Indigenous Australians: policy and rights since 1901 (QCE Modern History Unit 3, Australia since 1901)

What this topic is asking

Unit 3 "Australia since 1901" is a topic, and your school chooses the aspect to study. The treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is one of the most important strands, and source questions often ask about continuity and change, perspectives and the significance of key events. The official syllabus is at qcaa.qld.edu.au. Some material here is distressing, and it is written with the care a school history class would use.

Protection, 1901 to the 1930s

At Federation, the Constitution gave the Commonwealth no power over Aboriginal affairs, which stayed with the states. Section 51 excluded "the aboriginal race" from the Commonwealth's race power and section 127 left Aboriginal people out of the census count. State laws, such as the New South Wales Aborigines Protection Act 1909 and the Western Australian Aborigines Act 1905, set up boards and chief protectors who controlled where people lived, how they worked and often whether children stayed with their families. Children who were removed became part of what is now called the Stolen Generations.

Assimilation, 1930s to the 1960s

In 1937 a conference of Commonwealth and state officials endorsed assimilation, which meant that people of Aboriginal descent should be absorbed into the wider community. Aboriginal people did not accept this passively. On 26 January 1938, the sesquicentenary of British settlement, activists including William Cooper and Jack Patten held a Day of Mourning in Sydney. Workers on Cummeragunja walked off in 1939, and Pilbara pastoral workers struck in 1946.

Campaigns for rights, 1960s

• Voting rights. Commonwealth legislation in 1962 gave Aboriginal people the right to enrol for federal elections. Queensland was the last state to extend its franchise, in 1965.
• Freedom Ride, 1965. Charles Perkins and a group of Sydney University students toured New South Wales towns to expose discrimination in places such as swimming pools.
• Wave Hill, 1966. Gurindji stockmen led by Vincent Lingiari walked off Wave Hill station in the Northern Territory over pay and conditions, and the dispute became a land claim.
• 1967 referendum. On 27 May 1967, more than 90 percent of voters approved removing the references that excluded Aboriginal people from the census and the Commonwealth's race power. It allowed the Commonwealth to legislate for Aboriginal people. It did not give citizenship or the vote, which many people believe it did.

Land, 1970s and 1980s

The Aboriginal Tent Embassy began outside Parliament House in Canberra on 26 January 1972. In 1975 Gough Whitlam poured soil into Vincent Lingiari's hand to mark the return of land to the Gurindji. The Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 allowed Aboriginal people to claim certain land in the Territory.

Mabo, Bringing Them Home and the Apology

• Mabo. On 3 June 1992 the High Court in Mabo v Queensland (No 2) rejected the idea that Australia had been terra nullius and recognised native title. The Native Title Act 1993 created a process for claims.
• Wik, 1996. The High Court held that native title could co-exist with pastoral leases.
• Bringing Them Home, 1997. A national inquiry reported on the removal of children and recommended an apology and reparations.
• Apology, 2008. On 13 February 2008 Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologised in Parliament to the Stolen Generations.
• Uluru Statement and the Voice referendum. The 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart called for a First Nations Voice. A referendum on 14 October 2023 to enshrine a Voice in the Constitution was not carried.

Interpretation

Historians disagree about the pace and meaning of change. Some stress achievements, such as the vote, land rights and legal recognition. Others stress persistent gaps in health, education and justice. There have also been public disputes, sometimes called the "history wars", about how to describe frontier conflict and the removal of children.

Practice questions

1. Identify two features of the policy of assimilation.

Model answer: It aimed for Aboriginal people to live like other Australians and give up distinct cultural practices, and it supported removing some children from their families to achieve this.

2. Explain why the Wave Hill walk-off mattered.

Model answer: It began as a protest about pay and conditions and became a campaign for land. It helped lead to the 1975 land handover and the Land Rights Act, and it showed that Aboriginal workers could mobilise political action.

3. Evaluate the importance of the Mabo decision.

Model answer: Mabo overturned the idea of terra nullius, which had been the legal basis of settlement, and led to the Native Title Act 1993. However, native title claims were slow and limited by later decisions, so its practical effect was smaller than its symbolic effect. A balanced judgement says Mabo was a major legal change that did not by itself resolve land justice.