AN ABORIGINAL TIMELINE POST WHITE
SETTLEMENT
1788 - Captain Phillip raises the Union Jack at
Sydney Cove to start a penal colony. Aboriginal
resistance flares within a few days of arrival of the
tall ships.
29 May: The first conflict between the First Fleet
arrivals and Aboriginal people takes place near
Rushcutters Bay, Sydney. Two convicts are killed.
December: Arabanoo is the first Aboriginal person
captured by Europeans.
Captain Phillip estimates an Aboriginal population
of 1,500 people living in the Sydney Region. The total Indigenous population is believed to
be between 750,000 and 1 million.
1795 - The Richmond Hill battle is considered to be the first recorded battle between
Aboriginal people defending their country against the British.
1799 - Beginning of a six-year period of resistance to white settlement by Aboriginal people
in the Hawkesbury and Parramatta areas. Known as the 'Black Wars'.
1803 - Tasmania is occupied by white people. The Black Wars of Tasmania last until 1830.
1810 - Aboriginal people begin to be moved onto mission stations where they can be taught
European beliefs and used as cheap labour. Settlers try to control growth of the Aboriginal
population with a policy of absorption.
1814 - Governor Macquarie opens a school for Aboriginal children at Parramatta called the
'Native Institution' to "civilise, educate and foster habits of industry and decency in the
Aborigines".
The local Aboriginal people (Koori) remove their children from the school after they realise
that its aim is to distance the children from their families and communities. The school closes
in 1820
1815 - Governor Macquarie founds the Native Institute as a school for Aboriginal children of
both sexes.
Remnants of the Broken Bay Aboriginal people are established on a reserve at George's
Head.
1822 - There are a number of large scale killings as conflict over dispossession of land and
erosion of hunting rights continues.
Windradyne leads Wiradjuri resistance that will last for two years along the Murray River.
1830 – October: Governor Arthur tries unsuccessfully to drive all the remaining Aboriginal
people in eastern Australia on to the Tasman Peninsula. 2,200 men form a 'Black Line'. It cost
5,000 pounds (equivalent to about AUD 1.2 million in 2008) and only two Aboriginal people
are caught - an old man and a young boy
Aboriginal people in Tasmania are forcibly removed and settled on Flinders Island. The
living conditions lead to many deaths. Later the community is moved to Cape Barren Island.
Port Phillip District Wars rage in Victoria (then administered by New South Wales and
known as Port Phillip district) from 1830 to 1850. The Indigenous Koorie population resists
the large influx of immigrants and settlers who bring large herds of sheep and cattle into the
state.
24 November: Bungaree dies. He came from the Broken Bay area and was a go-between in
colonial Sydney where he was known because he liked to dress in military and naval
uniforms given to him.
1834 - Governor Stirling leads a party of men to a site near present day Pinjarra, on the Swan
River and attacks 80 Aboriginal people. One of Stirling's men dies and many Aboriginal
people are killed. Official reports put their number at 14 but Aboriginal accounts suggest a
whole clan was wiped out in the attack. This became known as the 'Battle of Pinjarra'. It was
an attempt to punish Aboriginal people south of Perth, after conflict with settlers caused the
death of a settler in April.
1836 - The colony of South Australia is founded. A "Protector" of Aboriginal people is
appointed but the Kaurna people, near Adelaide, are unable to maintain life as a group
because of the expanding settlement and loss of their land.
1837 - A British Select Committee examines the treatment of Indigenous people in all British
colonies. Australian colonies are particularly criticised. The committee affirms the 'plain and
sacred right' of Indigenous peoples to land and recommends that 'Protectors of Aborigines' be
appointed
The policy of protection for Aboriginal people marks the beginning of involvement of the
Catholic Church in missionary work and the establishment of schools for Aboriginal children
A massacre of Aboriginal people occurs at Gravesend, New South Wales with more than 200
killed.
1863 - A government station is established at Somerset, on the tip of Cape York Peninsula,
marking the beginning of the impact of European settlement on the Torres Strait Islands.
Missionary settlement follows, bringing disease and disruption to traditional lifestyles.
1869 - Victorian Board for the Protection of Aborigines is established. The Governor can
order the removal of any child to a reformatory or industrial school. The Protection Board can
remove children from station families to be housed in dormitories.
