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128-499: In Australia , Indigenous land rights or Aboriginal land rights are the rights and interests in land of Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander people; the term may also include the struggle for those rights. Connection to the land and waters is vital in Australian Aboriginal culture and to that of Torres Strait Islander people, and there has been a long battle to gain legal and moral recognition of ownership of

256-479: A Mediterranean climate . The south-east ranges from oceanic (Tasmania and coastal Victoria) to humid subtropical (upper half of New South Wales), with the highlands featuring alpine and subpolar oceanic climates . The interior is arid to semi-arid . Driven by climate change , average temperatures have risen more than 1°C since 1960 . Associated changes in rainfall patterns and climate extremes exacerbate existing issues such as drought and bushfires . 2019

384-511: A belt of Brigalow grasslands lie between the coast and the mountains, while inland of the dividing range are large areas of grassland and shrubland. These include the western plains of New South Wales, and the Mitchell Grass Downs and Mulga Lands of inland Queensland. The northernmost point of the mainland is the tropical Cape York Peninsula . The landscapes of the Top End and

512-793: A large wave of immigration from across Europe , with such immigrants referred to as " New Australians ". This required a relaxation of the white Australia policy , which was justified to Australians using the slogan "populate or perish". A member of the Western Bloc during the Cold War , Australia participated in the Korean War and the Malayan Emergency during the 1950s and the Vietnam War from 1962 to 1972. During this time, tensions over communist influence in society led to unsuccessful attempts by

640-477: A public holiday was held in the Australian Capital Territory on 28 May 2018. The reconciliation process has been accepted into political discourse, and grassroots organisations such as ANTaR continue to play a part. The dual target of rights and practical measures is a message aimed not only at governments but also the corporate sector and all kinds of institutions, as well as ordinary members of

768-600: A "hearts and minds" awareness strategy during its existence, seeking to gain press coverage across all levels of media. It staged large events such as the Australian Reconciliation Convention in 1997, which was broadcast live on television, ran cross-cultural workshops for journalists, and produced social science research on community attitudes towards reconciliation. Its quarterly publication Walking Together and material such as badges and stickers were given to schools and local governments . It soon became

896-410: A "people's movement" with hundreds of local community reconciliation groups founded across the country. Coordinators known as Australians for Reconciliation (AFR), appointed by CAR, promoted initiatives to help the movement. CAR members sought meetings with leaders, and conducted three major public consultation events and hundreds of meetings, evoking over 3,000 response forms from individuals. In 1995,

1024-461: A date which later became Australia's national day . Most early settlers were convicts , transported for petty crimes and assigned as labourers or servants to "free settlers" (willing immigrants). Once emancipated , convicts tended to integrate into colonial society. Convict rebellions and uprisings were suppressed under martial law, which lasted for two years following the 1808 Rum Rebellion , Australia's only successful coup d'état . During

1152-610: A day in support of Aboriginal people, and around 2,000 students joined the protest. There were also protests in Newcastle , Brisbane , and Darwin , all under the rallying cry of " Ningla-A-na " ( Arrernte for "hungry land"). The demands of the protesters were, specifically: The moratorium as a tactic was copied from the campaign against the Vietnam War : a weekday protest meant that union supporters would need to convince others in their workplace about why solidarity with Aboriginal people

1280-457: A friendly relationship with the local people, recording more than 130 words of their language. However, after the crew refused to share 12 green turtles which they had caught, thus violating local customs, the locals became angry. A Guugu Yimithirr elder stepped in, presenting Cook with a broken-tipped spear as a peace offering, thus preventing an escalation which could have ended in bloodshed. The event has been re-enacted every year since 1959 with

1408-548: A lands right issue, with the people claiming rights to the land which was then a cattle station owned by a large British company, Vesteys . The strike lasted for eight years. In 1961, at the Native Welfare Conference, a meeting of federal and state ministers responsible for Aboriginal welfare, agreed on a policy of assimilation . The measures included the removal of discriminatory legislation and restrictive practices, welfare measures, education and training to assist

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1536-698: A procedure that transferred almost 50 per cent of land in the Northern Territory (around 600 000 km2) to collective Aboriginal ownership. Following this, some states introduced their own land rights legislation; however, there were significant limitations on the returned lands, or that available for claim. Paul Coe , in Coe v Commonwealth (1979), attempted (unsuccessfully) to bring a class action on behalf of all "Aborigines" claiming all of Australia. In 1981 South Australian Premier David Tonkin returned 102,650 square kilometres (39,630 sq mi) of land (10.2% of

1664-498: A report containing six recommendations, relating to: Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR), a mostly non-Indigenous organisation, was founded in 1997. With support from Australian Artists Against Racism, the "Sea of Hands" was created on the lawns in front of Parliament House, Canberra : 50,000 hands, symbolising support for Indigenous Australians against the Wik amendments. Social research showed that public support for

1792-568: A settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land (present-day Tasmania ), and in 1813, Gregory Blaxland , William Lawson and William Wentworth crossed the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, opening the interior to European settlement. The British claim extended to the whole Australian continent in 1827 when Major Edmund Lockyer established a settlement on King George Sound (modern-day Albany ). The Swan River Colony (present-day Perth )

1920-548: A short distance off the north-east coast and extends for more than 2,000 km (1,200 mi). Mount Augustus , claimed to be the world's largest monolith, is located in Western Australia. At 2,228 m (7,310 ft), Mount Kosciuszko is the highest mountain on the Australian mainland. Even taller are Mawson Peak , at 2,745 m (9,006 ft), on the remote Australian external territory of Heard Island , and, in

