seen in terms such as "Blaktivism" and "Blak History Month"), after the term was coined in 1991 by photographer and multimedia artist
Destiny Deacon
Destiny Deacon (born 1957) is an Indigenous Australian photographer and media artist. She has exhibited photographs and films across Australia and also internationally, focusing on politics and exposing the disparagement around Indigenous Austr ...
, in an exhibition entitled ''Blak lik mi''. Using a spelling possibly appropriated from American
hip hop or rap, the intention behind it is that it "reclaim
historical, representational, symbolical, stereotypical and romanticised notions of Black or Blackness", and expresses taking back power and control within a society that does not give its Indigenous peoples much opportunity for self-determination as individuals and communities. Deacon herself said that it was "taking on the 'colonisers' language and flipping it on its head", as an expression of authentic urban Aboriginal identity.
Regional groups
Aboriginal groups
![Men and boys playing a game of gorri - NMA-11726](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Men_and_boys_playing_a_game_of_gorri_-_NMA-11726.jpg)
Aboriginal peoples of Australia are the various peoples indigenous to mainland Australia and associated islands, excluding the Torres Strait Islands.
The broad term Aboriginal Australians includes many regional groups that may be identified under names based on local language, locality, or what they are called by neighbouring groups. Some communities, cultures or groups may be inclusive of others and alter or overlap; significant changes have occurred in the generations after colonisation. The word "community" is often used to describe groups identifying by
kinship,
language or belonging to a particular place or "country". A community may draw on separate cultural values and individuals can conceivably belong to a number of communities within Australia; identification within them may be adopted or rejected. An individual community may identify itself by many names, each of which can have alternative English spellings.
![Aboriginal farmers at Franklinford 1858](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Aboriginal_farmers_at_Franklinford_1858.jpg)
The naming of peoples is complex and multi-layered, but a few examples are
Anangu in northern
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
, and neighbouring parts of Western Australia and
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...
;
Arrernte in central Australia;
Koori
Koori (also spelt koorie, goori or goorie) is a demonym for Aboriginal Australians from a region that approximately corresponds to southern New South Wales and Victoria. The word derives from the Indigenous language Awabakal. For some people ...
(or Koorie) in New South Wales and
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
(
Aboriginal Victorians); Goorie (variant pronunciation and spelling of Koori) in South East Queensland and some parts of northern New South Wales;
Murri used in parts of Queensland and northern New South Wales where specific collective names are not used;
Tiwi people of the
Tiwi Islands off Northern Territory; and
Palawah in
Tasmania. The largest Aboriginal communities – the
Pitjantjatjara, the Arrernte, the
Luritja and the
Warlpiri – are all from
Central Australia.
Throughout the history of the continent, there have been many different Aboriginal groups, each with its own individual
language, culture, and belief structure. At the time of British settlement, there were over 200 distinct languages.
![Dowling Natives of Tasmania](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Dowling_Natives_of_Tasmania.jpg)
The
Tasmanian Aboriginal population are thought to have first crossed into
Tasmania approximately 40,000 years ago via a land bridge between the island and the rest of mainland Australia during the
last glacial period. Estimates of the population of the Aboriginal people of Tasmania, before European arrival, are in the range of 3,000 to 15,000 people although genetic studies have suggested significantly higher figures, which are supported by Indigenous oral traditions that indicate a reduction in population from diseases introduced by British and American sealers before settlement. The original population was further reduced to around 300 between 1803 and 1833 due to disease, warfare and other actions of British settlers. Despite over 170 years of debate over who or what was responsible for this near-extinction, no consensus exists on its origins, process, or whether or not it was genocide. However, according to Benjamin Madley, using the "UN definition, sufficient evidence exists to designate the
Tasmanian catastrophe genocide". A woman named Trugernanner (often rendered as
Truganini
Truganini (also known as Lallah Rookh; c. 1812 – 8 May 1876) was an Aboriginal Tasmanian woman. She was one of the last native speakers of the Tasmanian languages and one of the last individuals solely of Aboriginal Tasmanian descent.
Trug ...
) who died in 1876, was, and still is, widely believed to be the last of the "full-blooded" Tasmanian Aboriginal people. However, in 1889 Parliament recognised
Fanny Cochrane Smith (d. 1905) as the last surviving "full-blooded" Tasmanian Aboriginal person.
The 2016 census reported 23,572 Indigenous Australians in the state of Tasmania.
Torres Strait Islanders
![TorresStraitIslandsMap](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/TorresStraitIslandsMap.png)
The Torres Strait Islander people possess a heritage and cultural history distinct from Aboriginal traditions. The eastern Torres Strait Islanders in particular are related to the Papuan peoples of
New Guinea, and speak a
Papuan language. Accordingly, they are not generally included under the designation "Aboriginal Australians". This has been another factor in the promotion of the more inclusive term "Indigenous Australians". Six percent of Indigenous Australians identify themselves fully as
Torres Strait Islanders. A further 4% of Indigenous Australians identify themselves as having both Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal heritage.
The
Torres Strait Islands comprise over 100 islands which were annexed by Queensland in 1879. Many Indigenous organisations incorporate the phrase "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander" to highlight the distinctiveness and importance of Torres Strait Islanders in Australia's Indigenous population.
Eddie Mabo
Edward Koiki Mabo (''né'' Sambo; 29 June 1936 – 21 January 1992) was an Indigenous Australian man from the Torres Strait Islands known for his role in campaigning for Indigenous land rights in Australia, in particular the landmark decision o ...
was from "Mer" or
Murray Island in the Torres Strait, which the famous
''Mabo'' decision of 1992 involved.
Other groupings
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people also sometimes refer to themselves by descriptions which relate to their
ecological
Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...
environment, such as saltwater people for coast-dwellers (including Torres Strait Islander people), freshwater people, rainforest people, desert people, or spinifex people, (the latter referring to the
Pila Nguru of
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
).
History
Migration to Australia
Aboriginal peoples
![Indig2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Indig2.jpg)
Several settlements of humans in Australia have been dated around 49,000 years ago.
Luminescence dating of sediments surrounding stone artefacts at
Madjedbebe, a rock shelter in northern Australia, indicates human activity at 65,000 years BP. Genetic studies appear to support an arrival date of 50–70,000 years ago.
The earliest anatomically modern human remains found in Australia (and outside of Africa) are those of
Mungo Man Mungo may refer to:
People
* Mungo (name), a list of people with the given name or surname
* Mungo people, an ethnic group in Cameroon
Places
* Mungo, Angola, a town and municipality
* Mungo National Park, Australia
* Lake Mungo, Australia
...
; they have been dated at 42,000 years old. The initial comparison of the
mitochondrial DNA from the skeleton known as ''Lake Mungo 3'' (LM3) with that of ancient and modern Aboriginal peoples indicated that Mungo Man is not related to Australian Aboriginal peoples. However, these findings have been met with a general lack of acceptance in scientific communities. The sequence has been criticised as there has been no independent testing, and it has been suggested that the results may be due to posthumous modification and thermal degradation of the DNA. Although the contested results seem to indicate that Mungo Man may have been an extinct subspecies that diverged before the most recent common ancestor of contemporary humans, the administrative body for the
Mungo National Park
Mungo National Park is a protected national park that is located in south-western New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The national park is situated approximately west of Sydney in the Balranald Shire. Mungo National Park is the traditio ...
believes that present-day local Aboriginal peoples are descended from the Lake Mungo remains. Independent DNA testing is unlikely as the Indigenous custodians are not expected to allow further invasive investigations.
It is generally believed that Aboriginal people are the descendants of a single migration into the continent, a people that split from the ancestors of East Asians. Recent work with mitochondrial DNA suggests a founder population of between 1,000 and 3,000 women to produce the genetic diversity observed, which suggests that "initial colonisation of the continent would have required deliberate organised sea travel, involving hundreds of people". Aboriginal people seem to have lived a long time in the same environment as the now extinct
Australian megafauna
The term Australian megafauna refers to the megafauna in Australia during the Pleistocene Epoch. Most of these species became extinct during the latter half of the Pleistocene, and the roles of human and climatic factors in their extinction are ...
.
Some evidence from the analysis of charcoal and artefacts revealing human use suggests a date as early as 65,000 BP.
Luminescence dating has suggested habitation in
Arnhem Land as far back as 60,000 years BP. Evidence of fires in South-West Victoria suggest "human presence in Australia 120,000 years ago", although more research is required.
Genetics
Genetic studies have revealed that Aboriginal Australians largely descended from an
Eastern Eurasian population wave, and are most closely related to other
Oceanians, such as
Melanesians. The Aboriginal Australians also show affinity to other
Australasian populations, such as
Negritos or indigenous
South Asian groups, such as the
Andamanese people
The Andamanese are the indigenous peoples of the Andaman Islands, part of India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands union territory in the southeastern part of the Bay of Bengal in Southeast Asia. The Andamanese peoples are among the various groups ...
, as well as to
East Asian peoples. Phylogenetic data suggests that an early initial eastern lineage (ENA) trifurcated somewhere in
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...
, and gave rise to Australasians (Oceanians), the indigenous South Asians/Andamanese, and the East/Southeast Asian lineage including the ancestors of
Native Americans, although Oceanians, specifically Papuans and Aboriginal Australians, may have also received some geneflow from an earlier group (xOOA) as well, around 2%, next to additional archaic admixture in the
Sahul region.
![PCA of Orang Asli and Andamanese with world populations in HGDP](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/PCA_of_Orang_Asli_and_Andamanese_with_world_populations_in_HGDP.png)
Genetically, while Aboriginal Australians are most closely related to
Melanesian and
Papuan people, there is also another component that could indicate
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...
n admixture or more recent European influence. Research indicates a single founding
Sahul group with subsequent isolation between regional populations which were relatively unaffected by later migrations from the Asian mainland, which may have introduced the
dingo 4–5,000 years ago. The research also suggests a divergence from the Papuan people of
New Guinea and the
Mamanwa people of the
Philippines about 32,000 years ago, with a rapid population expansion about 5,000 years ago. A 2011 genetic study found evidence that the Aboriginal, Papuan and Mamanwa peoples carry some of the alleles associated with the
Denisovan
The Denisovans or Denisova hominins ) are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic human that ranged across Asia during the Lower and Middle Paleolithic. Denisovans are known from few physical remains and consequently, most of what is known ...
peoples of Asia, (not found amongst populations in mainland Asia) suggesting that modern and archaic humans interbred in Asia approximately 44,000 years ago, before Australia separated from New Guinea and the migration to Australia. A 2012 paper reports that there is also evidence of a substantial genetic flow from India to northern Australia estimated at slightly over four thousand years ago, a time when changes in tool technology and food processing appear in the Australian archaeological record, suggesting that these may be related.
Aboriginal Australian men have
Haplogroup C-M347 in high frequencies with peak estimates ranging from 60.2% to 68.7%. In addition, the basal form K2* (K-M526) of the extremely ancient
Haplogroup K2
Haplogroup K2, also known as K-M526 and formerly known as K(xLT) and MNOPS, is a human Y-DNA haplogroup.
Relative to its age, the internal structure of K2 is extremely complex, and subclades of it are carried by males native to regions inclu ...
– whose subclades
Haplogroup R Haplogroup R may refer to:
* Haplogroup R (mtDNA), a human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup
* Haplogroup R (Y-DNA), a human Y-chromosome (Y-DNA) haplogroup
{{Disambig ...
,
haplogroup Q,
haplogroup M and
haplogroup S can be found in the majority of Europeans, Northern South Asians,
Native Americans and the
Indigenous peoples of Oceania – has only been found in living humans today amongst Aboriginal Australians. 27% of them may carry K2* and approximately 29% of Aboriginal Australian males belong to subclades of
K2b1, a.k.a.
M and
S.
Aboriginal Australians possess deep rooted clades of both mtDNA
Haplogroup M and
Haplogroup N.
Torres Strait Islands
Although it is estimated that people migrated from the
Indonesian archipelago and New Guinea to mainland Australia about 70,000 years ago,
evidence of human settlement in the Torres Strait has only been uncovered by archaeologists dating back to about 2500 years ago.
Before European contact
Aboriginal people
Aboriginal people in some regions lived as
foragers and
hunter-gatherers, hunting and foraging for food from the land. Although Aboriginal society was generally mobile, or
semi-nomadic
A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the p ...
, moving according to the changing food availability found across different areas as seasons changed, the mode of life and material cultures varied greatly from region to region, and there were permanent settlements and agriculture in some areas. The greatest population density was to be found in the southern and eastern regions of the continent, the
River Murray valley in particular.
Canoes were made out of bark for use on the Murray.
![Australian Aborigine canoe scar tree](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Australian_Aborigine_canoe_scar_tree.jpg)
There is some evidence that, before outside contact, some groups of Aboriginal Australians had a complex subsistence system with elements of agriculture, that was only recorded by the very first of European explorers. One early settler took notes on the life styles of the
Wathaurung people whom he lived near in Victoria. He saw women harvesting
Murnong tubers, a native yam that is now almost extinct. However, the area that they were harvesting from was already cleared of other plants, making it easier to harvest Murnong (also known as yam daisy) exclusively.
Along the northern coast of Australia,
parsnip yams were harvested by leaving the bottom part of the yam still stuck in the ground so that it would grow again in the same spot. Similar to many other farmers in the world, Aboriginal peoples used slash and burn techniques to enrich the nutrients of their soil. However, sheep and cattle later brought over by Europeans would ruin this soil by trampling on it. To add on the complexity of Aboriginal farming techniques, farmers deliberately exchanged seeds to begin growing plants where they did not naturally occur. In fact there were so many examples of Aboriginal Australians managing farm land in a complex manner that Australian Anthropologist,
Dr. Norman Tindale was able to draw an Aboriginal grain belt, detailing the specific areas where crops were once produced.
In terms of aquaculture, explorer
Thomas Mitchell noted large stone fish traps on the Darling River at Brewarrina. Each trap covers a pool, herding fish through a small entrance that would later be shut. Traps were created at different heights to accommodate different water levels during floods and droughts.
Technology used by Indigenous Australian societies before European contact included weapons, tools, shelters, watercraft, and the
message stick
A message stick is a graphic communication device traditionally used by Aboriginal Australians. The objects were carried by messengers over long distances and were used for reinforcing a verbal message. Although styles vary, they are generally ...
. Weapons included
boomerang
A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning ...
s, spears (sometimes thrown with a
woomera) with stone or fishbone tips, clubs, and (less commonly) axes. The
Stone Age tools available included knives with ground edges, grinding devices, and eating containers.
Fibrecraft was well-developed, and fibre nets, baskets, and bags were used for fishing, hunting, and carrying liquids. Trade networks spanned the continent, and transportation included
canoes. Shelters varied regionally, and included
wiltjas in the
Atherton Tablelands,
paperbark
''Melaleuca'' () is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of ''Leptospermum''). They range in size f ...
and
stringybark sheets and raised platforms in
Arnhem Land, whalebone
hut
A hut is a small dwelling, which may be constructed of various local materials. Huts are a type of vernacular architecture because they are built of readily available materials such as wood, snow, ice, stone, grass, palm leaves, branches, hid ...
s in what is now South Australia, stone shelters in what is now western Victoria, and a multi-room pole and bark structure found in
Corranderrk
Coranderrk was an Aboriginal reserve run by the Victorian government between 1863 and 1924, located around north-east of Melbourne. The residents were mainly of the Woiwurrung, Bunurong and Taungurong peoples, and the first inhabitants chose ...
. A bark tent or lean-to is known as a
humpy
A humpy, also known as a gunyah, wurley, wurly or wurlie, is a small, temporary shelter, traditionally used by Australian Aboriginal people. These impermanent dwellings, made of branches and bark, are sometimes called a lean-to, since they oft ...
, gunyah, or wurley. Clothing included the
possum-skin cloak in the southeast and
riji
Riji are the pearl shells traditionally worn by Aboriginal men in the north-west part of Australia, around present day Broome. The word ''riji'' is from the Bardi language. Another word for it is ''jakuli''.
Rijis are worn as pubic coverin ...
(pearl shells) in the northeast.
There is evidence that some Aboriginal populations in northern Australia regularly
traded with
Makassan fishermen from Indonesia before the arrival of Europeans.
At the time of first European contact, it is generally estimated that the pre-1788 population was 314,000, while recent archaeological finds suggest that a population of 500,000 to 750,000 could have been sustained, with some ecologists estimating that a population of up to a million or even two million people was possible.
More recent work suggests that Aboriginal populations exceeded 1.2 million 500 years ago, but may have fallen somewhat with the introduction of disease pathogens from Eurasia in the last 500 years. The population was split into 250 individual nations, many of which were in alliance with one another, and within each nation there existed separate, often related
clans, from as few as 5 or 6 to as many as 30 or 40. Each nation had its own language, and a few had several.
There is some evidence to suggest that the section of the Australian continent now occupied by Queensland was the single most densely populated area of pre-contact Australia. There are also signs that the population density of Aboriginal Australia was comparatively higher in the north-eastern sections of New South Wales, and along the northern coast from the
Gulf of Carpentaria and westward including certain sections of Northern Territory and Western Australia.
Torres Strait Island people
The Torres Strait peoples' fishing economy relied on boats, which they built themselves. There is also evidence of the construction of large, complex
buildings on stilts and
domed structures using
bamboo, with
thatched roofs, which catered for extended family members living together.