Later similar legislation is passed in other colonies: New South Wales (1883), Queensland
(1897), Western Australia (1905) and South Australia (1911). The Northern Territory
Aboriginals Ordinance makes the Chief Protector the legal guardian of every Aboriginal and
'half-caste' person under 18. Boards are
progressively empowered to remove children from
their families.
1870 - In the early 1870s the first Aboriginal
children are enrolled in the public schools in NSW.
By 1880 there are 200 Aboriginal children in school
in NSW.
The Kalkadoon Wars in Queensland last from 1870
to 1890. About 900 Kalkadoon people are killed as
they fight to protect their land. The war culminates in the battle of Battle Mountain in 1884.
In 1972 Minister for the Army Bob Katter Snr. names an army helicopter 'Kalkadoon' at a
ceremony with Kalkadoon people in Mt. Isa in recognition of their fighting spirit.
1883 - The Aboriginal Protection Board is established in NSW. Aboriginal people at Maloga
Mission on the Murray River are moved to Cumeroogunga. By the end of the 1880s several
reserves have been established in NSW. Reserves are set up far enough from towns to limit
contact with Europeans. Segregation is a key part of Aboriginal protection policy.
White parents object to about 16 Aboriginal children attending a public school at Yass. The
Minister for Education, George Reid, stops the children from attending school stating that
although in general creed or colour should not exclude a child "cases may arise, especially
amongst the Aboriginal tribes, where the admission of a child or children may be prejudicial
to the whole school.
1886 – PROTECTION AND CONTROL POLICY
The Victorian Aborigines Protection Act excludes 'half-castes' from their definition of an
Aboriginal person. As a result nearly half the residents of the missions and reserves have to
leave their homes.
Victorian Board for the Protection of Aborigines is empowered to apprentice Aboriginal
children when they reach 13. Children require permission to visit their families on the
stations.
Western Australian Aborigines Protection Board is established.
1897 - The Aboriginal Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act (Qld) allows the
'Chief Protector' to remove local Aboriginal people onto and between reserves and hold
children in dormitories. From 1939 until 1971 this power is held by the Director of Native
Welfare; the Director is the legal guardian of all Aboriginal children, whether or not their
parents are living, until 1965. The legislation is subsequently imitated by South Australia and
the Northern Territory.
1904 - The Queensland government establishes Cherbourg, an Aboriginal community, about
30 km from Gympie.
Torres Strait Islanders become subject to the Queensland Aboriginal Protection Act.
1905 - The Western Australia Aborigines Act is passed, making the Chief Protector the legal
guardian of every Aboriginal and 'half-caste' child under 16 years old. Reserves are
established, a local protector is appointed and rules governing Aboriginal employment are
laid down.
1905 - The Western Australia Aborigines Act is passed. Under this law, the Chief Protector is
made the legal guardian of every Aboriginal and 'half-caste' child under 16 years old.
Reserves are established, a local protector is appointed and rules governing Aboriginal
employment are laid down.
1909 - The NSW Aborigines Protection Act is introduced following crises in public schools.
Aboriginal schools are established in NSW. Exclusion of Aboriginal children from public
schools followed requests by the white community. In NSW there are 22 Aboriginal schools
in 1910, 35 in 1920 and 40 in 1940. The syllabus stresses manual activities and the teacher is
usually the reserve manager's untrained wife.
The Act also made it illegal for 'half-castes' to live on reserves. In 1915 and 1918
amendments to the Act give the NSW Aborigines Protection Board greater powers to remove
children from their families for training as domestic servants.
First Aboriginal person to play First Grade Rugby League was George Green playing for
Eastern Suburbs.
1910 - The Victorian Aborigines Act permitted the Board for Protection of Aborigines to help
'half-castes' by licensing needy persons to live on stations.
An inquiry is held into the Forest River Massacre in the Kimberley.
The Aborigines Protection Board Act is passed, giving the Board 'legal' control over
Aboriginal people on stations and reserves but not missions, in the Northern Territory.
1911 - The South Australian Aborigines Act makes the Chief Protector the legal guardian of
every Aboriginal and 'half-caste' child under 21 years old. The Chief Protector also has
control of where the child lives. The Chief Protector is replaced by the Aborigines Protection
Board in 1939 and guardianship power is repealed in 1962.
federal government passes the Northern Territory Aboriginals Ordinance. The Chief
Protector is made the legal guardian of every Aboriginal and 'half-caste' child under 18 years
old. Any Aboriginal person can be forced onto a mission or settlement and children can be
removed by force.
