Details
Latitude-35.305812 Longitude149.122873 Start Date1962-05-21 End Date1962-05-21
Description
On 21 May 1962, the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1962 granted all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people the option to vote in federal elections. (Source: https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/indigenous-australians-right-to-vote)
Extended Data
- place
- Canberra, ACT
Details
Latitude-35.305812 Longitude149.122873 Start Date1967-05-27 End Date1967-05-27
Description
Question 2 of the Australian referendum (27 May 1967) asked the following: "Do you approve the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled 'An Act to alter the Constitution so as to omit certain words relating to the People of the Aboriginal Race in any State and so that Aboriginals are to be counted in reckoning the Population'?" The proposed law would make it possible to create laws regarding Aborginal people and include Aboriginal people in national censuses. The referendum turnout was over 90% and the result was a majority 'Yes' vote. (Source: https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/FlagPost/2017/May/The_1967_Referendum)
Extended Data
- place
- Canberra, ACT
Details
Latitude-35.305812 Longitude149.122873 Start Date1994-01-01 End Date1994-01-01
Description
The Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) (NTA) was passed in 1993 and "...recognises the rights and interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in land and waters according to their traditional laws and customs." (Source: https://nativetitle.org.au/learn/native-title-and-pbcs/native-title-rights-and-interests)
Extended Data
- place
- Canberra, ACT
Details
Latitude-32.639843 Longitude146.151245 Start Date1965-02-12 End Date1965-02-26
Description
A group of University of Sydney students created Student Action for Aborigines (SAFA) in 1964 and organised a bus tour in February 1965, which visited several NSW towns. This was done to draw public attention to the discrimination and disadvantages faced by Aboriginal people. "The Freedom Ride, as it came to be called, included visits to Walgett, Gulargambone, Kempsey, Bowraville and Moree." (Source: https://www.nma.gov.au/explore/features/indigenous-rights/civil-rights/freedom-ride)
Extended Data
- place
- New South Wales (Western and Coastal Towns)
Details
Latitude-35.302273 Longitude149.129734 Start Date1972-01-26 End Date1972-01-26
Description
In protest against the McMahon government's treatment of Indigenous land rights, four Indigenous men placed an umbrella on the lawns opposite Parliament House and declared it the Aboriginal Embassy. This occurred on 26 January 1972, however it was permanently established on the lawns at Parliament House in 1992. (Source: https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/aboriginal-tent-embassy)
Extended Data
- place
- Canberra, ACT
Details
Latitude-9.916841 Longitude144.050881 Start Date1992-06-03 End Date1992-06-03
Description
The Mabo Case brought about the introduction of native title law in Australia, as this case found that the people of Mer Island were entitled as against the whole world to possession, occupation, use and enjoyment of (most of) the lands of the Murray Islands." The case moved from the Queensland Supreme Court to the High Court of Australia over a period of 10 years, before being won by the Meriam people on 3 June 1992. (Source: https://australianstogether.org.au/discover/australian-history/mabo-native-title/)
Extended Data
- place
- Mer Island, QLD
Details
Latitude-25.344338 Longitude131.036888 Start Date1985-10-26 End Date1985-10-26
Description
On 26 October 1985, the Hawke government gave back "the title deeds for the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park to the Anangu people." The park is jointly managed by the traditional owners and the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service. (Source: https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/uluru-handback-anangu)
Extended Data
- place
- Uluru, NT
Details
Latitude-20.743245 Longitude119.375642 Start Date1946-05-01 End Date1946-05-01
Description
This strike took place on 1 May 1946 and was a protest for better pay and living conditions, carried out by 800 Aboriginal pastoral workers from 27 Western Australian stations. It was the first strike organised by Aboriginal people since colonisation and it was also the longest strike to ever take place in Australia, lasting until 1949. (Source: https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/politics/1946-pilbara-strike-australias-longest-strike)
Extended Data
- place
- Pilbara Region, WA (Twelve Mile and Moolyella)
Details
Latitude-17.433313 Longitude130.833344 Start Date1966-08-23 End Date1966-08-23
Description
Strike action was taken on 23 August 1966 at Wave Hill Station, NT. This strike was carried out by "200 Gurindji stockmen, domestic workers and their families." This strike lead to a portion of the Gurindji homelands being returned to the Gurindji people in 1974. (Source: https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/wave-hill-walk-off)
Extended Data
- place
- Wave Hill Station, NT
Details
Latitude-33.866916 Longitude151.208289 Start Date1938-01-26 End Date1938-01-26
Description
On 26 January 1938 (the 150th anniversary of British colonisation), approx. 100 Aboriginal people gathered in Sydney in a protest event called the Day of Mourning and Protest. The protest was intended to raise awareness of Indigenous issues to non-Indigenous Australians. The organisers of the protest stated: "...the 26th of January, 1938 is not a day of rejoicing for Australia's Aborigines; it is a day of mourning. This festival of 150 years of so-called 'progress' in Australia commemorates also 150 years of misery and degradation imposed upon the original native inhabitants by the white invaders of this country." (Source: https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/day_of_mourning_1938#:~:text=the%2026th%20of%20January%2C%201938,white%20invaders%20of%20this%20country.)
Extended Data
- place
- Sydney, NSW