British colonisation
First contact
![Two of the Natives of New Holland, Advancing to Combat](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Two_of_the_Natives_of_New_Holland%2C_Advancing_to_Combat.jpg)
British exploration of the Australian coastline began with the buccaneer
William Dampier in 1688 and 1699. Dampier was impressed neither by the country nor the people of the west Australian coast. Almost a century later, the explorer
James Cook mapped the east coast of Australia and claimed the territory for Britain in the name of
King George III. Cook was impressed both by the land and the people whom he encountered, writing in his journal: "From what I have said of the Natives of
New Holland they may appear to some to be the most wretched people upon Earth, but in reality they are far more happier than we Europeans; being wholy unacquainted not only with the superfluous but the necessary conveniencies so much sought after in Europe, they are happy in not knowing the use of them. They live in a Tranquillity which is not disturb'd by the Inequality of Condition".
Nevertheless, Cook also noted in his journal two men at Botany Bay who "seem'd resolved to oppose" his first landing. According to Cook, after one of the men threw a rock, Cook fired a musquet loaded with small shott, which struck him with little effect. Some shott was lodged into one of the men's shields and was taken back to England by Cook, where it remains in the British Museum.
Cook spent a greater period of time among the Guugu Yimithirr people around modern
Cooktown in Queensland, where his ship was nearly wrecked on the Great Barrier Reef. Here relations were generally amicable and Cook recorded words from their language including "kangaroo", though a fight broke out when the British took turtles from the river without sharing them. Peace was restored when an elder presented Cook with a broken-tipped spear as a peace offering – remembered as a first "act of reconciliation". The encounter is commemorated annually by the Guugu Yimithirr to this day.
Cook's favourable impression of the East Coast of Australia led directly to the commencement of the British colonisation of Australia, commencing at Sydney in 1788. The
First Fleet of British ships was commanded by Governor
Arthur Phillip, who had been instructed to "endeavour by every possible means to open an intercourse with the natives, and to conciliate their affections", and to enjoin his British subjects to "live in amity and kindness with them" so as "to cultivate an acquaintance with them without their having an idea of our great superiority over them".
Dates by area
British colonisation of Australia began with the arrival of the
First Fleet in
Botany Bay, New South Wales, in 1788. Settlements were subsequently established in
Tasmania (1803),
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
(1803),
Queensland (1824),
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
(1826), and the
Colony of South Australia
In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...
(1836).
The first settlement in the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...
was built after Captain
Gordon Bremer took possession of the
Tiwi Islands of
Bathurst and
Melville, claiming them for the
colony of New South Wales, although that settlement failed after a few years, along with a couple of later attempts; permanent settlement was only finally achieved at
Darwin in 1869.
Australia was the exception to British imperial colonisation practices, in that no treaty was drawn up setting out terms of agreement between the settlers and native proprietors, as was the case in North America, and
New Zealand. Many of the men on the First Fleet had had military experience among Native American tribes in North America, and tended to attribute to the Aboriginal people alien and misleading systems or concepts like
chieftainship and
tribe with which they had become acquainted in the northern hemisphere.
British administrative control began in the Torres Strait Islands in 1862, with the appointment of John Jardine, police magistrate at
Rockhampton, as Government Resident in the Torres Straits. He originally established a small settlement on
Albany Island, but on 1 August 1864 he went to Somerset Island. English missionaries arrived on
Erub (Darnley Island) on 1 July 1871. In 1872 the boundary of Queensland was extended to include
Thursday Island
Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately north of Cape ...
and some other islands in Torres Strait within of the Queensland coast, and in 1879 Queensland
annexed the other islands, which became part of the British
colony of Queensland
The Colony of Queensland was a colony of the British Empire from 1859 to 1901, when it became a State in the federal Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901. At its greatest extent, the colony included the present-day State of Queensland, ...
.
Impact
One immediate consequence was a series of epidemics of European diseases such as
measles,
smallpox and
tuberculosis. In the 19th century, smallpox was the principal cause of Aboriginal deaths, and vaccinations of the "native inhabitants" had begun in earnest by the 1840s. This smallpox epidemic in 1789 is estimated to have killed up to 90% of the
Darug people
The Dharug or Darug people, formerly known as the Broken Bay tribe, are an Aboriginal Australian people, who share strong ties of kinship and, in pre-colonial times, lived as skilled hunters in family groups or clans, scattered throughout much ...
. The cause of the outbreak is disputed. Some scholars have attributed it to European settlers, but it is also argued that
Macassan
Makassar (, mak, ᨆᨀᨔᨑ, Mangkasara’, ) is the capital of the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan ...
fishermen from
South Sulawesi and nearby islands may have introduced smallpox to Australia before the arrival of Europeans. A third suggestion is that the outbreak was caused by contact with members of the
First Fleet. A fourth theory is that the epidemic was of
chickenpox, not smallpox, carried by members of the First Fleet, and to which the Aboriginal people also had no immunity. Moreover, Aboriginal people were infected with sexually transmitted infections, especially syphilis and gonorrhea.
Another consequence of British colonisation was European seizure of land and water resources, with the decimation of kangaroo and other food sources which continued throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries as rural lands were converted for sheep and cattle grazing. Settlers also participated in the rape and forcible prostitution of Aboriginal women.
Some Europeans, for example escaped convicts, lived in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
In 1834 there occurred the first recorded use of
Aboriginal tracker
Aboriginal trackers were enlisted by Europeans in the years following British colonisation of Australia, to assist them in exploring the Australian landscape. The excellent tracking skills of these Aboriginal Australians were advantageous to set ...
s, who proved very adept at navigating their way through the Australian landscape and finding people.
During the 1860s,
Tasmanian Aboriginal
The Aboriginal Tasmanians (Palawa kani: ''Palawa'' or ''Pakana'') are the Aboriginal people of the Australian island of Tasmania, located south of the mainland. For much of the 20th century, the Tasmanian Aboriginal people were widely, and ...
skulls were particularly sought internationally for studies into
craniofacial anthropometry. The skeleton of
Truganini
Truganini (also known as Lallah Rookh; c. 1812 – 8 May 1876) was an Aboriginal Tasmanian woman. She was one of the last native speakers of the Tasmanian languages and one of the last individuals solely of Aboriginal Tasmanian descent.
Trug ...
, a Tasmanian Aboriginal who died in 1876, was exhumed within two years of her death despite her pleas to the contrary by the
Royal Society of Tasmania
The Royal Society of Tasmania (RST) was formed in 1843. It was the first Royal Society outside the United Kingdom, and its mission is the advancement of knowledge.
The work of the Royal Society of Tasmania includes:
* Promoting Tasmanian historic ...
, and later placed on display. Campaigns continue to have Aboriginal body parts returned to Australia for burial; Truganini's body was returned in 1976 and cremated, and her ashes were scattered according to her wishes.
Place names sometimes reveal discrimination, such as Mount Jim Crow in
Rockhampton, Queensland (now
Mount Baga
Mount Baga (formerly Mount Jim Crow) is a trachyte plug that lies between Rockhampton and Yeppoon, Australia. Standing at approximately 150 m above the surrounding plains (221 m above sea level), Mount Baga affords a panoramic view of the surrou ...
), as well as racist policies, like Brisbane's Boundary Streets, which used to indicate boundaries where Aboriginal people were not allowed to cross during certain times of the day. There is ongoing discussion about changing many of these names.
![Indigenous-wages-graph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Indigenous-wages-graph.jpg)
Throughout most of the 19th and 20th centuries, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people had their lives under the jurisdiction of various state-based protection laws. These
Acts of Parliament
Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of parliament be ...
appointed
Protectors of Aborigines and
Aboriginal Protection Boards, whose role was to control the lives of Indigenous Australians. Wages were controlled by the Protectors, and Indigenous Australians received less income than their non-Indigenous counterparts in employment.
During this time, many Aboriginal people were victims of slavery by colonists alongside
Pacific Islander peoples who were kidnapped from their homes, in a practice known as
blackbirding. Between 1860 and 1970, under the guise of protectionist policies, people, including children as young as 12, were forced to work on properties where they worked under horrific conditions and most did not receive any wages. In the
pearling industry, Aboriginal peoples were bought for about 5 pounds, with pregnant Aboriginal women "prized because their lungs were believed to have greater air capacity". Aboriginal prisoners in the Aboriginal-only prison on
Rottnest Island, many of whom were there on trumped up charges, were chained up and forced to work. In 1971, 373 Aboriginal men were found buried in unmarked graves on the island. Up until June 2018, the former prison was being used as holiday accommodation.
![A](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/A.O._Neville%2C_Australia%27s_Coloured_Minority_-_Assimilation_Policy.jpg)
From 1810, Aboriginal peoples were moved onto mission stations, run by churches and the state. After this period of protectionist policies that aimed to segregate and control Aboriginal populations, in 1937 the Commonwealth government agreed to move towards assimilation policies. These policies aimed to integrate Aboriginal persons who were "not of full blood" into the white community in an effort to eliminate the "Aboriginal problem". As part of this, there was an increase in the number of children forcibly removed from their homes and placed with white people, either in institutions or foster homes.
Frontier wars and massacres
![Mounted police and blacks](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Mounted_police_and_blacks.jpg)
As part of the colonisation process, there were many conflicts and clashes between colonists and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across the continent and islands. In Queensland, the killing of Aboriginal peoples was largely perpetrated by civilian "hunting" parties and the Native Police, armed groups of Aboriginal men who were recruited at gunpoint and led by government officers to eliminate Aboriginal resistance. There is evidence that massacres of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, which began with arrival of British colonists, continued until the 1930s. Researchers at the
University of Newcastle under
Lyndall Ryan
Lyndall Ryan, (born 1943) is an Australian academic and historian. She has held positions in Australian Studies and Women's Studies at Griffith University and Flinders University and was Foundation Professor of Australian Studies and Head of Sc ...
have been mapping the massacres. they have mapped almost 500 places where massacres happened, with 12,361 Aboriginal people killed and 204 Colonists killed, numbering at least 311 massacres over a period of about 140 years. After losing a significant number of their social unit in one blow, the survivors were left very vulnerable – with reduced ability to gather food, reproduce, or fulfill their ceremonial obligations, as well as defend themselves against further attack.
Estimating the total number of deaths during the frontier wars is difficult due to lack of records and the fact that many massacres of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander were kept secret. It is often quoted that 20,000 Aboriginal Australians and 2000 colonists died in the frontier wars; however, recent research indicates at least 40,000 Aboriginal dead and 2,000 to 2,500 settlers dead. Other research indicates a minimum of 65,000 Aboriginal peoples may have been killed in Queensland alone.
There have been arguments over whether deaths of Aboriginal peoples, particularly in Tasmania, as well as the forcible removal of children from Aboriginal communities, constitutes
genocide.
There has been broad range of historical research on the massacres and treatment of Aboriginal peoples, including by Lyndall Ryan at the Centre for 21st Century Humanities, the Frontier Conflict Database, and the Australian Commonwealth government's Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children From their Families.
According to the analysis of Justice Ronald Wilson in the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Report Australia's policy of forcible removal was genocidal in nature. Quoting Raphael Lemkin, Wilson defined genocide as "a coordinated plan of different actions aimed at the of the essential foundations of the lives of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves." The objectives of which were "the disintegration of the political and social institutions, of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups, the destruction of personal security, liberty, health, dignity, and even the lives of the individuals belonging to such groups."
Wilson states that "Genocide can be committed by means other than actual physical extermination. It is committed by the forcible transfer of children, provided the other elements of the crime are established." He points out that "Genocide is committed even when the destruction has not been carried out. A conspiracy to commit genocide and an attempt at genocide are both crimes which are committed whether or not any actual destruction occurred." Further, Wilson found that "The debates at the time of the drafting of the Genocide Convention establish clearly that an act or policy is still genocidal when it is motivated by a number of objectives. To constitute an act of genocide the planned extermination of a group need not be solely motivated by animosity or hatred."...and that "reasonable foreseeability...is sufficient to establish the Convention's intent element." He concluded that "The policy of forcible removal of children from Indigenous Australians to other groups for the purpose of raising them separately from and ignorant of their culture and people could properly be labelled 'genocidal' in breach of binding international law from at least 11 December 1946...The practice continued for almost another quarter of a century."
Unlike the forcible removal of Indigenous children, the massacres perpetrated from the early colonial period were accompanied by the society wide acknowledgement, and at times, vehement advocacy for extermination of Indigenous peoples. There are many examples of politicians, bureaucrats, newspaper editors and ordinary people advocating the desirability and inevitability of the extirpation, annihilation or extermination of Aboriginal Peoples.
There are few memorials in Australia acknowledging the widespread massacres of Aboriginal Peoples, and no memorials describing it as genocide. However, the massacres were often recorded by Australians as place names, for example:
Murdering Gully in Newcastle, Murdering Creek at Lake Weyba, Skull Pocket and Skeleton Creek near Cairns, Rifle Creek near Mt Molloy Qld, Skull Lagoon near Mt Carbine Qld, Skull Hole near Winton Qld, Battle Camp Road, Range and Station east of Laura Qld, Slaughterhouse Creek (Waterloo Creek) NSW.
Political resistance
There has always been Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander resistance, from the arrival of colonists through to the present.
* In 1938, over 100 Aboriginal peoples protested one of the first
Australia Day celebrations by gathering for an "Aborigines Conference" in Sydney and marking the day as the "Day of Protest and Mourning"; the day is now often referred to as "Survival Day" or "Invasion Day" by Indigenous peoples.
* In 1963 the
Yolngu people of
Yirrkala
Yirrkala is a small community in East Arnhem Region, Northern Territory, Australia, southeast of the large mining town of Nhulunbuy, on the Gove Peninsula in Arnhem Land. Its population comprises predominantly Aboriginal Australians of the ...
in
Arnhem Land sent two bark petitions to the Australian government to protest the granting of mining rights on their lands. The Yirrkala Bark petitions were traditional Aboriginal documents to be recognised under Commonwealth law.
* On Australia day in 1972, 34 years after the first "Day of Protest and Mourning", Indigenous activists set up the
Aboriginal Tent Embassy
The Aboriginal Tent Embassy is a permanent protest occupation site as a focus for representing the political rights of Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander people. Established on 26 January (Australia Day) 1972, and celebrating i ...
on the lawn of
Old Parliament House to protest the state of
Aboriginal land rights. The Tent Embassy was given heritage status in 1995, and celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2012, making it the longest, unanswered protest camp in the world.
1871–1969: Stolen Generations
The term Stolen Generations refers to those children of Australian Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander descent who were forcibly removed from their families by the Australian
Federal and
State
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
government agencies and
church missions for the purpose of eradicating Aboriginal culture, under
acts of their respective parliaments. The forcible removal of these children occurred in the period between approximately 1871 and 1969, although, in some places, children were still being taken in the 1970s.
Early 20th century
By 1900, the recorded Indigenous population of Australia had declined to approximately 93,000. However, this was only a partial count, as both Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders were poorly covered, with desert Aboriginal peoples not counted at all until the 1930s. During the first half of the twentieth century, many Indigenous Australians worked as
stockmen on
sheep station
A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...
s and
cattle station
In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a '' grazier''. The largest cattle stat ...
s for extremely low wages. The Indigenous population continued to decline, reaching a low of 74,000 in 1933 before numbers began to recover. By 1995, population numbers had reached pre-colonisation levels, and in 2010 there were around 563,000 Indigenous Australians.
Although, as
British subjects, all Indigenous Australians were nominally entitled to vote, generally only those who merged into mainstream society did so. Only Western Australia and Queensland specifically excluded Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from the electoral rolls. Despite the
Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902, which excluded "Aboriginal natives of Australia, Asia, Africa and Pacific Islands except New Zealand" from voting unless they were on the roll before 1901, South Australia insisted that all voters enfranchised within its borders would remain eligible to vote in the Commonwealth, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continued to be added to their rolls, albeit haphazardly.
![Women carrying baskets - NMA-12829](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Women_carrying_baskets_-_NMA-12829.jpg)
Despite efforts to bar their enlistment, over 1,000 Indigenous Australians fought for Australia in the First World War.
1934 saw the first appeal to the
High Court by an Aboriginal Australian, and it succeeded. Dhakiyarr was found to have been wrongly convicted of the murder of a white policeman, for which he had been sentenced to death; the case focused national attention on
Aboriginal rights
Indigenous rights are those rights that exist in recognition of the specific condition of the Indigenous peoples. This includes not only the most basic human rights of physical survival and integrity, but also the rights over their land (inc ...
issues. Dhakiyarr disappeared upon release. In 1938, the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the British
First Fleet was marked as a
Day of Mourning
A national day of mourning is a day or days marked by mourning and memorial activities observed among the majority of a country's populace. They are designated by the national government. Such days include those marking the death or funeral of ...
and Protest at an Aboriginal meeting in Sydney, and has since become marked around Australia as "Invasion Day" or "Survival Day" by Aboriginal protesters and their supporters.
Hundreds of Indigenous Australians served in the Australian armed forces during World War Two – including with the
Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion and The
Northern Territory Special Reconnaissance Unit
The Northern Territory Special Reconnaissance Unit (NTSRU) was an irregular warfare unit of the Australian Army during World War II, composed mainly of Aboriginal people from the Northern Territory. Formed in 1941, the unit patrolled the coast of ...
