Australia - Recognition of Indigenous Rights

The King Burraga newsreel was significant because:

• It was the first time an Aboriginal person used film to voice demands for recognition of Aboriginal rights.

• The newsreel survived into the twenty-first century

• This was a public call for Aboriginal representation in parliament

• King Burraga was an Elder

Under the Australian constitution, which groups of people were noted as being specifically excluded from two different aspects of society that were under the jurisdiction of the Federal government?

• Western Australians

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders

• Women

• Old Age Pensioners

Why did many state governments decide to control the lives of Indigenous Australians under the policy of 'protection'?

• They felt that the Aboriginals weren't responsible enough

• They felt that "the Aboriginal race" was dying out, so they needed to be 'protected'

• They wanted to convert them all to Christianity

• They wanted to educate all the Indigenous people

Select some examples of restrictions placed on Indigenous peoples under the policy of 'protection'.

• 1000s of children were forcibly removed from their parents, and became the “Stolen Generations”

• The Government was made legal guardian of Indigenous children, ignoring parent’s rights

• The right to marry was controlled

• Christianity was forced upon Indigenous communities

• Children were indentured as farm hands or domestic servants

The Aboriginal Day of Mourning happened on the 26th Jan, 1938. Why was this date significant?

• 100 years since Federation

• 150 years since the First Fleet arrived

• The start of the 5th Ashes test

• 200 years since Captain Cook sailed to Australia

Why was the Day of Mourning protest significant?

• It gave Indigenous people the vote

• It gave Indigenous people the right to be counted in the census

• It gave Indigenous people land rights

• It was the first organised action against the poor treatment of Indigenous peoples.

What 'policy' regarding Indigenous peoples is this source referring to?

• Segregation

• Assimilation

• The 'Breeding out' of Indigenous heritage

• Reconciliation

Check the two parts of the constitution that the 1967 Referendum wanted to change?

• Indigenous People were not to be counted in the census

• The Federal Government was not allowed to make laws concerning Indigenous People. (Only State Governments could make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)

• Indigenous people were not allowed to vote

• Indigenous people could not marry other Indigenous people

Who was William Cooper?

What were the aims of the APA (Aborigines Progressive Association) and AAPA (Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association)?