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