, which were established to guard
Australia's North against the threat of Japanese invasion. However, most were denied pension rights and military allotments, except in Victoria, where each case was judged individually, without a blanket denial of rights accruing from their service.
Late 20th century
![Namatjira0384](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Namatjira0384.jpg)
The 1960s was a pivotal decade in the assertion of Aboriginal rights and a time of growing collaboration between Aboriginal activists and white Australian activists. In 1962, Commonwealth legislation specifically gave Aboriginal people the right to vote in
Commonwealth elections. A group of
University of Sydney students organised a bus tour of western and coastal New South Wales towns in 1965 to raise awareness of the state of Aboriginal health and living conditions. This
Freedom Ride also aimed to highlight the social discrimination faced by Aboriginal people and encourage Aboriginal people themselves to resist discrimination.
As mentioned above, Indigenous Australians received lower wages than their non-Indigenous counterparts in employment. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Queensland in particular had their income quarantined by the Protector and were allowed a minimal amount of their income. In 1966,
Vincent Lingiari
Vincent Lingiari (13 June 1908 or 1919 – 21 January 1988) was an Australian Aboriginal rights activist and member of the Gurindji people. In his early life he started as a stockman at Wave Hill Station, where the Aboriginal workers were g ...
led the famous
Wave Hill walk-off (Gurindji strike) of Indigenous employees of
Wave Hill Station
Wave Hill Station, most commonly referred to as Wave Hill, is a pastoral lease in the Northern Territory operating as a cattle station. The property is best known as the scene of the Wave Hill walk-off, a strike by Indigenous Australian ...
in protest against poor pay and conditions (later the subject of the
Paul Kelly and
Kev Carmody song "
From Little Things Big Things Grow
"From Little Things Big Things Grow" is a protest song recorded by Australian artists Paul Kelly & The Messengers on their 1991 album ''Comedy'', and by Kev Carmody (with Kelly) on his 1993 album ''Bloodlines''. It was released as a CD singl ...
"). Since 1999, the
Queensland Government, under pressure from the
Queensland Council of Unions, has established a number of schemes to give any earned income not received at the time back to Indigenous Australians.
The landmark
1967 referendum
The 1967 Australian referendum occurred on 27 May 1967 under the Holt Government. It contained three topics asked about in two questions, regarding the passage of two bills to alter the Australian Constitution.
The first question (''Constitution ...
called by Prime Minister
Harold Holt allowed the
Commonwealth to make laws with respect to Aboriginal people by modifying
section 51(xxvi) of the Constitution, and for Aboriginal people to be included when the country does a count to determine electoral representation by repealing
section 127. The referendum passed with 90.77% voter support.
In the controversial 1971
Gove land rights case, Justice Blackburn ruled that Australia had been ''
terra nullius
''Terra nullius'' (, plural ''terrae nullius'') is a Latin expression meaning " nobody's land".
It was a principle sometimes used in international law to justify claims that territory may be acquired by a state's occupation of it.
:
:
...
'' before British settlement, and that no concept of
native title existed in Australian law. Following the 1973
Woodward commission, in 1975 the federal government under
Gough Whitlam drafted the Aboriginal Land Rights Bill. This was enacted the following year under the
Fraser government as the ''
Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976
The ''Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976'' (ALRA) is Australian federal government legislation that provides the basis upon which Aboriginal Australian people in the Northern Territory can claim rights to land based on traditi ...
'', which recognised Aboriginal Australians' system of land rights in the Northern Territory, and established the basis upon which Aboriginal people in the NT could claim rights to land based on
traditional occupation.
In 1985, the Australian government returned ownership of
Uluru (Ayers Rock) to the
Pitjantjatjara Aboriginal people. In 1992, the
High Court of Australia reversed Justice Blackburn's ruling and handed down its decision in the
Mabo Case, declaring the previous legal concept of ''terra nullius'' to be invalid and confirming the existence of
native title in Australia.
Indigenous Australians began to serve in parliaments from the late 1960s. In 1971,
Neville Bonner
Neville Thomas Bonner AO (28 March 19225 February 1999) was an Australian politician, and the first Aboriginal Australian to become a member of the Parliament of Australia. He was appointed by the Queensland Parliament to fill a casual vacancy ...
joined the
Australian Senate as a Senator for Queensland for the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
, becoming the first Indigenous Australian in the Federal Parliament. A year later, the
Aboriginal Tent Embassy
The Aboriginal Tent Embassy is a permanent protest occupation site as a focus for representing the political rights of Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander people. Established on 26 January (Australia Day) 1972, and celebrating i ...
was established on the steps of
Parliament House in
Canberra. In 1976, Sir
Douglas Nicholls was appointed as the 28th Governor of South Australia, the first Aboriginal person appointed to vice-regal office. In the
general election of 2010,
Ken Wyatt of the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
became the first Indigenous Australian elected to the
Australian House of Representatives. In the
general election of 2016,
Linda Burney
Linda Jean Burney (born 25 April 1957) is an Australian politician and is an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing Barton since the 2016 federal election. She is Minister for Indigenous Australi ...
of the
Australian Labor Party became the second Indigenous Australian, and the first Indigenous Australian woman, elected to the
Australian House of Representatives. She was immediately appointed
Shadow Minister for Human Services.
In sport
Evonne Goolagong Cawley
Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley (née Goolagong; born 31 July 1951) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. Goolagong was one of the world's leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s.
At the age of 19, she won the French Open singl ...
became the world number-one ranked tennis player in 1971 and won 14 Grand Slam titles during her career. In 1973
Arthur Beetson became the first Indigenous Australian to captain his country in any sport when he first led the Australian National Rugby League team,
the Kangaroos. In 1982,
Mark Ella
Mark Gordon Ella, AM (born 5 June 1959) is an indigenous Australian former rugby union footballer. Ella played at flyhalf/five-eighth and was capped by the Wallabies 25 times, captaining Australia on 10 occasions.
Ella made his debut tour wit ...
became Captain of the Australian National
Rugby Union Team,
the Wallabies. In 2000, Aboriginal sprinter
Cathy Freeman
Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman (born 16 February 1973) is an Aboriginal Australian former sprinter, who specialised in the 400 metres event. Her personal best of 48.63 seconds currently ranks her as the ninth-fastest woman of all time, set ...
lit the
Olympic flame
The Olympic flame is a symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. Several months before the Olympic Games, the Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece. This ceremony starts the Olymp ...
at the opening ceremony of the
2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, and went on to win the
400 metres at the Games. In 2019, tennis player
Ashleigh Barty was ranked world number one.
In 1984,
a group of Pintupi
The Pintupi are an Australian Aboriginal group who are part of the Western Desert cultural group and whose traditional land is in the area west of Lake Macdonald and Lake Mackay in Western Australia. These people moved (or were moved) into ...
people who were living a traditional
hunter-gatherer desert-dwelling life were tracked down in the
Gibson Desert in Western Australia and brought in to a settlement. They are believed to have been the last
uncontacted tribe
Uncontacted peoples are groups of indigenous peoples living without sustained contact with neighbouring communities and the world community. Groups who decide to remain uncontacted are referred to as indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation. ...
in Australia.
During this period, the federal government enacted a number of significant, but controversial, policy initiatives in relation to Indigenous Australians. A representative body, the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) (1990–2005) was the Australian Government body through which Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders were formally involved in the processes of government affecting ...
(ATSIC), was set up in 1990.
Reconciliation
Reconciliation between non-Indigenous and Indigenous Australians became a significant issue in Australian politics in the late 20th century. In 1991, the
Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation
Reconciliation in Australia is a process which officially began in 1991, focused on the improvement of race relations between the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia and the rest of the population. The Council for Aboriginal ...
was established by the federal government to facilitate reconciliation. In 1998, a Constitutional Convention which selected a Republican model for a referendum included just six Indigenous participants, leading Monarchist delegate
Neville Bonner
Neville Thomas Bonner AO (28 March 19225 February 1999) was an Australian politician, and the first Aboriginal Australian to become a member of the Parliament of Australia. He was appointed by the Queensland Parliament to fill a casual vacancy ...
to end his contribution to the convention with his Jagera tribal "Sorry Chant" in sadness at the low number of Indigenous representatives.
An inquiry into the
Stolen Generations
The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church mis ...
was launched in 1995 by the
Keating government, and the final report delivered in 1997 – the ''Bringing Them Home'' report – estimated that around 10% to 33% of all Aboriginal children had been separated from their families for the duration of the policies. The succeeding
Howard government largely ignored the recommendations provided by the report, one of which was a formal apology to Aboriginal Australians for the Stolen Generations.
The republican model, as well as a proposal for a new Constitutional preamble which would have included the "honouring" of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, was put to
referendum but did not succeed. In 1999, the Australian Parliament passed a
Motion of Reconciliation drafted by Prime Minister
John Howard in consultation with Aboriginal Senator
Aden Ridgeway
Aden Derek Ridgeway (born 18 September 1962) is an Australian former politician.''The Age'' (2006)Present politics Retrieved 6 July 2006. He was a member of the Australian Senate for New South Wales from 1999 to 2005, representing the Australia ...
naming mistreatment of Indigenous Australians as the most "blemished chapter in our national history", although Howard refused to offer any formal apology.
On 13 February 2008, Prime Minister
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and again from June 2013 to September 2013, holding office as the leader of the ...
issued a formal
apology to Australia's Indigenous peoples
Apology, The Apology, apologize/apologise, apologist, apologetics, or apologetic may refer to:
Common uses
* Apology (act), an expression of remorse or regret
* Apologia, a formal defense of an opinion, position, or action
Arts, entertainment ...
, on behalf of the federal government of Australia, for the suffering caused by the Stolen Generations.
21st century
In 2001, the Federal Government dedicated
Reconciliation Place in Canberra. On 13 February 2008, Prime Minister
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and again from June 2013 to September 2013, holding office as the leader of the ...
reversed Howard's decision and issued a
public apology to members of the
Stolen Generations
The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church mis ...
on behalf of the Australian Government.
ATSIC was abolished by the Australian Government in 2004 amidst allegations of corruption.
Emergency Response/Stronger Futures
The
Northern Territory National Emergency Response (also known as the Intervention) was launched in 2007 by the government of Prime Minister
John Howard, in response to the ''
Little Children are Sacred'' report into allegations of
child abuse among Aboriginal communities in the NT. The government banned alcohol in prescribed communities in the Territory; quarantined a percentage of
welfare payments for essential goods purchasing; dispatched additional police and medical personnel to the region; and suspended the permit system for access to Aboriginal communities. In addition to these measures, the
army were released into communities and there were increased police powers, which were later further increased with the so-called "paperless arrests" legislation.
In 2010, United Nations Special Rapporteur James Anaya found the Emergency Response to be racially discriminatory, and said that aspects of it represented a limitation on "individual autonomy". These findings were criticised by the government's Indigenous Affairs Minister
Jenny Macklin, the Opposition and Indigenous leaders like
Warren Mundine
Nyunggai Warren Stephen Mundine is an Australian Aboriginal leader and politician. He was the National President of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), but quit the party in 2012. Mundine was appointed chairman of the Coalition government's Indig ...
and
Bess Price.
In 2011, the Australian government enacted legislation to implement the
Stronger Futures policy
The Stronger Futures policy is a multifaceted social policy of the Australian government concerning the Aboriginal population of the Northern Territory. It is underpinned by the ''Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory Act 2012'', which ceas ...
, which is intended to address key issues that exist within Aboriginal communities of the Northern Territory such as unemployment, school attendance and enrolment,
alcohol abuse, community safety and child protection, food security and housing and land reforms. The policy has been criticised by organisations such as
Amnesty International and other groups, including on the basis that it maintains "racially-discriminatory" elements of the ''Emergency Response Act'' and continues control by the federal government over "Aboriginal people and their lands".
Constitutional change proposed
In 2010, the federal government appointed a panel comprising Indigenous leaders, other legal experts and some members of parliament (including Ken Wyatt) to provide advice on how best to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the
federal Constitution. The panel's recommendations, reported to the federal government in January 2012, included deletion of provisions of the Constitution referencing race (
Section 25 and
Section 51(xxvi)), and new provisions on meaningful recognition and further protection from discrimination. Subsequently, a
proposed referendum on Constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians was ultimately abandoned in 2013.
The ''
Uluru Statement from the Heart'' was released 26 May 2017 by delegates to an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Referendum Convention, held near
Uluru in Central Australia. The statement calls for a "First Nations Voice" in the Australian Constitution and a "Makarrata Commission" to supervise a process of "agreement-making" and "truth-telling" between government and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The statement references the
1967 referendum
The 1967 Australian referendum occurred on 27 May 1967 under the Holt Government. It contained three topics asked about in two questions, regarding the passage of two bills to alter the Australian Constitution.
The first question (''Constitution ...
which brought about changes to the Constitution to include Indigenous Australians.
Population
Pre-colonisation
It has been variously estimated that before the arrival of British settlers, the population of Indigenous (probably Aboriginal only) Australians was approximately 318,000–1,000,000 with the distribution being similar to that of the current Australian population, the majority living in the south-east, centred along the
Murray River
The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest ...
.
Definition
Over time Australia has used various means to determine membership of ethnic groups such as
lineage,
blood quantum
Blood quantum laws or Indian blood laws are laws in the United States that define Native American status by fractions of Native American ancestry. These laws were enacted by the federal government and state governments as a way to estab ...
, birth and
self-determination. From 1869 until well into the 1970s, children under 12 years of age with 25% or less Aboriginal blood were considered "white" and were often
removed from their families by the Australian
Federal and
State
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
government agencies and
church missions, under
acts
The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...
of their respective parliaments in order that they would have "a reasonable chance of absorption into the white community to which they rightly belong". Grey areas in determination of ethnicity led to people of mixed ancestry being caught in the middle of divisive policies which often led to absurd situations:
In 1935, an Australian of part Indigenous descent left his home on a reserve to visit a nearby hotel where he was ejected for being Aboriginal. He returned home but was refused entry to the reserve because he was not Aboriginal. He attempted to remove his children from the reserve but was told he could not because they were Aboriginal. He then walked to the next town where he was arrested for being an Aboriginal vagrant and sent to the reserve there. During World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
he tried to enlist but was rejected because he was an Aborigine so he moved to another state where he enlisted as a non-Aborigine. After the end of the war he applied for a passport but was rejected as he was an Aborigine, he obtained an exemption under the Aborigines Protection Act but was now told he could no longer visit his relatives as he was not an Aborigine. He was later told he could not join the Returned Servicemens Club because he was an Aborigine.
In 1983 the
High Court of Australia (in the ''
Commonwealth v Tasmania'' or "''Tasmanian dam(s) case''") defined an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander as "a person of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent who identifies as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and is accepted as such by the community in which he or she lives". The ruling was a three-part definition comprising descent, self-identification and community identification. The first part – descent – was genetic descent and unambiguous, but led to cases where a lack of records to prove ancestry excluded some. Self- and community identification were more problematic as they meant that an Indigenous person separated from his or her community due to a family dispute could no longer identify as Aboriginal.
As a result, there arose court cases throughout the 1990s where excluded people demanded that their Aboriginality be recognised. As a result, lower courts refined the High Court test when subsequently applying it. In 1995, Justice Drummond in the
Federal Court held in ''Gibbs v Capewell'' "...either genuine self-identification as Aboriginal alone or Aboriginal communal recognition as such by itself may suffice, according to the circumstances." This contributed to an increase of 31% in the number of people identifying as Indigenous Australians in the 1996 census when compared to the 1991 census. In 1998
Justice Merkel held in ''Shaw v Wolf'' that Aboriginal descent is "technical" rather than "real" – thereby eliminating a genetic requirement. This decision established that anyone can classify him or herself legally as an Aboriginal, provided he or she is accepted as such by his or her community.
Demographics
Inclusion in the National Census
![Aboriginal boys and men in front of a bush shelter - NTL PH0731-0022](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Aboriginal_boys_and_men_in_front_of_a_bush_shelter_-_NTL_PH0731-0022.jpg)
Indigenous Australians have been counted in every census albeit only approximately and using inconsistent definitions. Section 127 of the
Constitution, which was repealed in 1967, had excluded "aboriginal natives" from being counted in the overall population statistics for each state and territory and nationally with the
Attorney-General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
providing a legal advice that a person was an 'aboriginal native' if they were a 'full-blood aboriginal'. As a consequence of section 127, Indigenous Australians in remote areas uninhabited by non-Indigenous Australians were not counted prior to 1967 in censuses and sometimes estimated.
Post 1967, Torres Strait Islanders were considered a separate Indigenous people. Prior to 1947, Torres Strait Islanders were considered to be Aboriginal in censuses. In the 1947 census, Torres Strait Islanders were considered to be
Polynesian and in the 1954 and 1961 censuses were considered to be
Pacific Islanders. In the 1966 census, Torres Strait Islanders were considered to be Aboriginal.
A "Commonwealth working definition" for Indigenous Australians was developed from 1968 and endorsed by
Cabinet in 1978 which contains elements of descent,
self-identification
In the psychology of self, one's self-concept (also called self-construction, self-identity, self-perspective or self-structure) is a collection of beliefs about oneself. Generally, self-concept embodies the answer to the question ''"Who am I? ...
and community recognition in contrast to the earlier preponderance of Aboriginal blood definition.