1914 - Beginning of WWI. Approximately 400 to 500 Aboriginal children continue to be
removed from their families during the period 1914 to 1918, including children whose fathers
are overseas at war.
Aboriginal people serve in the war despite the Defence Act 1909 which prohibits any person
not of 'substantially European' origin from serving. Aboriginal soldiers are among Australian
troops at Gallipoli.
1915 - The NSW Aborigines Protection Board is given powers to remove Aboriginal children
without a court hearing. This power is repealed in 1940, when the Board is renamed the
Aborigines Welfare Board.
Four generations of my family went without parently love, without mother or father. I myself
found it very hard to show any love to my children because I wasn't given that, so was my
mother and grandmother. Carol, personal story in the Bringing Them Home Report.
1925 - The Church Missionary Society of the Church of England sets up a mission at
Oenpelli, Central Australia. The Aboriginal community later run a water buffalo farm and
sell X-ray style bark paintings.
Australian Aborigines' Progressive Association is formed to oppose New South Wales
Aborigines Protection Board.
1934 - Under the Aborigines Act,
Aboriginal people can apply to 'cease
being Aboriginal' and have access to the
same rights as 'whites'.
The Arnhem Land Reserve is declared.
1937 – ASSIMILATION POLICY
21-23 April: Aboriginal Welfare -
Conference of Commonwealth and State
Authorities called by the federal
government, decides that the official
policy for some Aboriginal people is
assimilation policy. Aboriginal people of mixed descent are to be assimilated into white
society whether they want to be or not, those not living tribally are to be educated and all
others are to stay on reserves.
The minutes of the meeting say:
"The destiny of the natives of aboriginal origin, but not of the full blood, lies in their ultimate
absorption... with a view to their taking their place in the white community on an equal
footing with the whites."
In practice, assimilation policies lead to the destruction of Aboriginal identity and culture,
justification of dispossession and the removal of Aboriginal children.
Segregationist practices continue until 1960s with separate sections in theatres, separate
wards in hospitals, hotels refusing drinks and schools able to refuse enrolment to Aboriginal
children.
The governments in the 1930s said children had to be taken away from their parents because
the influence of their own communities was immoral and they were in danger of abuse and
neglect, but the real agenda then was to de-Aboriginalise them.—Michael Anderson,
Aboriginal leader
27 June: In Dubbo, western NSW, trade unionist and Aboriginal politician William Ferguson
launches the Aborigines Progressive Association, in opposition to the Aborigines Protection
Board, after officials of the Board had arbitrarily used their powers to harass Aboriginal
people.
The Presbyterian Church establishes a mission - Ernabella - in the Musgrave Ranges, South
Australia.
1938 - 26 January: 150 years after European occupation the Aboriginal Progressive
Association declares a Day of Mourning. An Aboriginal conference is held in Sydney. These
are the first of many Aboriginal protests against inequality, injustice, dispossession of land
and protectionist policies.
A monthly newspaper, Australian Abo Call is published in Sydney, advocating equality of
treatment and opportunity for Aboriginal people.
1939 - 4 February: The first-ever mass strike of Aboriginal people in Australia occurred – the
Cummeragunja Walk-off. Over 150 Aboriginal people pack-up and leave Cummeragunja
Aboriginal Station in protest at the cruel treatment and exploitation of residents by the
management. They cross the border from New South Wales into Victoria in contravention of
the rules of the New South Wales Protection Board. The opera Pecan Summer tells the story
of the walk-off.
World War II begins. Although Aboriginal people are not recognised as citizens, two
Aboriginal military units are established and some Aboriginal people serve in other sections
of the armed forces as formally enlisted soldiers, sailors or airmen. Aboriginal people serve in
Europe, the Middle East, the Pacific and New Guinea.
Aboriginal children continue to be removed from their families during the period 1939 to
1945, including children whose fathers are at war overseas.
The Aborigines Protection Board in South Australia is established.
As a result of the 1937 conference Queensland passes legislation allowing Aboriginal people
to receive workers' compensation. Also as a result of this conference a Native Affairs Branch
is set up in the Northern Territory.
The Queensland government establishes a leprosarium on Fantome Island in the Torres Strait.
Aboriginal patients are sent there to protect white people from catching the disease until 1973
when it is closed.
1945 - Aboriginal cattle station workers in the
Port Hedland district of Western Australia strike
for a pay increase. They are getting 10 shillings a
week and are supplied with blankets. Aboriginal
people then form a co-operative to mine alluvial
wolfram which was successful.