2048-592: A two-day event at the Sydney Opera House held in CAR's final year of existence, taking place from 27 to 28 May 2000. On the first day, a meeting of dozens of Indigenous and non-Indigenous leaders at the Sydney Opera House was again broadcast live on TV, and was covered by around 500 media outlets. One issue loomed large: that of an apology by the Australian Government to its Indigenous peoples, and in particular

2176-552: A way that recognises the community’s traditional connection to that country". Indigenous land rights relate to the rights and interests in land of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia, and the term is also used to describe the struggle for those rights. As of 2020, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights and interests in land are formally recognised over around 40 per cent of Australia’s land mass. The recognition of Indigenous rights in land and waters

2304-411: A wide variety of landscapes, with tropical rainforests in the north-east, mountain ranges in the south-east, south-west and east, and desert in the centre. The desert or semi-arid land commonly known as the outback makes up by far the largest portion of land. Australia is the driest inhabited continent; its annual rainfall averaged over continental area is less than 500 mm. The population density

2432-436: Is 3.4 inhabitants per square kilometre, although the large majority of the population lives along the temperate south-eastern coastline. The population density exceeds 19,500 inhabitants per square kilometre in central Melbourne. In 2021 Australia had 10% of the global permanent meadows and pastureland. Forest cover is around 17% of Australia's total land area. The Great Barrier Reef , the world's largest coral reef, lies

2560-413: Is a constitutional monarchy , a parliamentary democracy and a federation . The country has maintained its mostly unchanged constitution alongside a stable liberal democratic political system since Federation in 1901. It is one of the world's oldest federations, in which power is divided between the federal and state governments. The Australian system of government combines elements derived from

2688-417: Is a megadiverse country , and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates including deserts in the interior and tropical rainforests along the coast . The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south-east Asia 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, during the last glacial period . By the time of British settlement, Aboriginal Australians spoke 250 distinct languages and had

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2816-518: Is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent , the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands . Australia has a total area of 7,688,287 km (2,968,464 sq mi), making it the sixth-largest country in the world and the largest country by area in Oceania . It is the world's oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with some of the least fertile soils. It

2944-859: Is dependent on the history of the land rights arrangements of the particular state or territory. In some jurisdictions, titles to large areas of traditional lands were granted before the Act commenced. The Native Title Act was passed following the High Court of Australia decision of Mabo v Queensland (No. 2) , which recognised for the first time that Indigenous people had rights to land sourced from their continuing connection to it and that these rights are recognised under Australian common law. Where these rights had not been extinguished through contradictory Crown grants, native titles continued to exist and could exist alongside certain title, such as crown leases. Different types of land rights laws exist in Australia, allowing for

3072-520: Is fundamental to the process of reconciliation . The colonisation of mainland Australia started in the 1700s, while the Torres Strait Islands were only taken over by the colony of Queensland in the 1870s. The Letters Patent establishing the Province of South Australia of 1836, which were issued during the period of British colonisation of South Australia , included recognition of the rights of

3200-537: Is governed by convention and their precise scope is unclear. The most notable exercise of these powers was the dismissal of the Whitlam government in the constitutional crisis of 1975 . Reconciliation in Australia The first act of reconciliation between Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous people followed Lieutenant James Cook 's 1770 landing at the site of modern Cooktown . Cook and his crew had developed

3328-508: Is not a grant or right created by governments. Native title in Australia includes rights and interests relating to land and waters held by Indigenous Australians under traditional laws and customs, and recognised in accordance with the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth). Although this is federal legislation and therefore applicable to the whole of Australia , the way in which the processes for native title operate in each state and territory

3456-517: Is now Southeast Asia. It is uncertain how many waves of immigration may have contributed to these ancestors of modern Aboriginal Australians. The Madjedbebe rock shelter in Arnhem Land is possibly the oldest site showing the presence of humans in Australia. The oldest human remains found are the Lake Mungo remains , which have been dated to around 41,000 years ago. Aboriginal Australian culture

3584-557: Is one of only two pristine Archaean 3.6–2.7 Ga (billion years ago) crusts identified on the Earth. Having been part of all major supercontinents , the Australian continent began to form after the breakup of Gondwana in the Permian , with the separation of the continental landmass from the African continent and Indian subcontinent. It separated from Antarctica over a prolonged period beginning in

3712-460: Is one of the oldest continuous cultures on Earth. At the time of first European contact, Aboriginal Australians belonged to wide range of societies, with diverse economies spread across at least 250 different language groups . Estimates of the Aboriginal population before British settlement range from 300,000 to 3 million. Aboriginal Australians cultures were (and remain) deeply connected with

3840-748: Is ongoing, to use the land in a way which benefits the Aboriginal people. Since the 2010s, there has been a growing number of freemen on the land / sovereign citizen groups targeting Indigenous Australians, with groups with names like Tribal Sovereign Parliament of Gondwana Land, the Original Sovereign Tribal Federation (OSTF) and the Original Sovereign Confederation. OSTF Founder Mark McMurtrie, an Aboriginal Australian man, has produced YouTube videos speaking about “common law”, which incorporate Freemen beliefs. Appealing to other Aboriginal people by partly identifying with

3968-738: Is the Deed of Grant in Trust (DOGIT). These were established primarily to administer former Aboriginal reserves and missions . They came about through legislation passed by the Queensland Government in 1984. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander local governments hold trusteeship of the DOGITs, and land tenure under this type of tenure is held in collective title, held in trust for future generations. From 1 January 2015, some trustees, namely those classified as "urban" or "future urban") are able to convert parts of