As there is no formal procedure for any community to record acceptance, the primary method of determining Indigenous population is from self-identification on census forms. The
Australian Census includes counts based on questions relating to individuals' self-identification as Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, or of both origins. Owing to various difficulties which lead to under-counting, the
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) follows a set method to estimate total numbers.
Distribution and growth
The 2006
Australian census showed growth in the Indigenous population (recorded as 517,000) at twice the rate of overall population growth since 1996, when the Indigenous population stood at 283,000. In the
2011 census, there was a 20% rise in people who identify as Aboriginal. In the
2016 census, there was another 18.4% rise on the 2011 figure. 590,056 respondents identified themselves as Aboriginal, 32,345
Torres Strait Islander, and a further 26,767 both Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islanders
Torres Strait Islanders () are the Indigenous Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal people of the rest of Australia, they are often groupe ...
. In the
2021 Australian census, 812,000 people identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, representing 3.2% of the population. This was an increase from 2.8% in 2016 (i.e. about 25%increase), and 2.5% in 2011. However, the net undercount of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was 17.4%, and the estimated Indigenous population is around 952,000 to 1,000,000, or just under 4 per cent of the total population.
Growth to 2016 was mainly in major cities and along the eastern coast of Australia. In 2018 the ABS published a report exploring the reasons for these findings, with some of the factors behind the increase being higher fertility rates of Indigenous women; people entering the population through migration; variation in census coverage and response rates; and people changing how they self-identify between census years. Another factor might be the children of mixed marriages: the proportion of Aboriginal adults married (''de facto'' or ''
de jure'') to non-Aboriginal spouses increased to 78.2% in the 2016 census, (up from 74% in 2011, 64% in 1996, 51% in 1991 and 46% in 1986); it was reported in 2002 that up to 88% of the offspring of mixed marriages subsequently self-identify as Indigenous Australians.
In the 2016, over 33% of the Indigenous population lived in major cities, compared with about 75% of the non-Indigenous population, with a further 24% in "inner regional" areas (compared with 18%), 20% in "outer regional" (8%), while nearly 18% lived in "remote" or "very remote" areas (2%). (Ten years earlier, 31% were living in major cities and 24% in remote areas.)
Indigenous Australians by state
= Queensland
=
Image:Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Islanders by ILOC.jpg, Geographical distribution of the population self-identified as having both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Indigenous status by Indigenous Locations (ILOC), according to the 2016 census
Image:Queensland Aboriginals by ILOC copy.jpg, Geographical distribution of the population self-identified as having Indigenous status (Aboriginals only) by Indigenous Locations (ILOC), according to the 2016 census
Image:Queensland Indigenous Ancestry by SA1 copy.jpg, The prevalent 1st response about ancestry of the Queensland people self-identified as having Indigenous status (Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islanders or both) in Statistical Areas 1 (SA1) with more then 5% of Indigenous population
Image:Queensland Indigenous by ILOC.jpg, Geographical distribution of the Queensland population self-identified as having Indigenous status (Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islanders or both) by Indigenous Locations (ILOC), according to the 2016 census
Image:Queensland Indigenous by LGA.jpg, Geographical distribution of the Queensland population self-identified as having Indigenous status (Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islanders or both) by Local Government Areas (LGA), according to the 2016 census
Image:Queensland Indigenous by SSC.jpg, Geographical distribution of the Queensland population self-identified as having Indigenous status (Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islanders or both) by State Suburbs (SSC), according to the 2016 census (uninhabited mesh blocks (MB) excluded)
Image:Queensland Indigenous Languages by SA1.jpg, The languages most often spoken at home by people self-identified as having Indigenous status (Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islanders or both) in Statistical Areas 1 (SA1) with more then 5% of Indigenous population
Image:Queensland Indigenous Languages Percentage by SA1 copy.jpg, Geographical distribution of the population self-identified as having Indigenous status (Torres Strait Islanders only) and spoken at home on one of Indigenous Australian languages by Statistical Areas 1 (SA1)
Image:Queensland Indigenous Religions by SA1 copy.jpg, The prevalent religious affiliation of the people self-identified as having Indigenous status (Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islanders or both) in Statistical Areas 1 (SA1) with more then 5% of self-identified Indigenous population
Image:Queensland Torres Islanders by ILOC.jpg, Geographical distribution of the Queensland population self-identified as having Indigenous status (Torres Strait Islanders only) by Indigenous Locations (ILOC), according to the 2016 census
Languages
Aboriginal languages
According to the 2005 National Indigenous Languages Survey (NILS), at the time the Australian continent was colonised, there were around 250 different Indigenous languages, with the larger language groups each having up to 100 related dialects. Some of these languages were only ever spoken by perhaps 50 to 100 people. Indigenous languages are divided into language groups with from ten to twenty-four language families identified. It is currently estimated that up to 145 Indigenous languages remain in use, of which fewer than 20 are considered to be strong in the sense that they are still spoken by all age groups. All but 13 Indigenous languages are considered to be endangered. Several extinct Indigenous languages are being reconstructed. For example, the last fluent speaker of the
Ngarrindjeri language
The Ngarrindjeri people are the traditional Aboriginal Australian people of the lower Murray River, eastern Fleurieu Peninsula, and the Coorong of the southern-central area of the state of South Australia. The term ''Ngarrindjeri'' means "bel ...
died in the late 1960s; using recordings and written records as a guide, a Ngarrindjeri dictionary was published in 2009, and the Ngarrindjeri language is today spoken in complete sentences.
Linguists classify many of the mainland Australian languages into one large group, the
Pama–Nyungan languages. The rest are sometimes lumped under the term "non-Pama–Nyungan". The Pama–Nyungan languages form the majority, covering most of Australia, and are generally thought to be a family of related languages. In the north, stretching from the Western
Kimberley to the
Gulf of Carpentaria, are found a number of non-Pama–Nyungan groups of languages which have not been shown to be related to the Pama–Nyungan family nor to each other. While it has sometimes proven difficult to work out familial relationships within the Pama–Nyungan language family, many Australian linguists feel there has been substantial success. Against this, some linguists, such as
R. M. W. Dixon, suggest that the Pama–Nyungan group – and indeed the entire Australian linguistic area – is rather a ''
sprachbund'', or group of languages having very long and intimate contact, rather than a
genetic language family.
It has been suggested that, given their long presence in Australia, Aboriginal languages form one specific sub-grouping. The position of Tasmanian languages is unknown, and it is also unknown whether they comprised one or more than one specific language family.
Nearly three quarters of Australian place names have origins in Aboriginal languages. However the method of recording names used by early colonial surveyors was often unreliable. When a surveyor was seeking the name of a river, the Aboriginal responder might have given the word for "sand" or "water". Unless living speakers of the original languages remained when systematic research of indigenous languages began in the 1930s, the meaning of many place names was therefore lost, or is now open to several interpretations.
The word "
Canberra" was chosen for the national capital and is popularly believed to mean "meeting place", however this is contested. According to the anthropologist
Aldo Massola, the name comes from the word ''nganbirra'' meaning "a camping place."
Cross-cultural communications
Cross-cultural miscommunication can sometimes occur between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. According to Michael Walsh and
Ghil'ad Zuckermann, Western conversational interaction is typically "
dyadic", between two particular people, where eye contact is important and the speaker controls the interaction; and "contained" in a relatively short, defined time frame. However, traditional Aboriginal conversational interaction is "communal", broadcast to many people, eye contact is not important, the listener controls the interaction; and "continuous", spread over a longer, indefinite time frame.
Torres Strait Island languages
There are three languages spoken in the
Torres Strait Islands, two indigenous languages and an English-based creole. The indigenous language spoken mainly in the western and central islands is
Kalaw Lagaw Ya
''Kalau Lagau Ya'', ''Kalaw Lagaw Ya'', ''Kala Lagaw Ya'' (), or the ''Western Torres Strait language'' (also several other names, see below), is the language indigenous to the central and western Torres Strait Islands, Queensland, Australia. O ...
, a language related to the
Pama–Nyungan languages of the Australian mainland. The other indigenous language spoken mainly in the eastern islands is
Meriam Mir
Meriam ( ulk, Meriam Mìr; also ''Miriam, Meryam, Mer, Mir, Miriam-Mir'', etc. and ''Eastern, Isten, Esten'' and ''Able Able'') or the Eastern Torres Strait language is the language of the people of the small islands of ''Mer'' ( Murray Island ...
: a member of the
Trans-Fly languages
The Trans-Fly languages are a small family of Papuan languages proposed by Timothy Usher, that are spoken in the region of the Fly River.The family is called 'East Trans-Fly' in Usher, an unfortunate synonym with what others call the Eastern Tran ...
spoken on the nearby south coast of New Guinea and the only
Papuan language spoken on Australian territory. Both languages are
agglutinative; however Kalaw Lagaw Ya appears to be undergoing a transition into a
declensional language while Meriam Mìr is more clearly agglutinative.
Yumplatok, or Torres Strait Creole, the third language, is a non-typical Pacific English Creole and is the main language of communication on the islands.
Belief systems
Traditional beliefs
Aboriginal
In Aboriginal communities knowledge and decision making is shared between tribal elders. Travellers had to seek elder recognition and acknowledge local Elders – this is increasingly practiced in public events in Australia. Within Aboriginal belief systems, a formative epoch known as "
the Dreaming
The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal beliefs. It was originally used by Francis Gillen, quickly adopted by his co ...
" or "the Dreamtime" stretches back into the distant past when the creator ancestors known as the First Peoples travelled across the land, and naming as they went. Indigenous Australia's
oral tradition and religious values are based upon reverence for the land and a belief in this Dreamtime. The Dreaming is at once both the ancient time of creation and the present-day reality of Dreaming. Different language and cultural groups each had their own belief structures; these cultures overlapped to a greater or lesser extent, and evolved over time. Major
ancestral
An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or ( recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from wh ...
spirits include the
Rainbow Serpent
The Rainbow Serpent or Rainbow Snake is a common deity often seen as the creator God, known by numerous names in different Australian Aboriginal languages by the many different Aboriginal peoples. It is a common motif in the art and religion ...
,
Baiame
In Australian Aboriginal mythology, Baiame (or Biame, Baayami, Baayama or Byamee) was the creator god and sky father in the Dreaming of several Aboriginal Australian peoples of south-eastern Australia, such as the Wonnarua, Kamilaroi, Guring ...
,
Dirawong
In Australian Aboriginal mythology of the Bundjalung, an area known as "the land of the three rivers, "the Dirawong, an unseen spiritual creature also known as the goanna spirit, is one of the Creator Beings of the Bundjalung, that 1) Protects ...
and
Bunjil. Knowledge contained in the Dreaming has been passed down through different stories,
songline
A songline, also called dreaming track, is one of the paths across the land (or sometimes the sky) within the animist belief systems of the Aboriginal cultures of Australia which mark the route followed by localised "creator-beings" in the Dre ...
s, dances and ceremonies, and even today provides a framework for ongoing relationships,
kinship responsibilities and looking after country.
Traditional healers (known as
Ngangkari in the
Western desert areas of Central Australia) were highly respected men and women who not only acted as healers or doctors, but were generally also custodians of important Dreaming stories.
Torres Strait Islander
Torres Strait Islander people have their own traditional belief systems. Stories of the Tagai represent Torres Strait Islanders as sea people, with a connection to the stars, as well as a system of order in which everything has its place in the world. Some Torres Strait Islander people share beliefs similar to the Aboriginal peoples' Dreaming and "Everywhen" concepts, passed down in
oral history.
After colonisation
Christianity and
European culture have had a significant impact on Indigenous Australians, their religion and their culture. As in many
colonial
Colonial or The Colonial may refer to:
* Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology)
Architecture
* American colonial architecture
* French Colonial
* Spanish Colonial architecture
Automobiles
* Colonial (1920 au ...
situations, the churches both facilitated the loss of Indigenous culture and religion and also facilitated its maintenance. In some cases, such as at
Hermannsburg, Northern Territory and
Piltawodli in Adelaide, the work of missionaries laid the foundations for later
language revival
Language revitalization, also referred to as language revival or reversing language shift, is an attempt to halt or reverse the decline of a language or to revive an extinct one. Those involved can include linguists, cultural or community groups, o ...
. The German missionaries
Christian Teichelmann
Christian Gottlieb Teichelmann (15 December 1807 – 31 May 1888), also spelt Christian Gottlob Teichelmann, was a Lutheran missionary who worked among Australian Aboriginal people in South Australia. He was a pioneer in describing the Kaurna l ...
and
Schürmann went to
Adelaide and taught the local
Kaurna people only in
their own language and created textbooks in the language. However, some
missionaries taught only in English, and some
Christian mission
A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such as ...
s were involved in the placement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children after they were removed from their parents upon orders of the government, and are therefore implicated in the
Stolen Generations
The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church mis ...
.
Aboriginal peoples
The involvement of Christians in Aboriginal affairs has evolved significantly since 1788. The Churches became involved in mission work among Aboriginal peoples in the 19th century as Europeans came to control much of the continent, and the majority of the population was eventually converted. Colonial clergy such as Sydney's first Catholic archbishop,
John Bede Polding
John Bede Polding, OSB (18 November 1794 in 16 March 1877 ) was the first Roman Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Australia.
Early life
Polding was born in Liverpool, England on 18 November 1794. His father was of Dutch descent and his mothe ...
, strongly advocated for Aboriginal rights and dignity. Around the year 2000, many churches and church organisations officially apologised for past failures to adequately respect Indigenous cultures and address the injustices of the dispossession of Indigenous people.
A small minority of Aboriginal people are
followers of Islam as a result of intermarriage with
"Afghan" camel drivers brought to Australia in the late 19th and early 20th century to help explore and open up the interior.
Torres Strait Islander peoples
From the 1870s,
Christianity spread throughout the Torres Strait Islands, and it remains strong today among Torres Strait Islander people everywhere. The
London Missionary Society
The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed in outlook, with Congregational m ...
mission led by Rev. Samuel Macfarlane arrived on
Erub (Darnley Island) on 1 July 1871, establishing its first base in the region there. The Islanders refer to this as "The Coming of the Light", or "Coming of Light" and all Island communities celebrate the occasion annually on 1 July. However the coming of Christianity did not spell the end of the people's traditional beliefs; their culture informed their understanding of the new religion, as the
Christian God was welcomed and the new religion was integrated into every aspect of their everyday lives.
Recent census figures
In the 2016 Census, Australia's Indigenous and non-Indigenous population were broadly similar with 54% (vs 55%) reporting a
Christian affiliation, while less than 2% reported traditional beliefs as their religion, and 36% reported no religion. The proportion of Indigenous people who reported no religion has increased gradually since 2001, standing at 36% in 2016. According to "Table 8: Religious Affiliation by Indigenous Status", 347,572 Indigenous people (out of the total 649,171 in Australia) declared an affiliation to some form of Christianity, with a higher proportion of Torres Strait Islander than Aboriginal people in this number. 7,773 reported traditional beliefs; 1,511 Islam; other religions numbered less than 1,000 each. However the question is optional; 48,670 did not respond, and in addition, nearly 4,000 were reported as "inadequately described".
(In the 2006 census, 73% of the Indigenous population reported an affiliation with a Christian denomination, 24% reported no religious affiliation and 1% reported affiliation with an Australian Aboriginal traditional religion.)
Culture
Art
Australia has a tradition of Aboriginal art which is thousands of years old, the best known forms being Australian rock art and
bark painting. Evidence of Aboriginal art can be traced back at least 30,000 years, with examples of ancient rock art throughout the continent. Some of these are in national parks such as those of the
UNESCO listed sites at
Uluru and
Kakadu National Park
Kakadu National Park is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia, southeast of Darwin. It is a World Heritage Site. Kakadu is also gazetted as a locality, covering the same area as the national park, with 313 people recorded liv ...
in the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...
, but examples can also within protected parks in urban areas such as at
Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park in Sydney. The
Sydney rock engravings
Sydney rock engravings, or Sydney rock art, are a form of Australian Aboriginal rock art in the sandstone around Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, that consist of carefully drawn images of people, animals, or symbols. Many thousands of such en ...
are between 5000 and 200 years old.
Murujuga
Murujuga, formerly known as Dampier Island and today usually known as the Burrup Peninsula, is in the Dampier Archipelago, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, containing the town of Dampier. The Dampier Rock Art Precinct, which covers ...
in Western Australia was heritage listed in 2007.
In terms of age and abundance,
cave art in Australia is comparable to that of
Lascaux and
Altamira
Altamira may refer to:
People
*Altamira (surname)
Places
* Cave of Altamira, a cave in Cantabria, Spain famous for its paintings and carving
*Altamira, Pará, a city in the Brazilian state of Pará
* Altamira, Huila, a town and municipality in ...
(
Upper Paleolithic
The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories coin ...
sites in Europe), and Aboriginal art is believed to be the oldest continuing tradition of art in the world. There are three major regional styles: the geometric style found in Central Australia, Tasmania, the Kimberley and Victoria, known for its concentric circles, arcs and dots; the simple figurative style found in
Queensland; and the complex figurative style found in
Arnhem Land and
the Kimberley. These designs generally carry significance linked to the spirituality of the
Dreamtime
The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal beliefs. It was originally used by Francis Gillen, quickly adopted by his co ...