An investigation shows Aboriginal people on
Lord Vestey's Northern Territory cattle station are
getting poor rations, inadequate housing, water
and sanitation facilities and are paid less than the
five shillings a day minimum wage, which was
set for Aboriginal people in a 1918 ordinance.
European males receive two pounds and eight
shillings (equal to 48 shillings) a week in 1945.
1946 - Aboriginal children need a medical certificate to attend public schools.
Aboriginal pastoral workers initiate the Pilbara strike in Western Australia over pay,
conditions and ill treatment.
1948 - The Commonwealth Citizenship and Nationality Act for the first time makes all
Australians, including all Aboriginal people, Australian citizens. But at state level they still
suffer legal discrimination.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is adopted by the newly-formed United Nations
and supported by Australia.
1949 - Aboriginal people are given the right to enrol and vote at federal elections provided
they are entitled to enrol for state elections or have served in the armed forces.
The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide is ratified by
Australia. It comes into force in 1951.
1958 - Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines is established. The title is
changed in 1964 to Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait
Islanders.
1960 - The Western Australian Department of Native Affairs ceases forcefully taking
Aboriginal children from their parents and sending them to missions.
Aboriginal people become eligible for social service benefits.
1961 - At the Native Welfare Conference ministers agree to strategies to assist assimilation of
Aboriginal people. These include the removal of discriminatory legislation and restrictive
practices, the incorporation of Aboriginal people into the economy through welfare measures
and education and training and the education of non-Aboriginal Australians about Aboriginal
culture and history. After the conference, all states and territories amend their legislation.
The conference marks the beginning of a modern land rights movement and widespread
awakening by non-Aboriginal Australians to claims for justice by Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander people. The South Australian Premier Sir Thomas Playford argues for
integration rather than assimilation of Aboriginal people.
1962 - Aboriginal right to vote.
1965 – INTEGRATION POLICY
Integration policy is introduced, supposedly to give Aboriginal people more control over their
lives and society.
Northern Territory patrol officers 'bring in' the last group of Aboriginal people - the Pintubi
people - living independently in the desert. They are relocated to Papunya and Yuendumu,
about 300 kms north-west of Alice Springs.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders' Affairs Act, passed in Queensland, gives the
Director of Aboriginal Affairs considerable power over 'assisted Aborigines'. For example, an
assisted Aboriginal person could be detained for up to a year for behaving in an 'offensive,
threatening, insolent, insulting, disorderly, obscene or indecent manner' or 'leaving, escaping
or attempting to leave or escape from the reserve'.
The Northern Territory's Supreme Court rejects the application by Frank Ganngu and Elsie
Darbuma for the return of their three children, who were taken from the leprosarium at the
Oenpelli mission (about 220 kms east of Darwin) and fostered out.
1966 - Stockmen and women walk off Wave Hill cattle station owned by British aristocrat
Lord Vestey, about 700 kms south of Darwin in the Northern Territory, in protest against
intolerable working conditions and inadequate wages. They establish a camp at Watti Creek
and demand the return of some of their traditional lands. This begins a seven-year fight by the
Gurindji people to obtain title to their land.
The South Australian Prohibition of Discrimination Act is the first of its kind in Australia and
bans all types of race and colour discrimination in employment, accommodation, legal
contracts and public facilities.
1967 - In the Commonwealth 1967 Referendum more than 90% vote to empower the
Commonwealth to legislate for all Aboriginal people and open means for them to be counted
in the census.
1969 - Aborigines Welfare Board in NSW is abolished. By 1969 all states have repealed the
legislation allowing for the removal of Aboriginal children under the policy of 'protection'. In
the following years, Aboriginal and Islander Child Care Agencies (AICCAs) are set up to
contest removal applications and provide alternatives to the removal of Indigenous children
from their families.
Aborigines Advisory Council set up.
The federal government establishes the National Aboriginal Sports Foundation to help
finance sports activities.
An Aboriginal delegation goes to New York and presents a statement on Australian
Aborigines to the office of the UN Secretary-General.
1994 - Going Home Conference in Darwin. Over 600 people removed as children, from every
state and territory met to share experiences, and expose the history of the removal of
Aboriginal children from their families and the effects of this policy on Aboriginal people.
