How Did Indigenous People Get Their Rights In Australia

Since European colonisation in 1788, Indigenous people have been treated as second class citizens by the Australian Government. Furthermore, Indigenous Australians have struggled with land rights and in numerous other ways in Australian history. The lack of Indigenous rights was most evident before Federation in 1901.They slowly began to gain rights after Federation. The most significant changes were after the 1967 referendum, which aimed to increase indigenous equality, following. Historical evidence indicates that such changes were only possible due to the remarkable courage of a few. Indigenous Australians have struggled with their rights in many ways throughout Australian history. This occurred from 1788, upon arrival of the First
Fleet. The fleet enacted British laws on the premise that Australia was ‘no man’s land’ or terra nullius. It wasn’t until 1857 that men over twenty-one won the right to vote in parts of Australia, however, this law did not apply to Indigenous men. Later in 1893, Queensland and Western Australia passed laws that reiterated Indigenous people were not allowed to vote in any political poll. By this point in Australian history, there were six colonies; New South Wales South Australia Western Australia , Victoria , and Queensland , all settled by Britain. As more land was being mapped and settled by the British, the Aboriginals were pushed from their homelands, which had been passed down in their families for centuries. The Government claimed to be protecting the Indigenous from settler violence, however, they continued to take their land and treat them with prejudice. People believed that Indigenous persons were ‘dying out,’ and that they would not survive much longer. The Policy of Protection put in place by the Government in the 1880s, was set to give Indigenous Australians a place to live, food, blankets, clothes and basic education, by taking them into homes or shelters.
As a result of the Act, white Australians used Indigenous people for cheap labor and even as slaves. In 1871, the beginning of the catastrophic ‘assimilation policy,’ began, where an entire generation of were stolen from their families. The idea of the Assimilation Act was that children of Indigenous or Torres Strait Islander descent, were forcibly removed from their homes and taught to reject their heritage and adopt a white culture. This was done in an attempt to ‘breed out’ Indigenous Australians, through natural elimination. At this stage,Indigenous people had lost all freedoms, with the reintroduction of the Assimilation Act and a new ‘Half-cast Act.’ Despite all of the protests,the Government did nothing to give Aboriginals basic
rights.. In the lead up to Federation, Australia was set to make big changes throughout the country. The Indigenous people however did not receive these changes. As the six colonies of Australia became one, forming the modern Commonwealth of Australia, Indigenous people were neglected. Therefore, white Australians retained power over the Aboriginals who once owned the land. After Federation, Indigenous Australians saw many negative changes in both federal and state legislation, which limited their rights to citizenship and welfare, usually on the terms of descent and Aboriginality. In the beginning of the 20th century, a more benign type of assimilation was endorsed. However laws, including laws framed by the Commonwealth Government, were created in an attempt to ‘protect’ or advance people’s welfare. These laws did nothing except continue to alienate Indigenous people. Around the same time, the Stolen Generation, went from being an ad hoc practice to a strategy adopted by all governments. Many Indigenous people felt the 1967 referendum was a turning point regarding Indigenous equality (ABS 2004, online). However, a large amount of the population still believed it did not change the discrimination they received on a daily basis. To this very day, the Referendum has had a lasting effect on policies; it enabled the Land Rights Act and allowed the Commonwealth Government to make laws for Aboriginal people. However, some believed that instead of the Federal Government's power benefitting Indigenous people, it was used to enact laws that removed Indigenous rights. The words, “other than the Aboriginal people in any state" in section 51 and the whole of section 127 were removed. Which allowed Indigenous people to be included in Censuses and gave Parliament the power to make laws for Indigenous people (Australian Government 2017, online). There have been many significant events that have impacted Indigenous rights.
The Mabo Case, which was finalised in 1992, was one event that had a large impact on indigenous rights. The case recognised the land rights of the Meriam people, the traditional owners of the Murray Islands. The case challenged two existing Australian legal systems; the assumption that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders peoples had no concept of land ownership before the arrival of the British colonists in 1788 (terra nullius) and that sovereignty gave complete ownership of the land to the Crown. Another major event is the Gurindji Land Strike or Walk-off in 1966. The strike was by the Gurindji Tribe, directed by tribe leader Vincent Lingiari, who led 200 Indigenous Workers off their jobs at Wave Hill Cattle station, which lasted several years. Their complaints included, low wages and poor conditions but the main focus was land rights, which had been in action before in the 1946 Pilbara Walk-off. The ultimately successful Gurindji Strike is a significant moment in Aboriginal Land Rights movements. After the strike, land right activists rallied through the 1970’s, leading to the Aboriginal Land rights Act in 1976. Another momentous event for Indigenous Australians was the 2008 apology to the Stolen Generations. The speech was read by Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, as he apologised to the families affected by this atrocity. The apology was the biggest broadcasted event in Indigenous history.
Numerous pre and post apology polls were conducted in Australia about whether or not a formal apology to the Indigenous community was necessary. It was found that nine out of ten people believed a formal apology was necessary. The Hand Back of land rights from Whitlam to Lingiari in 1975 was another significant event for the Indigenous people. The then Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam travelled to Daguragu to return the land to the Gurindji People. Shown in a photo from the event, (Whitlam and Vincent at Wave Hill handback photo, 1975, shown in Appendix 1) at a small ceremony, Whitlam was seen pouring soil from the land into Lingiari’s hand and said, “Vincent Lingiari, I solemnly hand to you these deeds as proof in Australian law that these lands belong to the Gurindji people, and I put into your hands part of the earth as a sign that this land will be the possession of you and your children forever.” A range of historical evidence, pertinent to Indigenous rights throughout the colonisation and Federation, along with more recent events throughout Australian history have been examined in this essay. Through primary and secondary sources, it is clearly evidenced that the rights of Indigenous people, land rights and racial discrimination have been significantly reduced due to legislative changes. The heinous mistreatment of indigenous people continued through the 20th century until the 1967 Referendum. After the Referendum and numerous significant events in Australia, the rights of Indigenous people have been improved, notably including the right to vote, land rights, equal pay, and reducing discrimination. It is vital for all Australian students to learn about the struggles Aboriginals went through in their quest for equality. Although the Indigenous has come a long way, the path to equity is yet to be paved.