. Paintings were usually created in earthy colours, from paint made from
ochre. Such ochres were also used to paint their bodies for ceremonial purposes.
Several styles of Aboriginal art have developed in modern times, including the
watercolour paintings of the
Hermannsburg School and the acrylic
Papunya Tula "dot art" movement. Some notable Aboriginal artists include
William Barak (c.1824–1903) and
Albert Namatjira
Albert Namatjira (born Elea Namatjira; 28 July 1902 – 8 August 1959) was an Arrernte painter from the MacDonnell Ranges in Central Australia, widely considered one of the greatest and most influential Australian artists. As a pioneer of cont ...
(1902–1959).
Since the 1970s, Indigenous artists have employed the use of acrylic paints – with styles such as that of the
Western Desert Art Movement becoming globally renowned 20th-century art movements.
The
National Gallery of Australia
The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...
exhibits a great many Indigenous art works, including those of the
Torres Strait Islands who are known for their traditional sculpture and headgear.
Aboriginal art has influenced many non-Indigenous artists, such as
Margaret Preston
Margaret Rose Preston (29 April 1875 – 28 May 1963) was an Australian painter and printmaker who is regarded as one of Australia's leading modernists of the early 20th century. In her quest to foster an Australian "national art", she was al ...
(1875–1963) and
Elizabeth Durack (1915–2000).
Music, dance and ceremony
![1981 event Australian aboriginals](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/1981_event_Australian_aboriginals.jpg)
Music and dance have formed an integral part of the
social,
cultural and
ceremonial observances of people through the millennia of the individual and collective histories of Australian Indigenous peoples to the present day. Around 1950, the first research into Aboriginal music was undertaken by the anthropologist
A. P. Elkin, who recorded Aboriginal music in
Arnhem Land.
The various Aboriginal peoples developed unique musical instruments and styles. The
didgeridoo, which is widely thought to be a stereotypical instrument of Aboriginal people, was traditionally played by Aboriginal men of the eastern
Kimberley region and
Arnhem Land (such as the Yolngu).
Bullroarer
The bullroarer, ''rhombus'', or ''turndun'', is an ancient ritual musical instrument and a device historically used for communicating over great distances. It consists of a piece of wood attached to a string, which when swung in a large circle ...
s and
clapsticks
Clapsticks, also spelt clap sticks and also known as bilma, bimli, clappers, musicstick or just stick, are a traditional Australian Aboriginal instrument. They serve to maintain rhythm in voice chants, often as part of an Aboriginal ceremo ...
were used across Australia.
Songline
A songline, also called dreaming track, is one of the paths across the land (or sometimes the sky) within the animist belief systems of the Aboriginal cultures of Australia which mark the route followed by localised "creator-beings" in the Dre ...
s relate to the
Dreamtime
The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal beliefs. It was originally used by Francis Gillen, quickly adopted by his co ...
in Aboriginal culture, overlapping with
oral lore
Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985) ...
.
Corroboree is a generic word to explain different genres of performance, embracing songs, dances, rallies and meetings of various kinds.
[Sweeney, D. 2008. "Masked Corroborees of the Northwest" DVD 47 min. Australia: ANU, Ph.D.]
Indigenous musicians have been prominent in various contemporary styles of music, including creating a
sub-genre of rock music as well as participating in
pop and other mainstream styles.
Hip hop music is helping preserve some Indigenous languages.
The
Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts in
Brisbane teaches acting, music and dance, and the
Bangarra Dance Theatre
Bangarra Dance Theatre is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance company focused on contemporary dance. It was founded by African American dancer and choreographer Carole Y. Johnson, Gumbaynggirr man Rob Bryant, and South African-born C ...
is an acclaimed contemporary dance company.
For
Torres Strait Islander people, singing and dancing is their "literature" – "the most important aspect of Torres Strait lifestyle. The Torres Strait Islanders preserve and present their oral history through songs and dances;... the dances act as illustrative material and, of course, the dancer himself is the storyteller" (Ephraim Bani, 1979).
Literature
There was no written form of the many languages spoken by Indigenous peoples before colonisation. A letter to Governor
Arthur Phillip written by
Bennelong in 1796 is the first known work written in English by an Aboriginal person. The historic
Yirrkala bark petitions
The Yirrkala bark petitions, sent by the Yolngu people, an Aboriginal Australian people of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, to the Australian Parliament in 1963, were the first traditional documents prepared by Indigenous Australians that ...
of 1963 are the first traditional Aboriginal documents recognised by the
Australian Parliament
The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-g ...
.
In the 20th century,
David Unaipon
David Ngunaitponi (28 September 1872 – 7 February 1967), known as David Unaipon, was an Aboriginal Australian man of the Ngarrindjeri people. He was a preacher, inventor and author. Unaipon's contribution to Australian society helped to bre ...
(1872–1967), known as the first Aboriginal author, is credited for providing the first accounts of Aboriginal mythology written by an Aboriginal person, in his ''Legendary Tales of the Aborigines'' (1924–1925).
Oodgeroo Noonuccal
Oodgeroo Noonuccal ( ; born Kathleen Jean Mary Ruska, later Kath Walker (3 November 192016 September 1993) was an Aboriginal Australian political activist, artist and educator, who campaigned for Aboriginal rights. Noonuccal was best known for ...
(1920–1995) was a famous Aboriginal poet, writer and rights activist, credited with publishing the first book of verse by an Aboriginal author, ''We Are Going'' (1964).
Sally Morgan's novel ''
My Place'' (1987) was considered a breakthrough memoir in terms of bringing Indigenous stories to a wider audience. The talents of playwrights
Jack Davis and
Kevin Gilbert were recognised.
Poetry by Indigenous poets, including traditional song-poetry – ranging from sacred to everyday – has been published since the late 20th century.
Writers coming to prominence in the 21st century include
Alexis Wright
Alexis Wright (born 25 November 1950) is a Waanyi (Aboriginal Australian) writer best known for winning the Miles Franklin Award for her 2006 novel '' Carpentaria'' and the 2018 Stella Prize for her "collective memoir" of Leigh Bruce "Tracker" ...
;
Kim Scott
Kim Scott (born 18 February 1957) is an Australian novelist of Aboriginal Australian ancestry. He is a descendant of the Noongar people of Western Australia.
Biography
Scott was born in Perth in 1957 and is the eldest of four siblings with a ...
(twice winner of the
Miles Franklin Award);
Tara June Winch;
Melissa Lucashenko; playwright and comedy writer
Nakkiah Lui; in poetry
Yvette Holt
Yvette Henry Holt (born 1971) is an Aboriginal Australian poet, essayist, academic, researcher and comedian, of the Bidjara, Yiman and Wakaman nations of Queensland. She came to prominence with her first published collection of poetry, ''Anonym ...
; and in popular fiction
Anita Heiss
Anita Marianne Heiss (born 1968) is an Aboriginal Australian author, poet, cultural activist and social commentator. She is an advocate for Indigenous Australian literature and literacy, through her writing for adults and children and her mem ...
. Leading activists
Marcia Langton
Marcia Lynne Langton (born 1951) is an Australian academic. she is the Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne. Regarded as one of Australia's top intellectuals, L ...
, who wrote ''
First Australians
''First Australians'' is an Australian historical documentary series produced by Blackfella Films over the course of six years, and first aired on SBS TV in October 2008. The documentary is part of a greater project that further consists of a ...
'' (2008) and
Noel Pearson
Noel or Noël may refer to:
Christmas
* , French for Christmas
* Noel is another name for a Christmas carol
Places
* Noel, Missouri, United States, a city
* Noel, Nova Scotia, Canada, a community
* 1563 Noël, an asteroid
*Mount Noel, Briti ...
(''Up From the Mission'', 2009) are active contemporary contributors to Australian literature. Journalist
Stan Grant has written several non-fiction works on what it means to be Aboriginal in contemporary Australia, and
Bruce Pascoe has written both fiction and non-fiction works.
AustLit's ''BlackWords'' project provides a comprehensive listing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Writers and Storytellers. The
Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages
The Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages (LAAL) is a digital archive of literature in endangered languages of Australia, containing works in over forty Australian Aboriginal languages from the Northern Territory, Australia. The project to bui ...
contains stories written in traditional languages of the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...
.
Film and television
Australian cinema has a long history, and the ceremonies of Indigenous Australians were among the first subjects to be filmed in Australia – notably a film of Aboriginal dancers in Central Australia, shot by the anthropologist
Baldwin Spencer and
F.J. Gillen in 1900–1903.
''
Jedda
''Jedda'', released in the UK as ''Jedda the Uncivilized'', is a 1955 Australian film written, produced and directed by Charles Chauvel. His last film, it is notable for being the first to star two Aboriginal actors, Robert Tudawali and Ngarl ...
'' (1955) was the first Australian feature film to be shot in
colour film
Color photography is photography that uses media capable of capturing and reproducing colors. By contrast, black-and-white or gray- monochrome photography records only a single channel of luminance (brightness) and uses media capable only of ...
, the first to star Aboriginal actors in lead roles (
Ngarla Kunoth
Rosalie Lynette Kunoth-Monks (4 January 193726 January 2022), also known as Ngarla Kunoth, was an Australian film actress, Aboriginal activist and politician.
Early life
Rosalie Lynette Kunoth was born on 4 January 1937 in Utopia, Northern ...
and
Robert Tudawali
Robert Tudawali (1929 – 26 July 1967), also known as Bobby Wilson and Bob Wilson, was an Australian actor and Indigenous activist. He is known for his leading role in the 1955 Australian film ''Jedda'', which made him the first Indigenous Aus ...
), and the first to be entered at the
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
. 1971's ''
Walkabout
Walkabout is a rite of passage in Australian Aboriginal society, during which males undergo a journey during adolescence, typically ages 10 to 16, and live in the wilderness for a period as long as six months to make the spiritual and traditiona ...
'' was a British film set in Australia; it was a forerunner to many Australian films related to indigenous themes and introduced
David Gulpilil
David Dhalatnghu Gulpilil (1 July 1953 – 29 November 2021), known professionally as David Gulpilil and posthumously (at his family's request, to avoid naming the dead) as David Dalaithngu for three days, was an Indigenous Australian actor ...
to cinematic audiences. ''
Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith'' (1976), directed by
Fred Schepisi
Frederic Alan Schepisi ( ; Kael, Pauline (1984). '' Taking It All In''. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. p. 55. born 26 December 1939) is an Australian film director, producer and screenwriter. His credits include '' The Chant of Jimmie ...
, was an award-winning historical drama from a book by
Thomas Keneally
Thomas Michael Keneally, AO (born 7 October 1935) is an Australian novelist, playwright, essayist, and actor. He is best known for his non-fiction novel ''Schindler's Ark'', the story of Oskar Schindler's rescue of Jews during the Holocaust, wh ...
, about the tragic story of an Aboriginal
bushranger.
Peter Weir
Peter Lindsay Weir ( ; born August 21, 1944) is a retired Australian film director. He's known for directing films crossing various genres over forty years with films such as '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975), ''Gallipoli'' (1981), ''Witness ...
's 1977 mystery drama ''
The Last Wave
''The Last Wave'' (also released, in the US, as ''Black Rain'') is a 1977 Australian mystery drama film directed by Peter Weir.''Variety'' film review; 16 November 1977, p. 21. It is about a white solicitor in Sydney whose seemingly normal lif ...
'', also starring Gulpilil and featuring elements of Aboriginal beliefs and culture, won several
AACTA Awards
The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the film and television industr ...
.
The canon of films related to Indigenous Australians increased from the 1990s, with
Nick Parson
Nick may refer to:
* Nick (given name)
* A cricket term for a slight deviation of the ball off the edge of the bat
* British slang for being arrested
* British slang for a police station
* British slang for stealing
* Short for nickname
Pla ...
's film ''
Dead Heart
''Dead Heart'' is a 1996 Australian film. It was written and directed by Nick Parsons, and starred Bryan Brown, Angie Milliken, Ernie Dingo, Aaron Pedersen and John Jarratt. As a play, the piece was staged by Belvoir St Theatre, directed by ...
'' (1996) featuring
Ernie Dingo and
Bryan Brown
Bryan Neathway Brown AM (born 23 June 1947) is an Australian actor. He has performed in over eighty film and television projects since the late 1970s, both in his native Australia and abroad. Notable films include '' Breaker Morant'' (1980), ...
;
Rolf de Heer's ''
The Tracker'' (2002), starring
Gary Sweet
Gary Sweet (born 22 May 1957) is an Australian film and television actor known for his roles in ''Alexandra's Project'' (as Steve), '' Police Rescue'' (as Sergeant "Mickey" McClintock), ''Cody'' (as Cody), '' Big Sky'' (as Chris Manning), ''Bod ...
and David Gulpilil; and
Phillip Noyce
Phillip Noyce (born 29 April 1950) is an Australian filmmaker. Since 1977, he has directed over 19 feature films in various genres, including historical drama ('' Newsfront'', '' Rabbit-Proof Fence'', '' The Quiet American''); thrillers (''Dead ...
's ''
Rabbit-Proof Fence
The State Barrier Fence of Western Australia, formerly known as the Rabbit-Proof Fence, the State Vermin Fence, and the Emu Fence, is a pest-exclusion fence constructed between 1901 and 1907 to keep rabbits, and other agricultural pests from th ...
'' (2002).
The
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...
of the 2006 film ''
Ten Canoes
''Ten Canoes'' is a 2006 Australian drama film directed by Rolf de Heer and Peter Djigirr and starring Crusoe Kurddal. The title of the film arose from discussions between de Heer and David Gulpilil about a photograph of ten canoeists poling ...
'' directed by
Rolf de Heer was filmed entirely in dialects of the
Yolŋu Matha
The Yolngu or Yolŋu () are an aggregation of Aboriginal Australian people inhabiting north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. ''Yolngu'' means "person" in the Yolŋu languages. The terms Murngin, Wulamba, Yalnumata, M ...
language group, with the main version featuring subtitles and English narration by David Gulpilil. The film won the
Un Certain Regard
(, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob.
The section presents 20 films w ...
Special Jury Prize at the
2006 Cannes Film Festival.
''
The Straits
''The Straits'' is an Australian television drama series for ABC1 filmed in Cairns, the Torres Strait Islands and other Far North Queensland locations.
The series is based on an idea by actor Aaron Fa'aoso and produced by Penny Chapman and He ...
'', a 2012 drama series for TV based on an idea by Torres Strait Islander actor
Aaron Fa'aoso
Aaron Fa'aoso is an Australian actor, screenwriter and producer, known for his roles in ''East West 101'', ''The Straits'' (which he also wrote and produced) and ''Black Comedy''. He established Lonestar Productions in 2013, which brings stories ...
, was partly filmed in the Torres Strait Islands and starred Fa'aoso and
Jimi Bani
Jimi Bani is an Indigenous Australian actor, known for his portrayal of land rights activist Eddie Mabo in the 2012 tele-movie '' Mabo'', several television series, and theatre performances.
Early life and education
A Torres Strait Islander ( ...
(from
Mabuiag Island
Mabuiag, also known as "Mabuyag" and natively "Mabuyaagi", formerly "Jervis Island") is one of the Torres Strait Islands in Queensland, Australia. Mabuiag is also a town and locality in the Torres Strait Island Region local government area. I ...
), as well as
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
n actors. The documentary TV series ''
Blue Water Empire'' (aired 2019), featuring Fa'aoso and Bani, tells the story of Torres Strait Islands from
pre-colonial era up to contemporary times.
Many Indigenous actors, directors, producers and others have been involved in the production of film and
TV series in the 21st century:
Ivan Sen
Ivan Sen (born 1972) is an Indigenous Australian filmmaker. He is a director, screenwriter and cinematographer, as well as an editor, composer and sound designer. He is co-founder and director of Bunya Productions.
Early life
Ivan Sen was bor ...
,
Rachel Perkins
Rachel Perkins (born 1970) is an Australian film and television director, producer, and screenwriter. She directed the films ''Radiance'' (1998), ''One Night the Moon'' (2001), ''Bran Nue Dae'' (2010), and ''Jasper Jones'' (2017). Perkins is an ...
(with her company
Blackfella Films
Blackfella Films is a Sydney-based documentary and narrative production company, founded in 1992 by Rachel Perkins. The company produces distinctive Australian short and feature-length content for film and television with a particular focus on ...
),
Aaron Pedersen
Aaron Pedersen is an Aboriginal Australian television and film actor. He is known for many film and television roles, in particular as Detective Jay Swan in the film '' Mystery Road'', its sequel '' Goldstone'', and spin-off television series. ...
,
Deborah Mailman
Deborah Jane Mailman (born 14 July 1972) is an Australian television and film actress, and singer. Mailman played the character Kelly Lewis on the Australian television series ''The Secret Life of Us'' and Cherie Butterfield in the Australian c ...
,
Warwick Thornton
Warwick Thornton (born 1970) is an Australian film director, screenwriter and cinematographer. His debut feature film '' Samson and Delilah'' won the Caméra d'Or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and the award for Best Film at the Asia Pacific ...
,
Leah Purcell
Leah Maree Purcell (born 14 August 1970) is an Aboriginal Australian stage and film actress, playwright, film director, and novelist. She made her film debut in 1999, appearing in Paul Fenech's ''Somewhere in the Darkness'', which led to role ...