1995 - 11 May: The National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Children from Their Families is established to examine the effects of separation,
identify what should be done in response, find justification for any compensation and look at
the laws of that time affecting child separation.
The inquiry held hearings in all states between December 1995 and October 1996 and
received 777 submissions, 69% of those from Indigenous people, 6% from churches and 1%
from government.
1997 - 26 May: Publication of the Report Into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Children from Their Families, more commonly known as the Bringing Them Home
Report. An abbreviated version is called 'Bringing them Home - Community Guide'. The
inquiry made 54 recommendations, e.g. reparations and an apology to Indigenous peoples.
Key findings:
10 to 33% of the Aboriginal children were removed from their families between 1910
and 1970.
The stolen Aboriginal children often suffered physical and sexual abuse and official
bodies failed to protect them.
Many Aboriginal children were never paid for the work they did ('Stolen Wages').
Under international law, from approximately 1946 the policies of forcible removal
amount to genocide.
The removal of Indigenous children continues today.
I know of no Indigenous person who told their story to the inquiry who wanted non-
Indigenous Australians to feel guilty—they just wanted people to know the truth. —
Mick Dodson
The state governments of Australia formally apologise to the Aboriginal people:
27 May 1997: Western Australia (Richard Court, Premier; Geoff Gallop, Leader of the
Opposition)
28 May 1997: South Australia (Dean Brown, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs)
3 June 1997: Queensland (K.R.Lingard, Minister for Families, Youth and Community
Care)
17 June 1997: Australian Capital Territory (Kate Carnell, Chief Minister)
18 June 1997: New South Wales (Bob Carr, Premier)
13 August 1997: Tasmania (Tony Rundle, Premier)
17 September 1997: Victoria (Jeff Kennett, Premier)
24 October 2001: Northern Territory (Claire Martin, Premier)
They can't give me back my mother, my lost childhood... but when Bob Carr gave his
apology it was a removal of all my mother's guilt, the
secret she bore alone... the apology set her free.
Aunty Nancy de Vries, taken at 14 months.
On a national level, Premier Minister John Howard
refused to apologise to the Stolen Generations for
another ten years. He was forced out of office in the
federal election in 2007 never having apologised.
1998 - January: Australians for Native Title (ANT)
launches the Sorry Books campaign where
Australians can sign who want to do something in
response to the federal government's refusal to make a
formal apology to the Stolen Generations
A sample Sorry Book entry. Children, celebrities, migrants and visitors alike signed Sorry
Books. Source: Australian Institute Of Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Studies: Sorry
Books Exhibition
26 May: HREOC releases the Social Justice Report 1998, which includes a summary of
responses from the churches, and non-Indigenous community to the inquiry's
recommendations plus an Implementation Progress Report.
Sorry Day 2007. Someone had planted an
Aboriginal flag on the ground expressing his
sorrow for what had happened to Indigenous
people
National Archives Australia - Bringing Them Home Indexing Project is launched. The
project is focussed on the identification and preservation of Commonwealth records related to
Indigenous people and communities.
Inaugural Sorry Day. The Bringing Them Home Report had suggested "to commemorate the
history of forcible removals and its effects" on May 26 (recommendation #7a). Sorry Day
offered the community the opportunity to be involved in activities to acknowledge the impact
of the policies of forcible removal on Australia's Indigenous populations.
Sorry Day has been an annual event since.
Aboriginal people across Australia hear
with shock the comments of Aboriginal
Affairs Minister Senator John Herron as he
says stories of widespread removal of
Aboriginal children from their families
were exaggerated and that the removals that
did occur were for lawful reasons "as
occurs under child welfare policies today."
1999 - 26 August: Federal Parliament issues
a statement of deep and sincere regret over
the forced removal of Aboriginal children
from their families
2000 - Australia appears before the United
Nations Committee on the Elimination of
Racial Discrimination. The Committee criticises the Commonwealth Government's
inadequate response to recommendations of the Bringing Them Home Report:
While noting the efforts by the State party to address the tragedies resulting from the
previous policy of removing indigenous children from their families, the Committee remains
concerned about the continuing effects of this policy.
The Committee recommends that the State party intensify these efforts so that the victims
themselves and their families will consider that they have been afforded a proper remedy.
Inquiry into the federal government's implementation of the recommendations made by the
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission in Bringing Them Home undertaken by
the Senate Legal and Constitutional References Committee results in the Healing: A Legacy
of Generations Report
April 4 - The government denies that a 'Stolen Generation' exists in a submission to the
Senate inquiry on compensation for children forcibly removed. It stated:
The government is concerned that there is no reliable basis for what appears to be a
generally accepted conclusion as to the supposed dimensions of the 'stolen generation'.
At most, it might be inferred that up to 10% of children were separated for a variety of
reasons, both protective and otherwise, some forcibly and some not. This does not constitute
a 'generation' of 'stolen' children. The phrase 'stolen generation' is rhetorical.
2001 - November: Pope John Paul II issues a formal apology on behalf of the Vatican to the
affected Aboriginal families for the actions of any and all Catholic authorities or
organisations in connection with the Stolen Generations.
The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission & PIAC (Public Interest Advocacy
Centre) hold the Moving Forward Conference. The conference aims to explore ways of
providing reparations to Indigenous people forcibly removed from their families.
For 18 years the State of Victoria referred to me as State Ward No 54321. Paul, personal
story in the Bringing Them Home Report.
2002 - The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) releases Restoring Identity - the follow
up report to the Moving Forward Conference. The report presents a proposal for a reparations
tribunal.
The Sorry Day Committee releases the Parliamentary Seminar Report: Are We Bringing
Them Home? The Report surveys the progress in the implementation of the Bringing them
home recommendations.
National Library of Australia Oral History Project, Many Voices: Reflections on Experience
of Indigenous Child Separation published.
The first member of the Stolen Generations is awarded compensation in the NSW Victims
Compensation Tribunal for the sexual assault and injuries she suffered after authorities
removed her from her family. Valerie Linow was 16 when she was working as a domestic
servant for a family and suffering sexual assault and violence. Mrs Linow was awarded
$35,000 in compensation. She said "It's not the money that's important to me. It is the
knowledge and recognition that this happened to Aboriginal people. No one could pay any
amount for what happened to us because we lost a lot."
As part of the Victorian Government's response to the Bringing Them Home Report, Victoria
establishes a Stolen Generations taskforce.
I'm the only one out of thousands of members of the stolen generations who got through and
was believed that these things did happen. This is the most important thing - the believing.
Valerie Linow, member of the Stolen Generations The Age, October 18 2002.
2003 - The Ministerial Council for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs (MCATSIA)
commissions and releases an independent evaluation of government and non-government
responses to the Bringing Them Home Report.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner publicly criticises the
failure of governments to provide financial and social reparations for members of the Stolen
Generation, a national apology, or the appropriate mechanisms for individuals that were
forcibly removed to reconnect with their culture.
2004 - The Commonwealth Government establishes a memorial to the Stolen Generations at
Reconciliation Place in Canberra.
461 'Sorry Books' recording the thoughts of Australians on the unfolding history of the Stolen
Generations are inscribed on the Australian Memory of the World Register, part of
UNESCO's programme to protect and promote documentary material with significant
historical value.
2005 - The organisation 'Stolen Generations Victoria' is set up as a result of the 2003 report
of the Stolen Generations taskforce. Its purpose is to establish a range of support and referral
services that will assist Stolen Generation peoples to reconnect with their family, community,
culture and land (www.stolengenerationsvictoria.org.au).
The National Sorry Day Committee announces that this year, Sorry Day will be a 'National
Day of Healing for All Australians' in an attempt to better engage the non-Indigenous
Australian community with the plight of the 'Stolen Generations'.
The first official Sorry Day ceremony outside Australia is hosted in Lincoln Fields, London,
on 25 May 2005.
Volume two of the Western Australian Aboriginal Child Health Survey is released. The
report says that 12.3% of the carers of Indigenous children aged 0-17 in Western Australia
Kevin Rudd's apology viewed
by a crowd on Federation
Square, Melbourne.
Photo: Virgina Murdoch,
Flickr
were forcibly removed from their families. Compared with other Indigenous children, the
children of members of the Stolen Generations are twice as likely to have emotional and
behavioural problems, to be at high risk for hyperactivity, emotional and conduct disorders,
and twice as likely to abuse alcohol and drugs.
2006 - The first Stolen Generations compensation scheme in Australia is set up in Tasmania
by the Stolen Generations of Aboriginal Children Act 2006 (Tas). The Tasmanian
government allocated $5 million to Aboriginal people who qualified for the compensation
package.
When she worked for this person at this property, her husband raped my mum and I was from
that rape. —Marjorie Woodrow, Aboriginal woman
2007 - Aug 1: In a landmark court case a member of the Stolen Generations has been awarded
$525,000 in compensation by a South Australian court for a lifte time of sorrow and pain.
Bruce Trevorrow was taken from his father aged 13 months. He was given to a white family
where he grew up until he was ten, unaware of his Aboriginality. He then saw his mother
again, but at this stage was a rebellious boy not belonging to either culture.
Mr. Trevorrow's life followed the path of many taken children: times in and out of jail and
other institutions, poor health, alcoholism, smoking, depression. His siblings who remained
with the family were able to overcome life's difficulties.
The justice's judgment established for the first time that removing a child from his family in
these circumstances constituted wrongful imprisonment and was a breach of the state's duty
of care. He awarded Mr Trevorrow $450,000 for injuries and losses suffered, and a further
$75,000 in damages for his unlawful removal and false imprisonment.
14 September: Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States are the only countries
that oppose the UN declaration for the rights of Indigenous
peoples worldwide. 134 countries vote for the declaration,
11 countries abstain. The declaration has no legal bindings.
Canada initially was in favour, but changed its mind after
lobbying of John Howard.
2 October: A Stolen Generations memorial is opened at Mt
Annan near Campbelltown, Western Sydney. The
memorial, designed by Aboriginal artist Badger Bates from
Wilcannia, features original forest, boardwalks and
interpretive signs.
24 November: Kevin Rudd wins the national election and
promises to apologise to the Stolen Generations.
This year, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
removed 7,892 children from their families. In 1997, it
removed 2,785 children.
2008 - 13 February: The Australian Parliament apologises to the Stolen Generations. Both
the government and the opposition support the apology and say 'sorry' to Aboriginal people
who were taken away from their families from 1900 to the 1970s. The apology has no legal
effect on the ability of Aboriginal people claiming compensation
14 February: Senator Andrew Bartlett introduces the Stolen Generation Compensation Bill
into the Senate. The bill calls for ex gratia payments (i.e. without any liability or legal
obligation) to be made to the Stolen Generations of Aboriginal children. The Senate rejects
the bill.
24 September: The Greens introduce the Stolen Generations Reparations Tribunal Bill. This
bill seeks to implement 'reparations', a key recommendation of
the Bringing Them Home report
Reparation is much more than monetary compensation and
includes "measures such as funding for healing centres,
community education projects, community genealogy projects,
and funding for access to counselling services, health services,
language and culture training for the Stolen Generations."
Just reparations are essential to repairing the enduring social,
economic and cultural harm experienced by the Stolen
Generations. —Rachel Siewert, Greens Senator
2009 - 13 February: The Australian government promises to
establish the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Healing
Foundation which will deal with the "trauma experienced by all Aboriginal people as the
after-effect of colonisation" , but with a particular focus on the Stolen Generations.
The foundation won't deliver healing services, instead it will fund healing work, educate
communities and social workers and evaluate healing programs to find out what works.
2 April: The Human Rights Committee report on Australia recommends the government
"adopt a comprehensive national mechanism to ensure that adequate reparation, including
compensation, is provided to the victims of the Stolen Generations policies" [10]. The
Federal-Attorney General decides not to follow that recommendation and rules that no
challenge to this decision be allowed.
August: The Australian government refuses compensation despite the UN being 'concerned
about a lack of adequate access to justice' [9] for Indigenous people and recommending the
government compensating victims of the Stolen Generations. The UN responded to a formal
complaint submitted by the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement in March.
27 October: NSW Governor Marie Bashir launches the Kinchela Boy's Home Aboriginal
Corporation Strategic Plan to help Aboriginal men who passed through Kinchela with
counselling, reunions targeted at group healing, and programs for their families.
November: The National Archives Australia announce that they plan to close their Darwin
office in September 2010, followed by Adelaide in 2011, and two Hobart offices in
2010/2012 due to huge savings requirements. Aboriginal people are shocked because offices
are well used by services such as Link-Up to help people find and reconnect with their
families.
2010 - 22 March: The South Australian government loses an appeal against the $775,000
payout to a member of the Stolen Generations. The Full Court of the SA Supreme Court ruled
that the government had been negligent in its treatment of Bruce Trevorrow, who was taken
from his parents as a child more than 50 years ago.
http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/history/aboriginal-history-timeline-early-
white.html
http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/history/aboriginal-history-timeline-early-
20th.html
http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/politics/stolen-generations-timeline.html