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4096-411: Is unique. About 85% of flowering plants, 84% of mammals, more than 45% of birds , and 89% of in-shore, temperate-zone fish are endemic . Australia has at least 755 species of reptile, more than any other country in the world. Besides Antarctica, Australia is the only continent that developed without feline species. Feral cats may have been introduced in the 17th century by Dutch shipwrecks, and later in

4224-699: The Aboriginal Land Act 1991 and the Torres Strait Islander Land Act 1991 provide for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander freehold respectively. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander freehold land occupies 5%, or 59,489 square kilometres (22,969 sq mi) of northern Queensland . A Registered Native Title Body Corporate (RNTBC) can be trustee of this land, who can grant leases of up to 99 years for any purpose. A third type of land tenure , mainly held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in remote and regional Queensland,

4352-709: The Aboriginal Lands Trust of South Australia Act 2013 (SA) was passed. The Aboriginal Lands Trust (ALT) of Western Australia was established by the Aboriginal Affairs Planning Authority Act 1972 . This body holds about 24,000,000 hectares (59,000,000 acres), or 10% of the State's land. There are different types of tenures held by different parts of this land, including reserves, leases and freehold property. There are many remote communities on this land, inhabited by about 12,000 people. Land reform

4480-656: The Maralinga Tjarutja Land Rights Act 1984 to return lands to the Pitjantjara people in the remote western area of the state. The legislation was proclaimed in January 1985 and was followed by a ceremony in the desert attended by Maralinga Tjarutja leader Archie Barton , John Bannon and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Greg Crafter . In 1995 the Indigenous Land Corporation (ILC) was established by

4608-581: The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags were recognised. In 1997, the Australian Reconciliation Conference was held in Melbourne . In 1999, federal parliament passed a Motion of Reconciliation , as negotiated by Senator Aden Ridgeway and then prime minister John Howard , but it fell short of an apology and opinions on its effectiveness were divided. "Corroboree 2000" was

4736-770: The Aboriginal peoples of South Australia – the first ever recognition of Aboriginal rights on the continent – but the promise was never kept. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the movement of Aboriginal peoples in Australia was controlled by colony- and later state-based laws, such as the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897 in Queensland . This often meant that they were confined to living on Aboriginal reserves or mission stations , where they had no rights to land ownership. The passing of Aboriginal land rights legislation in Australia in

4864-563: The Attorney-General's Department : There are fundamental differences between land rights and native title. Land rights are rights created by the Australian , state or territory governments. Land rights usually consist of a grant of freehold or perpetual lease title to Indigenous Australians. By contrast, native title arises as a result of the recognition, under Australian common law, of pre-existing Indigenous rights and interests according to traditional laws and customs . Native title

4992-731: The Colonial Office that it be formally adopted. In 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially by that name. The first official published use of the new name came with the publication in 1830 of The Australia Directory by the Hydrographic Office . Colloquial names for Australia include " Oz ", " Straya " and " Down Under ". Other epithets include "the Great Southern Land", "the Lucky Country" (from

5120-579: The Gulf Country —with their tropical climate—include forest, woodland, wetland, grassland, rainforest and desert. At the north-west corner of the continent are the sandstone cliffs and gorges of The Kimberley , and below that the Pilbara . The Victoria Plains tropical savanna lies south of the Kimberley and Arnhem Land savannas, forming a transition between the coastal savannas and the interior deserts. At

5248-542: The Indian Ocean Dipole and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation , which is correlated with periodic drought , and the seasonal tropical low-pressure system that produces cyclones in northern Australia. These factors cause rainfall to vary markedly from year to year. Much of the northern part of the country has a tropical, predominantly summer-rainfall ( monsoon ). The south-west corner of the country has

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5376-529: The Iraq War from 2003 to 2009. The nation's trade relations also became increasingly oriented towards East Asia in the 21st century, with China becoming the nation's largest trading partner by a large margin. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic , several of Australia's largest cities were locked down for extended periods and free movement across the national and state borders was restricted in an attempt to slow

5504-581: The McMahon Coalition Government's refusal to recognise Aboriginal land rights or native title in Australia , instead offering 50-year general-purpose leases for Aboriginal people which would be conditional upon their "intention and ability to make reasonable economic and social use of land", while reserving for the Crown rights to minerals and forestry . The Black Moratorium refers to protests which took place on 14 July 1972. The Sydney protest

5632-638: The Menzies Government to ban the Communist Party of Australia , and a bitter split in the Labor Party in 1955. As a result of a 1967 referendum , the federal government gained the power to legislate with regard to Indigenous Australians, and Indigenous Australians were fully included in the census . Pre-colonial land interests (referred to as native title in Australia) was recognised in law for

5760-518: The National Native Title Tribunal : "A successful land rights claim usually results in a special grant of freehold title or perpetual lease. A title document for the land is issued. The title is normally held by a community or an organisation, not by individuals. There are usually some restrictions on selling, and dealing with, land that has been granted in a land rights claim. Normally, the land will be passed down to future generations in

5888-467: The Northern Territory could claim rights to land based on traditional occupation. The statute, the first of the Aboriginal land rights acts , was significant in that it allowed a claim of title if claimants could provide evidence of their traditional association with land. Four Land Councils were established in the Northern Territory under this law. The Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976 established

6016-755: The Pacific Community ; the Commonwealth of Nations ; and the defence and security organisations ANZUS , AUKUS , and the Five Eyes . It is also a major non-NATO ally of the United States. The name Australia (pronounced / ə ˈ s t r eɪ l i ə / in Australian English ) is derived from the Latin Terra Australis ( ' southern land ' ), a name used for a hypothetical continent in