,
Shari Sebbens
Shari Sebbens is an Aboriginal Australian actress and stage director, known for her debut film role in '' The Sapphires'' (2012), as well as many stage and television performances. After a two-year stint as resident director of the Sydney Thea ...
,
Sally Riley,
Luke Carroll
Luke Carroll is an Australian stage, television and film actor.
Education
Carroll attended Marcellin College Randwick and graduated in 1996.
Television and film
Carroll started out in guest roles in some Australian shows, including ''The Flyin ...
and
Miranda Tapsell
Miranda Tapsell (born 11 December 1987) is an Aboriginal Australian actress of both stage and screen, best known for her role as Cynthia in the Wayne Blair film '' The Sapphires'' and her 2015 performance as Martha Tennant in the Nine Network d ...
,
Wayne Blair, and
Trisha Morton-Thomas
Trisha Morton-Thomas, also known as Patricia Morton-Thomas, is an Anmatyerr woman born in the Northern Territory of Australia. She is a writer, producer, director and actor who has worked in the Australian film industry since 1998 when she appe ...
, among others, with many of them well-represented in award nominations and wins. The films ''
Sweet Country'' (2017),
Top End Wedding
''Top End Wedding'' is a 2019 Australian romantic comedy film directed by Wayne Blair, starring Miranda Tapsell and Gwilym Lee. Tapsell also co-wrote the film and served as the executive producer.
The film tells the story of Lauren, a lawyer pl ...
(2019) and TV series ''
Cleverman
A cleverman is a traditional healer and keeper of culture in many Aboriginal cultures of Australia. The roles, terms for, and abilities of a cleverman vary between different Aboriginal nations. Some clevermen heal bodily injuries and illnesse ...
'' and ''
Total Control'' (2019), all made by Aboriginal film-makers and featuring Aboriginal themes, were well-received and in some cases won awards.
The third series of the
sketch comedy TV series ''
Black Comedy
Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discu ...
'', co-written by
Nakkiah Lui,
Adam Briggs,
Steven Oliver and others, and featuring many Indigenous actors, began to air in January 2020.
Theatre
Recreation and sport
![Marn grook illustration 1857](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Marn_grook_illustration_1857.jpg)
Though lost to history, many traditional forms of recreation were played and while these varied from tribe to tribe, there were often similarities. Ball games were quite popular and played by tribes across Australia, as were games based on use of weapons. There is extensive documented evidence of traditional football games being played. Perhaps the most documented is a game popularly played by tribes in western
Victorian regions of the
Wimmera
The Wimmera is a region of the Australian state of Victoria. The district is located within parts of the Loddon Mallee and the Grampians regions; and covers the dryland farming area south of the range of Mallee scrub, east of the South Aust ...
,
Mallee and
Millewa
The Millewa is a region of north western Victoria in Australia.
History
The County of Millewa was proclaimed in the area in the nineteenth century. In the 1960s the then dryland farming areas of Nangiloc and Colignan were irrigated. Subsequent ...
by the
Djab wurrung
The Djab Wurrung, also spelt Djabwurrung, Tjapwurrung, Tjap Wurrung, or Djapwarrung, people are Aboriginal Australians whose country is the volcanic plains of central Victoria from the Mount William Range of Gariwerd in the west to the Pyrene ...
,
Jardwadjali
The Jardwadjali (Yartwatjali), also known as the Jaadwa, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of Victoria, whose traditional lands occupy the lands in the upper Wimmera River watershed east to Gariwerd ( Grampians) and west to Lake B ...
and
Jarijari
Jarijari were an indigenous Australian people whose traditional territory was located in the Mallee region of Victoria.
Name
Jarijari was the tribe's word for "no", it being customary for the Murray tribes of this area to be identified by the ne ...
people. Known as
Marn Grook, it was a type of kick and catch football game played with a ball made of
possum hide. According to some accounts, it was played as far away as the
Yarra Valley
The Yarra Valley is the region surrounding the Yarra River in Victoria, Australia. The river originates approximately east of the Melbourne central business district and flows towards it and out into Port Phillip Bay. The name Yarra Vall ...
by the
Wurundjeri
The Wurundjeri people are an Australian Aboriginal people of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin nation. They are the Traditional Owners of the Birrarung (Yarra River) Valley, covering much of the present location of Narrm (Melbourn ...
people,
Gippsland
Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It cove ...
by the
Gunai people, and the
Riverina
The Riverina
is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation ...
in south-western
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
. Some historians claim that Marn Grook had a role in the formation of
Australian rules football, and many Aboriginal people, from children in remote communities to professional players at the highest level, the
Australian Football League, play the modern game. Well-known players include
Graham Farmer
Graham Vivian "Polly" Farmer (10 March 1935 14 August 2019) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and the East Perth Football Club and West Perth Football Club in th ...
,
Gavin Wanganeen
Gavin Adrian Wanganeen (born 18 June 1973) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club and Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), and also for the Port Adelaide Magpies in ...
and
Adam Goodes
Adam Roy Goodes (born 8 January 1980) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). Goodes holds an elite place in VFL/AFL history as a dual Brownlow Medallist, d ...
. Goodes was also the
Australian of the Year for 2014.
![Aboriginal cricket team at MCG in 1867](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Aboriginal_cricket_team_at_MCG_in_1867.jpg)
A team of Aboriginal cricketers from the Western District of Victoria
toured England in 1868, making it the first Australian sports team to travel overseas. Cricketer and
Australian rules football pioneer
Tom Wills
Thomas Wentworth Wills (19 August 1835 – 2 May 1880) was an Australian sportsman who is credited with being Australia's first cricketer of significance and a founder of Australian rules football. Born in the British penal colony of New ...
coached the team in an Aboriginal language he learnt as a child, and
Charles Lawrence accompanied them to England.
Johnny Mullagh
Johnny Mullagh (born Unaarrimin; 13 August 1841 – 14 August 1891) was an Australian cricketer from Victoria who was the leading player on the famous 1868 Aboriginal cricket tour of England. He was a skilful all-rounder, being a right-arm bo ...
, the team's star player, was regarded as one of the era's finest batsmen.
Evonne Goolagong
Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley (née Goolagong; born 31 July 1951) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. Goolagong was one of the world's leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s.
At the age of 19, she won the French Open sing ...
became the world number-one ranked female
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
player, with 14
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
titles. Sprinter
Cathy Freeman
Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman (born 16 February 1973) is an Aboriginal Australian former sprinter, who specialised in the 400 metres event. Her personal best of 48.63 seconds currently ranks her as the ninth-fastest woman of all time, set ...
earned gold medals in the
Olympics, World Championships, and
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...
.
Lionel Rose
Lionel Edmund Rose MBE (21 June 1948 – 8 May 2011) was an Australian former professional boxer who competed from 1964 to 1976. He held the undisputed WBA, WBC, and ''The Ring'' bantamweight titles from 1968 to 1969, becoming the first In ...
earned a world title in
boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...
.
Arthur Beetson,
Laurie Daley
Laurie William Daley AM (born 20 October 1969), also known by the nicknames of "Lozza" and "Loz", is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and a former player who played as a and in the 1980s and 1990s.
He represented Au ...
and
Gorden Tallis
Gorden James Tallis (born 27 July 1973), also known by the nickname of "Raging Bull" for his on-field aggression, is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A Queensland State of Origin and ...
captained Australia in
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...
, while
Mark Ella
Mark Gordon Ella, AM (born 5 June 1959) is an indigenous Australian former rugby union footballer. Ella played at flyhalf/five-eighth and was capped by the Wallabies 25 times, captaining Australia on 10 occasions.
Ella made his debut tour wit ...
captained Australia in
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
.
Nathan Jawai
Nathan Leon Jawai (born 10 October 1986) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Darwin Salties of the NBL1 North. Standing at 209 cm, he plays at the power forward and centre positions.
Early life
Born at the Royal Hospi ...
and
Patty Mills
Patrick Sammy Mills (born 11 August 1988) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Mills was born and raised in Canberra, and is of Torres Strait Islander and Aborigin ...
have played in the
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
.
Sporting teams include the
Indigenous All-Stars,
Flying Boomerangs
The Flying Boomerangs are the underage Indigenous Australian Australian rules football team for men (the underage women's team is known as the ''Woomeras''). The team has played tests against junior teams from Papua New Guinea, South Africa, Ne ...
and
Indigenous Team of the Century
The Indigenous Team of the Century (Australian rules football) was selected to recognise the role of Indigenous Australians in the sport. It was announced in 2005 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first senior-level game played by an indig ...
in Australian rules football, and the
Indigenous All Stars,
NSW Koori Knockout
NSW Koori Rugby League Knockout Carnival is one of the biggest Indigenous gatherings in Australia. The first knockout was held at Camdenville Park, St Peters, on the October long weekend of 1971 with seven participating teams. The winning team ga ...
and the
Murri Rugby League Team
The Murri Rugby League Team is a representative side for Indigenous rugby league players that play in the annual Queensland Murri Rugby League Carnival.
History
Arthur Beetson Foundation Murri tour of Hawaii
Queensland Murri's faced the USA T ...
in rugby league.
Contemporary issues
Closing the Gap
To this day, the forced removal of children known as the
Stolen Generations
The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church mis ...
has had a huge impact on the psyche, health and well-being of Indigenous Australians; it has seriously impacted not only the children removed and their parents, but their descendants as well. Not only were many of the
children abused –
psychologically,
physically, or
sexually – after being removed and while living in group homes or adoptive families, but were also deprived of their culture alongside their families. This has resulted in the disruption of
oral culture
Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985) ...
, as parents were unable to communicate their knowledge to their children, and thus much has been lost.
There are many issues facing Indigenous people in Australia today when compared with the non-Indigenous population, despite some improvements. Several of these are interrelated, and include health (including shorter
life expectancy
Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live, based on the year of its birth, current age, and other demographic factors like sex. The most commonly used measure is life expectancy at birth ...
and higher rates of
infant mortality
Infant mortality is the death of young children under the age of 1. This death toll is measured by the infant mortality rate (IMR), which is the probability of deaths of children under one year of age per 1000 live births. The under-five morta ...
), lower levels of education and employment, inter-generational trauma, high
imprisonment rates,
substance abuse and lack of political representation.
Some demographic facts are related to these issues, as cause and/or result:
* In the
2016 Australian Census, over 33% of the Indigenous population lived in major cities, compared with about 75% of the non-Indigenous population, with a further 24% in "inner regional" areas (compared with 18%), 20% in "outer regional" (8%), while nearly 18% lived in "remote" or "very remote" areas (2%).
* The Indigenous population of Australia is much younger than the non-Indigenous population, with an estimated
median age
A population pyramid (age structure diagram) or "age-sex pyramid" is a graphical illustration of the distribution of a population (typically that of a country or region of the world) by age groups and sex; it typically takes the shape of a pyramid ...
of 21 years (37 years for non-Indigenous), due to higher rates of birth and death. For this reason,
age standardisation is often used when comparing Indigenous and non-Indigenous statistics.
The federal government's
Closing the Gap
The Closing the Gap framework is an Australian government strategy that aims to reduce disadvantage among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, based on seven targets. From adoption in 2008, after meetings with the Close the Gap social ...
strategy, created in 2008 and coordinated by the
National Indigenous Australians Agency
The National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) is an Australian Government agency responsible for whole-of-government coordination of policy development, program design, and service delivery for Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Isl ...
since July 2019, aims to address multiple areas to improve the lives of Indigenous peoples. Draft targets for 2019 were created by the
Council of Australian Governments
The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) was the primary intergovernmental forum in Australia from 1992 to 2020. Comprising the federal government, the governments of the six states and two mainland territories and the Australian Local G ...
(COAG) in December 2018. These were in the following areas:
* families, children and youth
* health
* education
* economic development
* housing
* justice (including
youth justice)
* land and water, "where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' land, water and cultural rights are realised"
* cross-system priorities, which "addresses racism, discrimination and social inclusion, healing and trauma, and the promotion of culture and language for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples"
Health
Social and cultural determinants such as
discrimination, lack of education or employment (and therefore
income
Income is the consumption and saving opportunity gained by an entity within a specified timeframe, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. Income is difficult to define conceptually and the definition may be different across fields. Fo ...
), and cultural disconnection can impact both physical and mental health, and contemporary disadvantage is related to colonisation and its ongoing impact.
Successive censuses have shown, that (after adjusting for demographic structures) Indigenous Australians experience greater rates of
renal disease
Kidney disease, or renal disease, technically referred to as nephropathy, is damage to or disease of a kidney. Nephritis is an inflammatory kidney disease and has several types according to the location of the inflammation. Inflammation can b ...
, several
communicable diseases
An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dis ...
(such as
tuberculosis and
hepatitis C virus
The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a small (55–65 nm in size), enveloped, positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus of the family '' Flaviviridae''. The hepatitis C virus is the cause of hepatitis C and some cancers such as liver cancer (hepatoc ...
),
type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes, formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent urinatio ...
,
respiratory disease
Respiratory diseases, or lung diseases, are pathological conditions affecting the organs and tissues that make gas exchange difficult in air-breathing animals. They include conditions of the respiratory tract including the trachea, bronchi, bro ...
, poor
mental health
Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental hea ...
and other illnesses than the general population.
Life expectancy
The life expectancy of Indigenous Australians is difficult to quantify accurately. Indigenous deaths are poorly identified, and the official figures for the size of the population at risk include large adjustment factors. Two estimates of Indigenous life expectancy in 2008 differed by as much as five years. The ABS introduced a new method in 2009, but problems remained. A 2013 study, referring to the national Indigenous reform policy, Closing the Gap, looked at the difficulties in interpreting the extent of the gap because of differing methods of estimating life expectancy between 2007 and 2012. The 2019 report by the Close the Gap campaign reported that the gap in life expectancy was "widening rather than closing".
Infant mortality (ages 0–4) was twice as high as for non-Indigenous children in 2014–6.
Mental health
Mental health
Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental hea ...
,
suicide and
self-harm remain major concerns, with the suicide rate being double that of the non-Indigenous population in 2015, and young people experiencing rising rates of mental health difficulties. There are high incidences of
anxiety
Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...
,
depression,
PTSD
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on ...
and suicide amongst the
Stolen Generations
The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church mis ...
, with this resulting in unstable parenting and family situations.
Substance abuse
Many Indigenous communities suffer from a range of health, social and legal problems associated with
substance abuse of both legal and illegal drugs, including but not limited to
alcohol abuse,
petrol sniffing
Inhalants are a broad range of household and industrial chemicals whose volatile vapors or pressurized gases can be concentrated and breathed in via the nose or mouth to produce intoxication, in a manner not intended by the manufacturer. They ...
, the use of illegal drugs such as
methamphetamine ("ice") and
cannabis
''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...
and
smoking tobacco. Tobacco use has been estimated to be the "greatest contributor (23%) to the gap in the disease burden between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians", with Indigenous people 2.5 times more likely to smoke daily than non-Indigenous Australians.
Indigenous Australians were 1.6 times as likely to
abstain completely from alcohol than non-Indigenous people in 2012–3.
Foetal alcohol syndrome has been a problem, but the rate of pregnant women drinking had halved between 2008 and 2015 (from 20% to 10%).
Petrol sniffing
Inhalants are a broad range of household and industrial chemicals whose volatile vapors or pressurized gases can be concentrated and breathed in via the nose or mouth to produce intoxication, in a manner not intended by the manufacturer. They ...
has been a problem among some remote communities. A 2018
longitudinal study
A longitudinal study (or longitudinal survey, or panel study) is a research design that involves repeated observations of the same variables (e.g., people) over short or long periods of time (i.e., uses longitudinal data). It is often a type of ob ...
by the
University of Queensland
, mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work
, established =
, endowment = A$224.3 million
, budget = A$2.1 billion
, type = Public research university
, chancellor = Peter Varghese
, vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry
, city = B ...
(UQ), commissioned by the
National Indigenous Australians Agency
The National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) is an Australian Government agency responsible for whole-of-government coordination of policy development, program design, and service delivery for Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Isl ...
, reported that the number of people sniffing petrol in the 25 communities studied had declined by 95.2%, from 453 to just 22, related to the distribution of a new, low aromatic petrol,
Opal
Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silica (SiO2·''n''H2O); its water content may range from 3 to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6 and 10%. Due to its amorphous property, it is classified as a mineraloid, unlike crystalline form ...
, in NT in 2005.
The 2018 UQ study also reported that alcohol and cannabis were the drugs causing most concern. Ice was reported present in 8 of the 25 communities, but nearly all only occasional use.
Education
There is a significant gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in educational attainment. This presents significant issues for employment. , Indigenous students or adults, when compared with non-Indigenous peers:
* Have a lower school attendance rate, with these rates at 82% and 93% respectively (in remote areas, as low as 63%)
* Have lower literacy and numeracy, although rates had improved significantly on some
NAPLAN
The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a series of tests focused on basic skills that are administered to Australian students in year 3, 5, 7 and 9. These standardised tests assess students' reading, writing, l ...
(standardised school testing) measures
* Reach
Year 12 at a lower rate, with improvement from 59% to 74% between 2006 and 2016, with the gap at 24% in 2016
* Are underrepresented in
higher education
Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after comple ...
and have lower completion rates
Closing the Gap has focused on improving education for Indigenous people, with some success. Attainment of Year 12 or equivalent for ages 20–24 has increased from 47.4% in 2006 to 65.3% in 2016. This has led to more Indigenous people undertaking higher or
vocational education
Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an i ...
courses. According to the ''Closing the Gap'' report, Indigenous students in higher education award courses more than doubled in number over the decade from 2006 (9,329) to 2017 (19,237).
However, most of the Closing the Gap targets for education are not on track. In general, the gaps have improved (such as in NAPLAN results) or not devolved (school attendance rate remaining stable for several years) have not met targets. Remoteness seems to be a factor; students in isolated or remote communities do not perform or attend as well as students in urban areas. The ''Closing the Gap Report 2019'' reported that of the seven targets, only two – early childhood education and Year 12 attainment – had been met. Only Year 9 numeracy was on track in all states and territories, with variations among them.
The
Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts was established as a training centre by the state and federal governments in 1997.
Employment
Compared to the national average, Indigenous people experience high unemployment and poverty rates. As of the ''2018 Closing the Gap Report'', the Indigenous employment rate had decreased from 48% to 46.6% between 2006 and 2016, while the non-Indigenous employment rate remained steady at around 72% (a 25.4% gap). The employment rate for Indigenous women, however, increased from 39% to 44.8% in the same period.
A 2016 ABS report on labour force characteristics show low employment rates. An analysis of the figures suggested significant barriers to Indigenous people gaining employment, possibly including job location, employer discrimination, and lack of education and others. A big factor is education. Those with a
degree
Degree may refer to:
As a unit of measurement
* Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement
** Degree of geographical latitude
** Degree of geographical longitude
* Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics
...
had an employment probability of 85% (for males) and 74% (for females) for gaining employment, decreasing along with qualifications, so that those who have completed Year 9 and below have a 43% (male) and 32% (female) probability of gaining employment. Other factors, unlike education, are not covered by government policy, such as discrimination and unfair treatment. Employed Indigenous Australians were more likely to experience discrimination than those who are unemployed, and it has been found that the second most common source of unfair treatment (after members of the public) is at work or applying for work. There was also a significant lack of consultation with Indigenous peoples on the methods they think best to tackle issues like unemployment.
Crime
Indigenous Australians are over-represented in Australia's criminal justice system. , Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners represented 28% of the total adult prisoner population, while accounting for 3.3% of the general population. In May 2018, Indigenous women made up 34% of all women imprisoned in Australia. A 2017–2018 report into youth justice undertaken by the
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reported that about half (a total of 2,339) of the young people aged 10–17 under supervision in 2016–17 were Indigenous, although of that age group, Indigenous youth represent 5% of the general population. It concludes from the data that there is a clear issue occurring not only within Australia's
criminal justice system
Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...
, but within communities as a whole.
Explanations given for this over-representation include the economic position of Indigenous Australians, the knock-on effects of the
stolen generations
The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church mis ...
and disconnection from land, the effects of their health and housing situations, their ability to access an economic base such as land and employment, their education, and the use of alcohol and other drugs.
Indigenous Australians are also over-represented as
victims of crime
Victimology is the study of victimization, including the psychological effects on victims, the relationship between victims and offenders, the interactions between victims and the criminal justice system—that is, the police and courts, and c ...
, in particular,
assault. Indigenous women are highly over-represented in this figure, accounting for a higher proportion of assault victims than the non-Indigenous category.
In 2007, the
Northern Territory Government
The Government of the Northern Territory of Australia, also referred to as the Northern Territory Government, is the Australian territorial democratic administrative authority of the Northern Territory. The Government of Northern Territory wa ...
commissioned a
Board of Inquiry
A tribunal of inquiry is an official review of events or actions ordered by a government body. In many common law countries, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and Canada, such a public inquiry differs from a royal commission in that ...
into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse, which produced a report known as the ''
Little Children are Sacred'' report. This suggested, based largely on
anecdotal evidence, that children in remote Aboriginal communities in NT were suffering from widespread
sexual abuse
Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...
. The
Australian Human Rights Commission
The Australian Human Rights Commission is the national human rights institution of Australia, established in 1986 as the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and renamed in 2008. It is a statutory body funded by, but opera ...
's ''Social Justice Report 2008'' said that the 2005–2006 ABS statistics did not appear to support the "allegations of endemic child abuse... that was the rationale for the
NTER" ("The Intervention" by the
Howard government) that followed.
Family violence
The rate of family violence in Indigenous Australian communities, especially in the Northern Territory, has been high for many years, and under-reported. It has been estimated to be around 34 times greater than the national rate, and, in the worst areas, up to 80 times. There is no single cause for this high rate, but several probable causes or aggravating factors have been suggested by various researchers and stakeholders, including: dispossession of land and subsequent displacement of communities; childhood abuse experienced by the
Stolen Generations
The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church mis ...
, along with
intergenerational trauma
Transgenerational trauma is the psychological and physiological effects that the trauma experienced by people has on subsequent generations in that group. The primary modes of transmission are the uterine environment during pregnancy causing epige ...
; economic
disadvantage
In policy debate, a disadvantage (abbreviated as DA, and sometimes referred to as: Disad) is an argument that a team brings up against a policy action that is being considered. A disadvantage is also used in the Lincoln-Douglas debate format.
...
; violent family environments; poor health; inadequate housing;
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonis ...
; loss of
Aboriginal identity; and many others. An AIHW survey covering eight years to 2019, published in December 2021, revealed that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people accounted for 28 per cent of all hospitalisations due to family violence, despite only making up 3.3% of the total population. Various reasons were suggested by experts, including Aboriginal men's control of decision-making, and limited independence for women owing to economic factors; barriers in access to services; racism by some police and other services; and lack of enough Aboriginal-run organisations providing culturally safe services.
As the federal government, upon being urged by experts to create the means to halt the violence in 2021, announced an extra "to boost frontline services in the Northern Territory... and to work towards our
Closing the Gap
The Closing the Gap framework is an Australian government strategy that aims to reduce disadvantage among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, based on seven targets. From adoption in 2008, after meetings with the Close the Gap social ...
commitments", in addition to other funding already committed to the states and NT under the National Partnership on Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence Responses.
Political issues
Timeline
Since the 20th century there have been a number of individuals and organisations who have instigated significant events in the struggle for political representation, land rights and other political issues affecting the lives of Indigenous Australians:
* 1937:
Yorta Yorta
The Yorta Yorta, also known as Jotijota, are an Aboriginal Australian people who have traditionally inhabited the area surrounding the junction of the Goulburn and Murray Rivers in present-day north-eastern Victoria and southern New South Wales ...
man
William Cooper William Cooper may refer to:
Business
*William Cooper (accountant) (1826–1871), founder of Cooper Brothers
* William Cooper (businessman) (1761–1840), Canadian businessman
*William Cooper (co-operator) (1822–1868), English co-operator
* Will ...
collects 1800 signatures to petition
King George VI for representation of the original occupants of Australia in federal Parliament.
* 26 January (
Australia Day) 1938: The
Aborigines Progressive Association
The Aborigines Progressive Association (APA) was an Aboriginal Australian rights organisation in New South Wales that was founded and run by William Ferguson and Jack Patten from 1937 to 1944, and was then revived from 1963 until around 1970 b ...
holds a
Day of Mourning
A national day of mourning is a day or days marked by mourning and memorial activities observed among the majority of a country's populace. They are designated by the national government. Such days include those marking the death or funeral of ...
, to protest 150 years of callous treatment and the seizure of land.
Political representation
Under Section 41 of the
Australian Constitution, Aboriginal Australians always had the legal right to vote in Australian Commonwealth elections if their State granted them that right. This meant that all Aboriginal peoples outside Queensland and Western Australia had a legal right to vote. The right of Indigenous ex-servicemen to vote was affirmed in 1949 and all Indigenous Australians gained the unqualified right to vote in Federal elections in 1962. Unlike other Australians, however, voting was not made compulsory for Indigenous people, and it was not until the repeal of
Section 127 of the Constitution of Australia
Section 127 of the Constitution of Australia was the final section within Chapter VII (dealing with miscellaneous matters) of the Australian Constitution, and excluded Indigenous Australians from population counts for constitutional purposes. It ...
following the
1967 referendum
The 1967 Australian referendum occurred on 27 May 1967 under the Holt Government. It contained three topics asked about in two questions, regarding the passage of two bills to alter the Australian Constitution.
The first question (''Constitution ...
that Indigenous Australians were counted in the population for the purposes of distribution of electoral seats.
, six Indigenous Australians have been elected to the
Australian Senate:
Neville Bonner
Neville Thomas Bonner AO (28 March 19225 February 1999) was an Australian politician, and the first Aboriginal Australian to become a member of the Parliament of Australia. He was appointed by the Queensland Parliament to fill a casual vacancy ...
(Liberal, 1971–1983),
Aden Ridgeway
Aden Derek Ridgeway (born 18 September 1962) is an Australian former politician.''The Age'' (2006)Present politics Retrieved 6 July 2006. He was a member of the Australian Senate for New South Wales from 1999 to 2005, representing the Australia ...
(Democrat, 1999–2005),
Nova Peris
Nova Maree Peris (born 25 February 1971) is an Aboriginal Australian athlete and former politician. As part of the Australian women's field hockey ( Hockeyroos) team at the 1996 Olympic Games, she was the first Aboriginal Australian to win an ...
(Labor, 2013–2016),
Jacqui Lambie
Jacquiline Louise Lambie (born 26 February 1971) is an Australian politician who is the leader and founder of the Jacqui Lambie Network (JLN). She is a Senator for Tasmania since 2019, and was previously a Senator from 2014 to 2017.
Lambie, an ...
(2014–2017, 2019–''incumbent''),
Pat Dodson
Patrick Lionel Djargun Dodson (born 29 January 1948) is an Australian politician representing Western Australia in the Australian Senate. He is a Yawuru elder from Broome, Western Australia. He has been chairman of the Council for Aboriginal ...
(Labor, 2016– ''incumbent''), and former
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...
MLA
Malarndirri McCarthy
Malarndirri Barbara McCarthy (born 19 April 1970) is an Australian politician and former journalist who has been a Senator for the Northern Territory since 2016. She is an Assistant Minister in the Albanese Government, and previously served i ...
(Labor, 2016– ''incumbent'').
Following the
2010 Australian Federal Election,
Ken Wyatt of the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
won the Western Australian seat of Hasluck, becoming the first Indigenous person elected to the
Australian House of Representatives. His nephew,
Ben Wyatt, was concurrently serving as Shadow Treasurer in the
Western Australian Parliament
The Parliament of Western Australia is the bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia, forming the legislative branch of the Government of Western Australia. The parliam ...
and in 2011 considered a challenge for the Labor Party leadership in that state.
Linda Burney
Linda Jean Burney (born 25 April 1957) is an Australian politician and is an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing Barton since the 2016 federal election. She is Minister for Indigenous Australi ...
became the second Indigenous person, and the first woman, to serve in the federal House of Representatives.
In March 2013,
Adam Giles
Adam Graham Giles (born 10 April 1973) is an Australian former politician and former Chief Minister of the Northern Territory (2013–2016) as well as the former leader of the Country Liberal Party (CLP) in the unicameral Northern Territory P ...
of the
Country Liberal Party
The Country Liberal Party of the Northern Territory (CLP) is a centre-right political party in Australia's Northern Territory. In local politics it operates in a two-party system with the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It also contests federal ...
(CLP) became
Chief Minister of the Northern Territory
The chief minister of the Northern Territory is the head of government of the Northern Territory. The office is the equivalent of a state premier.
When the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly was created in 1974, the head of government was ...
– the first Indigenous Australian to become head of government in a state or territory of Australia.
Hyacinth Tungutalum, also of the CLP, was the first Indigenous person elected to any Australian
(state ''or'' territory) parliament. A
Tiwi man from
Bathurst Island, he was elected to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly in October 1974 as the member for
Tiwi.
A number of Indigenous people represent electorates at state and territory level, and
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
has had an Aboriginal Governor, Sir
Douglas Nicholls. The first Indigenous Australian to serve as a minister in any government was
Ernie Bridge, who entered the Western Australian Parliament in 1980.
Carol Martin was the first Aboriginal woman elected to a State parliament in Australia (the
Western Australian Legislative Assembly
The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House, Perth, Parliament House in the Western Australian capi ...
) in 2001, and the first woman minister was
Marion Scrymgour
Marion Rose Scrymgour (born 13 September 1960) is an Australian politician and the current MP for Lingiari. She was a member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2012, representing the electorate of Arafura. She was th ...
, who was appointed to the Northern Territory ministry in 2002 (she became Deputy Chief Minister in 2008). Representation in the Northern Territory has been relatively high, reflecting the high proportion of Aboriginal voters. The 2012 Territory election saw large swings to the conservative CLP in remote Territory electorates, and a total of five Aboriginal CLP candidates won election to the Assembly, along with one Labor candidate, in a chamber of 25 members. Among those elected for the CLP were high-profile activists
Bess Price and
Alison Anderson
Alison Nampitjinpa Anderson (born 28 January 1958) is an Australian politician.
She was member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly between 2005 and 2016, representing the electorate of Namatijra (known as MacDonnell until 2012). Cu ...
.
Forty people identifying as of Indigenous Australian ancestry have been members of the ten Australian legislatures. Of these, 22 have been in the
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory is the unicameral legislature of the Northern Territory of Australia. The Legislative Assembly has 25 members, each elected in single-member electorates for four-year terms. The voting method f ...
. The
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...
has an exceptionally high Indigenous proportion (about one third) of its population.
Adam Giles
Adam Graham Giles (born 10 April 1973) is an Australian former politician and former Chief Minister of the Northern Territory (2013–2016) as well as the former leader of the Country Liberal Party (CLP) in the unicameral Northern Territory P ...
, who was
Chief Minister of the Northern Territory
The chief minister of the Northern Territory is the head of government of the Northern Territory. The office is the equivalent of a state premier.
When the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly was created in 1974, the head of government was ...
from 2013 to 2016, was the first Indigenous head of government in Australia. In 1974,
the year of its creation, the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly was also the first Australian parliament to have an Indigenous member elected to it.
Federal government initiatives
The
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) (1990–2005) was the Australian Government body through which Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders were formally involved in the processes of government affecting ...
(ATSIC) was set up as a representative body in 1990 under the
Hawke government. In 2004, the
Howard government disbanded ATSIC and replaced it and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services (ATSIS) Regional and State Offices with an appointed network of
Indigenous Coordination Centres
Indigenous Coordination Centres or ICCs are regional offices of the Australian Government Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination.
Indigenous Coordination Centres (ICC) are responsible for the provision and distribution of services to Indigenou ...
(ICC) that administer Shared Responsibility Agreements and Regional Partnership Agreements with Aboriginal communities at a local level. ICCs operate as whole-of-government centres, housing staff from a number of departments to deliver services to Indigenous Australians.
Major political parties in Australia have tried to increase Indigenous representation within their parties. One suggestion for achieving this is to introduce
seat quotas, as in the
Maori electorates in New Zealand.
In October 2007, just before the calling of a
federal election, the then Prime Minister,
John Howard, revisited the idea of bringing a referendum to seek recognition of Indigenous Australians in the Constitution (his government having previously sought to include recognition of Indigenous peoples in the
Preamble to the Constitution in the
1999 Australian republic referendum). His announcement was seen by some as a surprising adoption of the importance of the symbolic aspects of the reconciliation process, and reaction was mixed. The
Australian Labor Party initially supported the idea; however
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and again from June 2013 to September 2013, holding office as the leader of the ...
withdrew this support just before the election, earning a rebuke from activist
Noel Pearson
Noel or Noël may refer to:
Christmas
* , French for Christmas
* Noel is another name for a Christmas carol
Places
* Noel, Missouri, United States, a city
* Noel, Nova Scotia, Canada, a community
* 1563 Noël, an asteroid
*Mount Noel, Briti ...
.
The
Gillard Government (2010–2013), with
bi-partisan
Bipartisanship, sometimes referred to as nonpartisanship, is a political situation, usually in the context of a two-party system (especially those of the United States and some other western countries), in which opposing political parties find co ...
support, convened an
Expert Panel to consider changes to the
Australian Constitution that would see recognition for Indigenous Australians, who delivered their report, which included five recommendations for changes to the Constitution as well as recommendations for the referendum process, in January 2012. The Government promised to hold a referendum on the constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians on or before the federal election due for 2013. The plan was abandoned in September 2012, with Minister
Jenny Macklin citing insufficient community awareness for the decision.
In December 2015, the 16-member Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Referendum Council was jointly appointed by the Prime Minister,
Malcolm Turnbull
Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia.
Turnbull grad ...
, and Leader of the Opposition,
Bill Shorten
William Richard Shorten (born 12 May 1967) is an Australian politician currently serving as Minister for Government Services and Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme since 2022. He previously served as leader of the opposition ...
. After six months of consultation, the First Nations National Constitutional Convention met over four days from 23 to 26 May 2017, and ratified the ''
Uluru Statement from the Heart'' by a
standing ovation
A standing ovation is a form of applause where members of a seated audience stand up while applauding after extraordinary performances of particularly high acclaim. In Ancient Rome returning military commanders (such as Marcus Licinius Crassus a ...
from the gathering of 250 Indigenous leaders. The ''Statement'' calls for a "First Nations Voice" in the Australian Constitution and a "Makarrata Commission" (''Makarrata'' is a
Yolngu word "describing a process of conflict resolution, peacemaking and justice").