6144-520: The Permian and continuing through to the Cretaceous . When the last glacial period ended in about 10,000 BC, rising sea levels formed Bass Strait , separating Tasmania from the mainland. Then between about 8,000 and 6,500 BC, the lowlands in the north were flooded by the sea, separating New Guinea, the Aru Islands , and the mainland of Australia. The Australian continent is moving toward Eurasia at

6272-645: The Stolen Generations , after the 1997 Bringing Them Home report had mapped the extent of and ongoing results of the government policy of assimilation in the past, which had included removing Indigenous children from their parents. The Australian Declaration Towards Reconciliation and the Roadmap to Reconciliation were presented to the state premiers , the Governor-General of Australia , Sir William Deane , and Prime Minister John Howard . Many members of

6400-632: The Supreme Court of the Northern Territory ruled against the Yolngu in Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd (the "Gove land rights case"), when they sought native title rights over the Gove Peninsula . However, Justice Blackburn did acknowledge the claimants' ritual and economic use of the land and that they had an established system of law "a subtle and highly elaborate" system of laws ( Madayin ). In this way, this

6528-537: The Swan River Causeway . Although the walks were organised by Aboriginal people, they were attended by Australians representing all sectors of society and ethnicities. The huge attendances showed that there was increasing public awareness of the need for reconciliation and for a national apology. At the close of CAR's decade of existence, after noting that the biggest obstacles to reconciliation were entrenched disadvantage, discrimination and racism, it published

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6656-663: The Territory of Papua and New Guinea in 1949 and gained independence from Australia in 1975. In 1914, Australia joined the Allies in fighting the First World War, and took part in many of the major battles fought on the Western Front . Of about 416,000 who served, about 60,000 were killed and another 152,000 were wounded. Many Australians regard the defeat of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) at Gallipoli in 1915 as

6784-403: The Torres Strait Islands . The Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent " New Holland " during the 17th century, and although no attempt at settlement was made, a number of shipwrecks left men either stranded or, as in the case of the Batavia in 1629, marooned for mutiny and murder, thus becoming the first Europeans to permanently inhabit

6912-440: The Whitlam government introduced an Aboriginal Land Rights Bill to Parliament; however, this lapsed upon the dismissal of the government in 1975. The succeeding conservative government, led by Malcolm Fraser , reintroduced a Bill, though not of the same content, and it was signed by the Governor-General of Australia on 16 December 1976. The Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976 established the basis upon which Aboriginal people in

7040-519: The bombing of Darwin and other Japanese attacks on Australian soil , led to a widespread belief in Australia that a Japanese invasion was imminent , and a shift from the United Kingdom to the United States as Australia's principal ally and security partner. Since 1951, Australia has been allied with the United States under the ANZUS treaty. In the decades following World War II, Australia enjoyed significant increases in living standards, leisure time and suburban development. Governments encouraged

7168-426: The emu and the kookaburra . Australia is home to many dangerous animals including some of the most venomous snakes in the world. The dingo was introduced by Austronesian people who traded with Indigenous Australians around 3000 BCE . Many animal and plant species became extinct soon after first human settlement, including the Australian megafauna ; others have disappeared since European settlement, among them

7296-479: The governor-general at the federal level and by the governors at the state level, who by section 63 of the Constitution and convention act on the advice of their ministers. Thus, in practice the governor-general acts as a legal figurehead for the actions of the prime minister and the Cabinet. The governor-general may in some situations exercise reserve powers : powers exercisable in the absence or contrary to ministerial advice. When these powers may be exercised

7424-455: The traditional owners of the whole of Australia, and that past injustices that have led to present-day consequences for Indigenous peoples, as well as increasing understanding by non-Indigenous people of Aboriginal peoples' cultures and attachment to country and working to reduce racism in Australia . Practical matters include improving health, education and employment prospects for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. However, there

7552-483: The "baptism of fire" that forged the new nation's identity . The beginning of the campaign is commemorated annually on Anzac Day , a date which rivals Australia Day as the nation's most important. From 1939 to 1945, Australia joined the Allies in fighting the Second World War. Australia's armed forces fought in the Pacific , European and Mediterranean and Middle East theatres . The shock of Britain's defeat in Singapore in 1942, followed soon after by

7680-503: The "island continent" and is sometimes considered the world's largest island . Australia has 34,218 km (21,262 mi) of coastline (excluding all offshore islands), and claims an extensive exclusive economic zone of 8,148,250 square kilometres (3,146,060 sq mi). This exclusive economic zone does not include the Australian Antarctic Territory . Mainland Australia lies between latitudes 9° and 44° south , and longitudes 112° and 154° east . Australia's size gives it

7808-428: The 18th century by European settlers. They are now considered a major factor in the decline and extinction of many vulnerable and endangered native species. Seafaring immigrants from Asia are believed to have brought the dingo to Australia sometime after the end of the last ice age—perhaps 4000 years ago—and Aboriginal people helped disperse them across the continent as pets, contributing to the demise of thylacines on

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7936-407: The 1964 book of the same name ), "the Sunburnt Country", and "the Wide Brown Land". The latter two both derive from Dorothea Mackellar 's 1908 poem " My Country ". Indigenous Australians comprise two broad groups: Human habitation of the Australian continent is estimated to have begun 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, with the migration of people by land bridges and short sea crossings from what

8064-416: The 2018 Environmental Performance Index . There are more than 1,800 animals and plants on Australia's threatened species list, including more than 500 animals. Paleontologists discovered a fossil site of a prehistoric rainforest in McGraths Flat , in South Australia, that presents evidence that this now arid desert and dry shrubland / grassland was once home to an abundance of life. Australia

8192-507: The Aboriginal Lands Trust of SA under the Act. The Trust was governed by a Board composed solely of Aboriginal people. In the 1970s, Indigenous Australians became more politically active, and a powerful movement for the recognition of Indigenous land rights emerged. Also during this decade, the federal government started buying privately-owned land in order to benefit Indigenous communities, and also to create Crown land which would be available for claim. In 1971, Justice Richard Blackburn of

8320-500: The Australian Antarctic Territory, Mount McClintock and Mount Menzies , at 3,492 m (11,457 ft) and 3,355 m (11,007 ft) respectively. Eastern Australia is marked by the Great Dividing Range , which runs parallel to the coast of Queensland, New South Wales and much of Victoria. The name is not strictly accurate, because parts of the range consist of low hills, and the highlands are typically no more than 1,600 m (5,200 ft) in height. The coastal uplands and

8448-438: The Australian mainland. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the Duyfken , captained by Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon . He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, and made landfall on 26 February 1606 at the Pennefather River near the modern town of Weipa on Cape York. Later that year, Spanish explorer Luís Vaz de Torres sailed through and navigated

8576-406: The Black population. It also had a heavy police presence. In the wake of Milirrpum , the Aboriginal Land Rights Commission (also known as the "Woodward Royal Commission") was established in the Northern Territory in 1973. This Royal Commission , chaired by Justice Woodward , made a number of recommendations in favour of recognising Aboriginal Land Rights. Taking up many of these recommendations,

8704-434: The Commonwealth of Australia. This continued a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942 , and culminating in the Australia Acts of 1986. Australia is a federal parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy comprising six states and ten territories . Its population of more than 28 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on

8832-407: The Federal Government to assist Aboriginal Australians to acquire land and manage Aboriginal held land sustainably and in a manner that provides cultural, social, economic and environmental benefits for themselves and future generations. In February 2019, the ILC became the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation (ILSC), in recognition of its operations on water. The ILSC is funded by an annual payment from

8960-414: The Indigenous walkers were Faith Bandler and Bonita Mabo , widow of land rights campaigner Eddie Mabo , and many members of the Stolen Generations . It was the largest political demonstration in Australian history. An aeroplane wrote "Sorry" in the sky . A memorial plaque was erected at the southern end of Sydney Harbour Bridge in 2004 to commemorate the occasion. Similar events took place around

9088-586: The Southern Hemisphere since ancient times. Several 16th-century cartographers used the word Australia on maps, but not to identify modern Australia. When Europeans began visiting and mapping Australia in the 17th century, the name Terra Australis was applied to the new territories. Until the early 19th century, Australia was best known as New Holland , a name first applied by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1644 (as Nieuw-Holland ) and subsequently anglicised. Terra Australis still saw occasional usage, such as in scientific texts. The name Australia

9216-543: The Tent Embassy against attempts by police to shut it down, and union funding helped keep the embassy running. The Moratorium showed that non-Indigenous workers could be strong allies in the struggle for Indigenous rights. Bruce McGuinness published an article in the November issue of Aboriginal and Islander Identity magazine about the march in Melbourne , which was attended by about 2000 people, including an estimated 16% of

9344-424: The audience turned their backs on Howard after he said that it was not the responsibility of the present generation to apologise for past practices . The two documents laid out four strategies, relating to economic independence for Indigenous peoples; overcoming disadvantage; the recognition of rights; and continuing the reconciliation process. A reconciliation canvas was created containing the handprints of all of

9472-610: The centre and Phanerozoic sedimentary basins , metamorphic and igneous rocks in the east. The Australian mainland and Tasmania are situated in the middle of the tectonic plate and have no active volcanoes, but due to passing over the East Australia hotspot , recent volcanism has occurred during the Holocene , in the Newer Volcanics Province of western Victoria and south-eastern South Australia. Volcanism also occurs in

9600-516: The collective title to either Aboriginal freehold or Torres Strait Islander freehold title. Mer (Murray) Island (the subject of the Mabo No.1 (1988) and No.2 (1992) cases) is Torres Strait Islander freehold and Aurukun is Aboriginal freehold land. In the 2013 Review of the Aboriginal Lands Trust Act 1966 , the powers of the Trust were reviewed and changed to modernise the Trust and

9728-532: The colonies was achieved after a decade of planning, constitutional conventions and referendums , resulting in the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia as a nation under the new Australian Constitution . After the 1907 Imperial Conference , Australia and several other self-governing British settler colonies were given the status of self-governing dominions within the British Empire. Australia

9856-473: The concept might mean for Australia: Another area of unresolved conflict involves the Aboriginal people of this country – the first Australians. As a group, they continue to experience the worst health, housing, employment, education, and the greatest poverty and despair. While this situation persists, we can never truly bring this country together. Central to this question is the issue of land rights. A Labor government will not hesitate to use, where necessary,

9984-538: The concept of assimilation, with its paternalistic attitude. The Aboriginal Lands Trust Act 1966 (SA) established the South Australian Aboriginal Lands Trust (ALT). This was the first major recognition of Aboriginal land rights by any Australian government, and predated the 1967 Referendum . It allowed for parcels of Aboriginal land previously held by the SA Government, to be handed to

10112-438: The concept of reconciliation is based on "five inter-related dimensions,: race relations, equality and equity, unity, institutional integrity and historical acceptance". Major religious communities in Australia commenced the practice of a Week of Prayer for Reconciliation in 1993, which proved very successful. In 1996 this grew into National Reconciliation Week (NRW), which provides a focus on reconciliation activities across

10240-579: The constitutional powers of the Commonwealth to provide for Aboriginal people to own the land which has for years been set aside for them. Hawke's time in office brought a policy shift around Indigenous Australian self-determination and Indigenous land rights in Australia . The final report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody was published in April 1991, with one of its recommendations

10368-807: The continent. In 1770, Captain James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named " New South Wales " and claimed for Great Britain. Following the loss of its American colonies in 1783, the British Government sent a fleet of ships, the First Fleet , under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip , to establish a new penal colony in New South Wales . A camp was set up and the Union Flag raised at Sydney Cove , Port Jackson , on 26 January 1788,

10496-583: The convict system culminated in its abolition in the eastern colonies by the 1850s. Initially a free colony, Western Australia practised penal transportation from 1850 to 1868. The six colonies individually gained responsible government between 1855 and 1890, thus becoming elective democracies managing most of their own affairs while remaining part of the British Empire . The Colonial Office in London retained control of some matters, notably foreign affairs. In

10624-784: The country on the same day and in subsequent months. The Brisbane walk across the William Jolly Bridge a week later attracted around 60,000 people, while 55,000 people crossed the Torrens River on the King William Street Bridge in Adelaide , and in Hobart they crossed the Tasman Bridge . At the end of the year, the Melbourne event drew 300,000 and in Perth huge crowds crossed

10752-702: The country's economy. It ranks highly for quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, civil liberties and political rights. Australia is a middle power , and has the world's thirteenth-highest military expenditure . It is a member of international groups including the United Nations; the G20 ; the OECD ; the World Trade Organization ; Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ; the Pacific Islands Forum ;

10880-514: The country. The Week occurs each year between two highly symbolic dates: 27 May, the anniversary of the 1967 referendum , and 3 June, or Mabo Day , the date that The Mabo decision was made in the High Court of Australia . National Sorry Day , on 26 May, remembers the anniversary of the day that the Bringing Them Home report was tabled in Parliament. The first Reconciliation Day as

11008-459: The early 2010s after the 2000s Australian drought . Although most of Australia is semi-arid or desert, the continent includes a diverse range of habitats from alpine heaths to tropical rainforests . Fungi typify that diversity—an estimated 250,000 species—of which only 5% have been described—occur in Australia. Because of the continent's great age, extremely variable weather patterns, and long-term geographic isolation, much of Australia's biota

11136-481: The eastern seaboard. Canberra is the nation's capital, while its most populous cities are Sydney and Melbourne , both with a population of more than 5 million. Australia's culture is diverse, and the country has one of the highest foreign-born populations in the world . It has a highly developed market economy and one of the highest per capita incomes globally . Its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade relations are crucial to

11264-703: The first time when the High Court of Australia held in Mabo v Queensland (No 2) that Australia was neither terra nullius ( ' land belonging to no one ' ) or "desert and uncultivated land" at the time of European settlement. Following the abolition of the last vestiges of the White Australia policy in 1973, Australia's demography and culture transformed as a result of a large and ongoing wave of non-European immigration, mostly from Asia. The late 20th century also saw an increasing focus on foreign policy ties with other Pacific Rim nations. The Australia Acts severed

11392-412: The heart of the country are the uplands of central Australia . Prominent features of the centre and south include Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock), the famous sandstone monolith, and the inland Simpson , Tirari and Sturt Stony , Gibson , Great Sandy, Tanami , and Great Victoria deserts, with the famous Nullarbor Plain on the southern coast. The Western Australian mulga shrublands lie between

11520-645: The initiation of a process of reconciliation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. At the time, there was some criticism of the term and concept as a "politically soft option", a replacement for pursuing more concrete aims for justice for Indigenous peoples, such as land rights and a treaty . Another criticism was that the term implies that there was once a state of peaceful co-existence between settlers and Indigenous peoples which would be restored by re -conciliation. The concept of reconciliation includes both practical and symbolic features. It involves recognising and acknowledging that Indigenous peoples are

11648-470: The interior deserts and Mediterranean-climate Southwest Australia . Lying on the Indo-Australian Plate , the mainland of Australia is the lowest and most primordial landmass on Earth with a relatively stable geological history. The landmass includes virtually all known rock types and from all geological time periods spanning more than 3.8 billion years of the Earth's history. The Pilbara Craton

11776-411: The investment returns of the Australian Government's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Land Account. The Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (see above) provides the basis upon which Aboriginal Australian people in the Northern Territory can claim rights to land based on traditional occupation. The freehold land cannot be sold or transferred, but it can be leased. In Queensland,

11904-419: The involvement of Aboriginal people in the economy, and the education of non-Indigenous Australians about Aboriginal culture and history . It brought about a more widespread awareness by non-Indigenous people to social justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. South Australian Premier Sir Thomas Playford argued for integration rather than assimilation of Aboriginal people, and others questioned

12032-417: The island of New Guinea (considered geologically as part of the Australian continent), and in the Australian external territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands . Seismic activity in the Australian mainland and Tasmania is also low, with the greatest number of fatalities having occurred in the 1989 Newcastle earthquake . The climate of Australia is significantly influenced by ocean currents, including

12160-620: The land and the environment, with stories of The Dreaming maintained through oral tradition , songs , dance and paintings. Certain groups engaged in fire-stick farming , fish farming , and built semi-permanent shelters . These practices have variously been characterised as " hunter-gatherer ", " agricultural ", "natural cultivation" and "intensification". Torres Strait Islander people first settled their islands at least 2,500 years ago. Culturally and linguistically distinct from mainland Aboriginal peoples, they were seafarers and obtained their livelihood from seasonal horticulture and

12288-431: The land rights movement, McMurtrie played on their feelings of alienation and lack of trust in the systems which had not served Indigenous people well. Proponents of the original ideas are often related to far-right movements , whose core beliefs may be broadly defined as "see[ing] the state as a corporation with no authority over free citizens". Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia ,

12416-515: The lands and waters occupied by the many peoples prior to colonisation of Australia starting in 1788, and the annexation of the Torres Strait Islands by the colony of Queensland in the 1870s. As of 2020, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights and interests in land are formally recognised over around 40 per cent of Australia’s land mass, and sea rights have also been asserted in various native title cases . According to

12544-440: The late 20th century was preceded by a number of important Aboriginal protests. The modern land rights movement started with the 1963 Yolngu Bark Petition , when Yolngu people from the remote settlement of Yirrkala , in north-east Arnhem Land , petitioned the federal government to have their land and rights given back. The 1966 Wave Hill Walk-Off , or Gurundji Strike, started with a protest about working conditions, but grew into

12672-494: The location for the future federal capital of Canberra . While it was being constructed, Melbourne served as the temporary capital from 1901 to 1927. The Northern Territory was transferred from the control of South Australia to the Commonwealth in 1911. Australia became the colonial ruler of the Territory of Papua (which had initially been annexed by Queensland in 1883) in 1902 and of the Territory of New Guinea (formerly German New Guinea ) in 1920. The two were unified as

12800-448: The mainland. Australia is also one of 17 megadiverse countries. Australian forests are mostly made up of evergreen species, particularly eucalyptus trees in the less arid regions; wattles replace them as the dominant species in drier regions and deserts. Among well-known Australian animals are the monotremes (the platypus and echidna ); a host of marsupials , including the kangaroo , koala , and wombat , and birds such as

12928-466: The mid-19th century, explorers such as Burke and Wills charted Australia's interior. A series of gold rushes beginning in the early 1850s led to an influx of new migrants from China , North America and continental Europe, as well as outbreaks of bushranging and civil unrest; the latter peaked in 1854 when Ballarat miners launched the Eureka Rebellion against gold license fees. The 1860s saw

13056-452: The more controversial recommendations, such as Constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians , recognition of Indigenous rights , and setting up structured negotiating processes, instead focusing on the practical aspects, as seen in its Closing the Gap policy framework, which commenced in 2008. The peak body to oversee the continuing process of reconciliation, Reconciliation Australia ,

13184-466: The nation over the coming decade, which would end with the celebration of centenary since the Federation of Australia . Its terms including addressing Aboriginal disadvantage in three key areas: employment, health and economic development, and CAR soon identified eight issues which were essential to the process of reconciliation: Pat Dodson was the first chair of CAR. Several external events influenced

13312-602: The next two decades, social and economic reforms, together with the establishment of a Legislative Council and Supreme Court , saw the penal colony transition to a civil society. The indigenous population declined for 150 years following European settlement, mainly due to infectious disease. British colonial authorities did not sign any treaties with Aboriginal groups . As settlement expanded, tens of thousands of Indigenous people and thousands of settlers were killed in frontier conflicts while settlers dispossessed surviving Indigenous peoples of most of their land. In 1803,

13440-498: The oldest living culture in the world. Australia's written history commenced with Dutch exploration of most of the coastline in the 17th-century. British colonisation began in 1788 with the establishment of the penal colony of New South Wales . By the mid-19th century, most of the continent had been explored by European settlers and five additional self-governing British colonies were established, each gaining responsible government by 1890. The colonies federated in 1901, forming

13568-563: The participating leaders, a highly symbolic act in Aboriginal traditions. As part of Corroboree 2000, on 28 May 2000 over 250,000 people walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in solidarity, on the Walk for Reconciliation (AKA Reconciliation Walk or Bridge Walk ), streaming across the bridge from the northern to the southern end for nearly six hours. The event took place as part of Reconciliation Week, and had been planned since 1995. Among

13696-485: The political systems of the United Kingdom (a fused executive , constitutional monarchy and strong party discipline ) and the United States ( federalism , a written constitution and strong bicameralism with an elected upper house), resulting in a distinct hybrid. Federal government power is partially separated between three groups: Charles III reigns as King of Australia and is represented in Australia by

13824-528: The process of reconciliation had risen from 48% to 75–80% of the population over the decade of CAR's existence, although attitudes remained mixed on other issues, and among Indigenous people there was some scepticism that reconciliation could be of any practical value to improving their lives. Within a few years of the dissolution of CAR, the federal government was criticised for undermining the process of reconciliation by removing support structures and aiming to turn public support against reconciliation. It ignored

13952-572: The protection of threatened species. Numerous protected areas have been created under the National Strategy for the Conservation of Australia's Biological Diversity to protect and preserve unique ecosystems; 65 wetlands are listed under the Ramsar Convention , and 16 natural World Heritage Sites have been established. Australia was ranked 21st out of 178 countries in the world on

14080-475: The rate of 6 to 7 centimetres a year. The Australian mainland's continental crust , excluding the thinned margins, has an average thickness of 38   km, with a range in thickness from 24 km to 59 km. Australia's geology can be divided into several main sections, showcasing that the continent grew from west to east: the Archaean cratonic shields found mostly in the west, Proterozoic fold belts in

14208-533: The remaining constitutional ties between Australia and the United Kingdom while maintaining the monarch in her independent capacity as Queen of Australia . In a 1999 constitutional referendum , 55% of voters rejected abolishing the monarchy and becoming a republic. Following the September 11 attacks on the United States, Australia joined the United States in fighting the Afghanistan War from 2001 to 2021 and

14336-492: The renewed ownership of land to Indigenous Australians under various conditions. Land rights schemes are in place in the Northern Territory , Queensland (including the Torres Strait Islands), New South Wales , South Australia , Victoria and Tasmania . The land titles may recognise traditional interest in the land and protect those interests by giving Aboriginal people legal ownership of that land. Also, according to

14464-419: The resources of their reefs and seas. Agriculture also developed on some islands and villages appeared by the 1300s. By the mid-18th century in northern Australia, contact, trade and cross-cultural engagement had been established between local Aboriginal groups and Makassan trepangers , visiting from present-day Indonesia. The Dutch are the first Europeans that recorded sighting and making landfall on

14592-491: The rise of blackbirding , where South Sea Islanders were coerced or abducted into indentured labour, mainly by Queensland colonists. From 1886, Australian colonial governments began removing many Aboriginal children from their families and communities, justified on the grounds of child protection and forced assimilation policies. The Second Boer War (1899–1902) marked the largest overseas deployment of Australia's colonial forces . On 1 January 1901, federation of

14720-709: The spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus . Surrounded by the Indian and Pacific oceans, Australia is separated from Asia by the Arafura and Timor seas, with the Coral Sea lying off the Queensland coast, and the Tasman Sea lying between Australia and New Zealand. The world's smallest continent and sixth-largest country by total area , Australia—owing to its size and isolation—is often dubbed

14848-664: The state's land area) to the Pitjantjara / Yankunytjatjara people, as the APY lands . The land rights legislation was introduced by Premier Don Dunstan in November 1978, several months prior to his resignation from Parliament. An amended bill, following extensive consultation, was passed by the Tonkin Liberal Government, as the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights Act 1981 . In 1984 Premier John Bannon 's Labor Government passed

14976-455: The support and participation of many of the local Guugu Yimithirr people. The term first entered the language of politics after the election of Bob Hawke as Prime Minister of Australia in 1983. In opposition before his election, his election campaign had focused on a "national reconciliation, national recovery and national reconstruction", under the slogan "Bringing Australia Together". His speech launching Labor 's campaign explained what

15104-502: The three terms of CAR during its decade of existence. The Mabo case , followed by the Wik decision (1996) led to pastoralists feeling threatened by the possible granting of native title over their land, and lobbied the by then more receptive Howard government to amend the Native Title Act 1993 . The resulting "Wik amendments", along with a huge reduction in funding to ATSIC , damaged cross-party agreement on reconciliation. CAR followed

15232-406: The thylacine. Many of Australia's ecoregions, and the species within those regions, are threatened by human activities and introduced animal, chromistan , fungal and plant species. All these factors have led to Australia's having the highest mammal extinction rate of any country in the world. The federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 is the legal framework for

15360-615: Was Australia's warmest recorded year, and the 2019–2020 bushfire season was the country's worst on record . Australia's greenhouse gas emissions per capita are among the highest in the world. Water restrictions are frequently in place in many regions and cities of Australia in response to chronic shortages due to urban population increases and localised drought. Throughout much of the continent, major flooding regularly follows extended periods of drought, flushing out inland river systems, overflowing dams and inundating large inland flood plains, as occurred throughout Eastern Australia in

15488-461: Was an important issue for their movement. Striking would both disrupt the economy and show strong conviction and understanding of the struggle, and the discussion put Black rights into workplaces, staff rooms and classrooms. It was later assessed as one of the most successful and historically significant protests for Aboriginal rights in Australia until this time. Its legacy included the establishments of networks which led to thousands of people defending

15616-573: Was established by CAR in January 2001. It remains active, although operates without the statutory framework and resources enjoyed by CAR. It is an independent NGO , mostly funded by the federal government through the National Indigenous Australians Agency , with a large contribution from the BHP Foundation . Other funding comes from other corporate sponsors, private donors, and investments. Reconciliation Australia's vision of

15744-413: Was established in 1829, evolving into the largest Australian colony by area, Western Australia . In accordance with population growth, separate colonies were carved from New South Wales: Tasmania in 1825, South Australia in 1836, New Zealand in 1841, Victoria in 1851, and Queensland in 1859. South Australia was founded as a free colony—it never accepted transported convicts. Growing opposition to

15872-524: Was general support for the move towards reconciliation, and the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation Act 1991 was passed on 2 September 1991, to establish the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (CAR), for a limited lifespan of 10 years. The establishment of the council was an acknowledgement of past policies which had done harm to Aboriginal peoples, and its purpose was to guide the process of reconciliation in

16000-413: Was in the form of marches from Redfern , Sydney University and other points, to Sydney Town Hall , attended by around 6,000 protesters, who included Aboriginal people, students and trade unionists. Gary Foley printed a pamphlet at Sydney University ahead of the protest. Unionists from several trades, including builders' labourers, ship painters, dockers and teachers, had voted to go on strike for half

16128-565: Was one of the founding members of the League of Nations in 1920, and the United Nations in 1945. The Statute of Westminster 1931 formally ended the ability of the UK to pass federal laws without Australia's consent. Australia adopted it in 1942, but it was backdated to 1939 to confirm the validity of legislation passed during World War II. The Australian Capital Territory was formed in 1911 as

16256-418: Was popularised by the explorer Matthew Flinders , who said it was "more agreeable to the ear, and an assimilation to the names of the other great portions of the Earth". The first time that Australia appears to have been officially used was in April 1817, when Governor Lachlan Macquarie acknowledged the receipt of Flinders' charts of Australia from Lord Bathurst . In December 1817, Macquarie recommended to

16384-421: Was the first significant legal case for Aboriginal land rights in Australia. The Aboriginal Tent Embassy was set up on the front lawns of Old Parliament House, Canberra on 26 January ( Australia Day ) 1972, by four Aboriginal activists, Michael Anderson , Billy Craigie, Tony Coorey and Bertie Williams (later Kevin "Bert" Johnson, as protest for Indigenous land rights. The embassy was established in response to

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