2019: Indigenous voice to government
In May 2019, Prime Minister
Scott Morrison
Scott John Morrison (; born 13 May 1968) is an Australian politician. He served as the 30th prime minister of Australia and as Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2018 to 2022, and is currently the member of parliament (MP) for th ...
created the position of
Minister for Indigenous Australians, a
Cabinet portfolio in the
Second Morrison Ministry, with Ken Wyatt as the inaugural officebearer. On 30 October 2019, Wyatt announced the commencement of a "co-design process" aimed at providing an Indigenous voice to Parliament. The Senior Advisory Group is co-chaired by Professor
Tom Calma
Thomas Edwin Calma, (born 1953), is an Aboriginal Australian human rights and social justice campaigner. He is the sixth chancellor of the University of Canberra, a post held since January 2014, after two years as deputy chancellor. Calma is th ...
, Chancellor of the
University of Canberra
The University of Canberra (UC) is a public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is within walking distance of Westfield Belconnen, and from Canberra's Civic Centre. U ...
, and Professor Dr
Marcia Langton
Marcia Lynne Langton (born 1951) is an Australian academic. she is the Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne. Regarded as one of Australia's top intellectuals, L ...
, Associate Provost at the
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...
, and comprises a total of 20 leaders and experts from across the country. The other members are Father
Frank Brennan,
Peter Buckskin,
Josephine Cashman,
Marcia Ella-Duncan
Marcia Ella-Duncan Order of Australia, OAM (born 1963) is a former Australian netball player. She became the first Indigenous netballer to represent the Australia national netball team, Australian Diamonds.
Personal
Ella was born in 1963 in L ...
,
Joanne Farrell,
Mick Gooda
Mick Gooda is an Aboriginal Australian public servant including serving as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner of the Australian Human Rights Commission from 2009 to 2016 and Co-Commissioner of the Royal Commission ...
,
Chris Kenny
Chris Kenny (born 28 September 1962) is an Australian conservative political commentator, author and former political adviser. He is a columnist for ''The Australian'' newspaper as well as the host of a weeknight current affairs program, ''Th ...
,
Vonda Malone
Vonda Lisa Malone is the Chief executive officer of the Torres Strait Regional Authority starting her five-year term on 1 May 2022 and is on the National Indigenous Australians Agency, NIAA Indigenous voice to government#SAG, Senior Advisory Gr ...
,
June Oscar
June Oscar is an Australian Aboriginal woman of Bunuba descent, Indigenous rights activist, community health and welfare worker, film and theatre ,and since 2017 and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner.
She is bes ...
,
Alison Page
Alison may refer to:
People
* Alison (given name), including a list of people with the name
* Alison (surname)
Music
* ''Alison'' (album), aka ''Excuse Me'', a 1975 album by Australian singer Alison MacCallum
* "Alison" (song), song by El ...
,
Noel Pearson
Noel or Noël may refer to:
Christmas
* , French for Christmas
* Noel is another name for a Christmas carol
Places
* Noel, Missouri, United States, a city
* Noel, Nova Scotia, Canada, a community
* 1563 Noël, an asteroid
*Mount Noel, Briti ...
,
Benson Saulo,
Pat Turner,
Maggie Walter,
Tony Wurramarrba, Peter Yu, and Dr
Galarrwuy Yunupingu
Galarrwuy Yunupingu (born 30 June 1948), also known as James Galarrwuy Yunupingu and Dr Yunupingu, is a leader in the Aboriginal Australian community, and has been involved in the fight for Indigenous land rights in Australia throughout his ca ...
. The first meeting of the group was held in Canberra on 13 November 2019.
Native title, sovereignty and treaties
About 22% of land in Northern Australia (
Kimberley,
Top End
The Top End of Australia's Northern Territory is a geographical region encompassing the northernmost section of the Northern Territory, which aside from the Cape York Peninsula is the northernmost part of the Australian continent. It covers a ra ...
and
Cape York) is now Aboriginal-owned. In the last decade, nearly 200 native title claims covering 1.3 million km
2 of land – approximately 18% of the Australian continent – have been approved.
In 1992, in ''
Mabo v Queensland'', the High Court of Australia recognised native title in Australia for the first time. The majority in the High Court rejected the doctrine of ''terra nullius'', in favour of the concept of native title.
In 2013, an Indigenous group describing itself as the
Murrawarri Republic
The Murrawarri Republic is a micronation that declared its independence from Australia in 2013, claiming territory straddling the border of the states of New South Wales and Queensland within Australia. The territory is the traditional homela ...
declared independence from Australia, claiming territory straddling the border between the states of New South Wales and Queensland. Australia's Attorney General's Department indicated it did not consider the declaration to have any meaning in law.
In 2014, another Indigenous group describing itself as the
Sovereign Yidindji Government
The Sovereign Yidindji Government or Yidindji Tribal Nation is an Aboriginal Australian microstate that is part of the Australian Aboriginal Sovereignty. Led by Murrumu Walubara Yidindji, members of the Yidindji nation renounced legal ties w ...
declared independence from Australia.
Unlike in other parts of the former
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...
, like the
Treaty of Waitangi
The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the History of New Zealand, history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in ...
in New Zealand, no treaty has ever been concluded between Indigenous Australians and an Australian government. However, although there is still no move toward a treaty at federal level, it is contended that the
Noongar
The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...
Settlement (
South West Native Title Settlement
The South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council is the organisation that represents the Noongar people, the Aboriginal Australians of the southwest corner of Western Australia. It was formed in 2001, and is incorporated under the '' Corporations ...
) in
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
in 2016 constitutes a treaty, and at the state and territory levels there are currently (early 2018) other negotiations and preparatory legislation. In
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
, however, following the
2018 state election negotiations have been "paused". In June 2018, the
Parliament of Victoria
The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria that follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system. It consists of the King, represented by the Governor of Victoria, the Legislative Assembly an ...
passed a bill to advance the process of establishing a treaty with Aboriginal Victorians. The Victorian
First Peoples' Assembly was elected in November 2019 and sat for the first time on 10 December 2019.
Prominent Indigenous Australians
![Cathy400 mediafrenzy](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Cathy400_mediafrenzy.jpg)
After the arrival of European settlers in New South Wales, some Indigenous Australians became translators and go-betweens; the best-known was
Bennelong, who eventually adopted European dress and customs and travelled to England where he was reportedly presented to
King George III. Others, such as
Pemulwuy
Pemulwuy (also rendered as Pimbloy, Pemulvoy, Pemulwoy, Pemulwy or Pemulwye, or sometimes by contemporary Europeans as Bimblewove, Bumbleway or Bembulwoyan) (c. 1750 – 2 June 1802) was a Bidjigal man of the Eora nation, born around 1750 in t ...
,
Yagan
Yagan (; – 11 July 1833) was an Aboriginal Australian warrior from the Noongar people. Yagan was pursued by the local authorities after he killed Erin Entwhistle, a servant of farmer Archibald Butler. It was an act of retaliation after ...
, and
Windradyne
Windradyne ( – 21 March 1829) was an Aboriginal warrior and resistance leader of the Wiradjuri nation, in what is now central-western New South Wales, Australia; he was also known to the British settlers as Saturday. Windradyne led his peopl ...
, became famous for armed resistance to the European settlers.
During the twentieth century, as social attitudes shifted and interest in Indigenous culture increased, there were more opportunities for Indigenous Australians to gain recognition.
Albert Namatjira
Albert Namatjira (born Elea Namatjira; 28 July 1902 – 8 August 1959) was an Arrernte painter from the MacDonnell Ranges in Central Australia, widely considered one of the greatest and most influential Australian artists. As a pioneer of cont ...
became a painter, and actors such as
David Gulpilil
David Dhalatnghu Gulpilil (1 July 1953 – 29 November 2021), known professionally as David Gulpilil and posthumously (at his family's request, to avoid naming the dead) as David Dalaithngu for three days, was an Indigenous Australian actor ...
,
Ernie Dingo, and
Deborah Mailman
Deborah Jane Mailman (born 14 July 1972) is an Australian television and film actress, and singer. Mailman played the character Kelly Lewis on the Australian television series ''The Secret Life of Us'' and Cherie Butterfield in the Australian c ...
became well known. Bands such as
Yothu Yindi
Yothu Yindi ( Yolngu for "child and mother", pronounced ) are an Australian musical group with Aboriginal and '' balanda'' (non-Aboriginal) members, formed in 1986 as a merger of two bands formed in 1985 – a white rock group called the Swam ...
, and singers
Christine Anu,
Jessica Mauboy
Jessica Hilda Mauboy (born 4 August 1989) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. Born and raised in Darwin, Northern Territory, she rose to fame in 2006 on the fourth season of ''Australian Idol'', where she was runner-up and subseq ...
and
Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu
Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu (22 January 1971 – 25 July 2017), commonly known as Gurrumul and also referred to since his death as Dr G. Yunupingu, was an Aboriginal Australian musician of the Yolŋu peoples. A multi-instrumentalist, he played ...
, have combined Indigenous musical styles and instruments with pop/rock, gaining appreciation amongst non-Indigenous audiences. Polymath
David Unaipon
David Ngunaitponi (28 September 1872 – 7 February 1967), known as David Unaipon, was an Aboriginal Australian man of the Ngarrindjeri people. He was a preacher, inventor and author. Unaipon's contribution to Australian society helped to bre ...
is commemorated on the
Australian $50 note.
While relatively few
Indigenous Australians have been elected to political office (
Neville Bonner
Neville Thomas Bonner AO (28 March 19225 February 1999) was an Australian politician, and the first Aboriginal Australian to become a member of the Parliament of Australia. He was appointed by the Queensland Parliament to fill a casual vacancy ...
,
Aden Ridgeway
Aden Derek Ridgeway (born 18 September 1962) is an Australian former politician.''The Age'' (2006)Present politics Retrieved 6 July 2006. He was a member of the Australian Senate for New South Wales from 1999 to 2005, representing the Australia ...
,
Ken Wyatt,
Nova Peris
Nova Maree Peris (born 25 February 1971) is an Aboriginal Australian athlete and former politician. As part of the Australian women's field hockey ( Hockeyroos) team at the 1996 Olympic Games, she was the first Aboriginal Australian to win an ...
,
Jacqui Lambie
Jacquiline Louise Lambie (born 26 February 1971) is an Australian politician who is the leader and founder of the Jacqui Lambie Network (JLN). She is a Senator for Tasmania since 2019, and was previously a Senator from 2014 to 2017.
Lambie, an ...
and
Linda Burney
Linda Jean Burney (born 25 April 1957) is an Australian politician and is an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing Barton since the 2016 federal election. She is Minister for Indigenous Australi ...
remain the only Indigenous Australians to have been elected to the
Australian Federal Parliament), Aboriginal rights campaigner Sir
Douglas Nicholls was appointed Governor of the State of
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
in 1976, and many others have become famous through political activism – for instance,
Charles Perkins' involvement in the
Freedom Ride of 1965 and subsequent work; or Torres Strait Islander
Eddie Mabo
Edward Koiki Mabo (''né'' Sambo; 29 June 1936 – 21 January 1992) was an Indigenous Australian man from the Torres Strait Islands known for his role in campaigning for Indigenous land rights in Australia, in particular the landmark decision o ...
's part in the landmark
native title
Aboriginal title is a common law doctrine that the land rights of indigenous peoples to customary tenure persist after the assumption of sovereignty under settler colonialism. The requirements of proof for the recognition of aboriginal title, ...
decision that bears his name. The voices of Cape York activists
Noel Pearson
Noel or Noël may refer to:
Christmas
* , French for Christmas
* Noel is another name for a Christmas carol
Places
* Noel, Missouri, United States, a city
* Noel, Nova Scotia, Canada, a community
* 1563 Noël, an asteroid
*Mount Noel, Briti ...
and
Jean Little
Jean Little, CM (January 2, 1932 – April 6, 2020) was an award-winning Canadian writer of over 50 books. Her work mainly consisted of children's literature, but she also wrote two autobiographies: ''Little by Little'' and ''Stars Come Out Wit ...
, and academics
Marcia Langton
Marcia Lynne Langton (born 1951) is an Australian academic. she is the Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne. Regarded as one of Australia's top intellectuals, L ...
and
Mick Dodson
Michael James Dodson (born 10 April 1950) is an Aboriginal Australian barrister, academic, and member of the Yawuru people in the Broome area of the southern Kimberley region of Western Australia.
His brother is Pat Dodson, also a noted Abor ...
, today loom large in national debates. Some Indigenous people who initially became famous in other spheres – for instance, poet
Oodgeroo Noonuccal
Oodgeroo Noonuccal ( ; born Kathleen Jean Mary Ruska, later Kath Walker (3 November 192016 September 1993) was an Aboriginal Australian political activist, artist and educator, who campaigned for Aboriginal rights. Noonuccal was best known for ...
– have used their celebrity to draw attention to Indigenous issues.
In health services,
Kelvin Kong became the first Indigenous surgeon in 2006 and is an advocate of Indigenous health issues.
See also
*
Aboriginal Australians
Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Isl ...
*
Aboriginal deaths in custody
Aboriginal deaths in custody is a political and social issue in Australia. It rose in prominence in the early 1980s, with Aboriginal activists campaigning following the death of 16-year-old John Peter Pat in 1983. Subsequent deaths in custody ...
*
Aboriginal sites of New South Wales
Aboriginal sites of New South Wales consist of a large number of places in the Australian state of New South Wales where it is still possible to see visible signs of the activities and culture of the Australian Aboriginals who previously occupied ...
*
Animal Management in Rural and Remote Indigenous Communities
Animal Management in Rural and Remote Indigenous Communities (AMRRIC) is an Australian organisation that works alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to coordinate and facilitate sustainable, culturally-sensitive, professional an ...
*
Australian Aboriginal sacred sites
An Australian Aboriginal sacred site is a place deemed significant and meaningful by Aboriginal Australians based on their beliefs. It may include any feature in the landscape, and in coastal areas, these may lie underwater. The site's status i ...
*
Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet
The Australian Indigenous Health''InfoNet'', formerly National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Clearinghouse, is an internet resource that collects, collates, interprets, and presents evidence-derived knowledge on Aboriginal and Tor ...
*
*
Australian outback literature of the 20th century
This article refers to the works of poets and novelists and specialised writers (missionaries, anthropologists, historians etc.) who have written about the Australian outback from first-hand experience. These works frequently address race relat ...
*
Australo-Melanesian
Australo-Melanesians (also known as Australasians or the Australomelanesoid, Australoid or Australioid race) is an outdated historical grouping of various people indigenous to Melanesia and Australia. Controversially, groups from Southeast Asia an ...
*
Customary law in Australia
Indigenous Australian customary law refers to the legal systems and practices uniquely belonging to Indigenous Australians of Australia, that is, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Background and description
Indigenous peoples of Aus ...
*
Domestic violence in Australia#Indigenous Australians
*
Indigenous Protected Area
An Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) is a class of protected area used in Australia; each is formed by voluntary agreement with Indigenous Australians, and declared by Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander representative organisations ...
*
IndigenousX
IndigenousX is an Australian Aboriginal owned and operated independent media company founded in 2012 by Gamilaroi man Luke Pearson.
History and description
IndigenousX began as a rotating Twitter account showcasing diverse Indigenous Australian ...
, media platform
*
List of Indigenous Australian firsts
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Torres Strait Islanders are indigenous to the Torres Strait Islands, which are at the northernmost tip of Queensland near Papua New Guinea. ...
*
List of laws concerning Indigenous Australians
A range of laws applying to or of specific relevance to Indigenous Australians. A number of laws have been passed since the European settlement of Australia, initially by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, then by the Governors or legislatu ...
*
NAIDOC Week
NAIDOC Week ( ) is an Australian observance lasting from the first Sunday in July until the following Sunday. The acronym NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee, which was originally National Aborigines Day ...
*
Repatriation and reburial of human remains
The repatriation and reburial of human remains is a current issue in archaeology and museum management, centering on ethical issues and cultural sensitivities regarding human remains of long-deceased ancestors which have ended up in museums and ot ...
*
Slavery in Australia
Slavery in Australia has existed in various forms from colonisation in 1788 to the present day. European settlement relied heavily on convicts, sent to Australia as punishment for crimes and forced into labour and often leased to private indivi ...
*
Welcome to country
A Welcome to Country is a ritual or formal ceremony performed as a land acknowledgement at many events held in Australia. It is intended to highlight the cultural significance of the surrounding area to the descendants of a particular Aborigina ...
Notes
Citations
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''Recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in the Constitution: Report of the Expert Panel''*
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*. Dhakiyarr is named "Tuckiar" in the proceedings and is referred to in the main judgment as "a completely uncivilised aboriginal native". The decision was unanimous and strongly criticised the conduct of the trial.
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Further reading
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* Includes concise summary of referendum, plus detailed section on Legislative Background, starting with the 1891 National Australasian Convention. Tabs to other pages includ
a long list of Resourcesan
a guide to sources relating to the movement for constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians
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* NOTE: Updates to 798,400 people, or 3.3% of the population, includes reasons for 19% increase in the population estimate on 30 June 2011.
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External links
{{Authority control
Articles containing video clips
Indigenous peoples of Australia
Members of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization