Indigenous people have lived in Australia for about 50,000 years. The population at the time of European settlement in the late 18th century was approximately 300,000. Today that population has dropped to around 386,000 representing 2.1% of the total population.
Upon arrival of the First Fleet, the aboriginal people were dispossessed of their land, decimated by violent conflict, introduced to disease and forced from their tribal lands. From the time of settlement up until early this century, large numbers of aboriginal men, women and children were killed in random killings and massacres.
The years 1938 to 1972 saw numerous changes within the Australian society which led to a softening of many government policies. This period marked the beginning of many aboriginal protests against inequality, injustice, dispossession of land and protective policies.
On Australia Day, 1938, an official day of Mourning and protest was held in Sydney during an Aboriginal conference to which only aboriginal people were invited. The protest was organised by two community leaders, William Cooper of the Aborigines Advancement League and Jack Patten from the Aborigines Progressive Association, to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the 1788 invasion of the British. It was the first major political rally by aboriginal people as a protest over discrimination against aboriginal people. The protest mourned the loss of life of its people who died defending their traditional lands and demanded that the government recognised the rights of aboriginal people as the original inhabitants of this country and was a major step towards redressing the wrongs of history against Aboriginal people.
To many people, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, the day will never be seen as a national day of celebration. The landing at Sydney Cove marks the beginning of bitter wars, unnecessary and brutal deaths, and the continuing struggle for survival by Aboriginal people.
Aboriginal activism was again highlighted by the 1965 Freedom Rides. In February 1965 a group of about thirty Sydney University students, including two aboriginals, undertook a 3,200 kilometre bus trip of Northern New South Wales to bring to people’s attention the discrimination against aboriginals. It was led by aboriginal activists Charles Perkins and Jim Spigelman, with the help of Ted Noffs and Bill Ford. They called themselves ‘Freedom Riders’. Their aim was to draw attention to racism in rural areas such as the exclusion of Indigenous people from public swimming pools. On of the areas targeted was Moree. In this town the council had laws preventing aboriginals form entering the council chambers or use their toilets. Also many hotels would not serve aboriginals but the most blatant form of discrimination occurred at the local swimming pool. Aboriginal adults were forbidden to swim there and the children were only allowed to swim on Wednesday afternoons during school hours. When school finished at 3pm, a whistle was blown for the aboriginal kids to get out and leave. The white children were allowed to keep swimming. When the Freedom Riders arrived at the pool and tried to buy tickets for themselves and the aboriginal children for a swim, they were told “no darkies allowed”. They decided to block the entrance and no one was getting through until they were admitted with all the aboriginal kids. Meanwhile, a crowd was gathering and the police arrived. The mayor ordered the police to forcibly remove them, and it was then that things turned ugly. The crowd started to throw rotten tomatoes, eggs, bottles and stones. The situation worsened when mobs from the hotel joined the crowd and started kicking, punching and spitting at the students. The situation was out of control and the police decided to restore calm by letting them in to swim. They had broken the ban!
The actions in this town were typical of most rural towns. They experienced hostility in most towns and violence in some. They drew the attention of national newspapers and TV to the racially based policies and practices of these areas.
This act was considered by some to be the most significant of the aboriginal - European relations in the 20th century. By 1967 most of these discriminatory laws had been abolished.
Until the 1967 referendum, the states had exclusive power to make laws for aborigines within their territory. The constitution discriminated against aboriginal people and did not allow the federal government to be involved in policy making in aboriginal affairs. In 1967 it was put to the Australian people that the commonwealth should be able to make and administer the laws to address and advance the interests of aboriginal people. It also gave aboriginal people the right to vote and to be counted in the census. Over 90% of voters, voted ‘yes’ to remove elements of discrimination against indigenous Australians from the constitution. The referendum showed Australians now recognised aboriginal people as citizens.
The 1967 referendum represented a major shift in attitudes by white Australians towards aboriginal people. At federation in 1901, aboriginals were not included in the Australian census because they were considered to be dying out and belonged to the colonial past rather than the present. Now they were part of the mainstream political process.
In the 21st century, the indigenous population of Australia is rapidly increasing, but its acceptance by mainstream society is still a problem. There is still a tendency for white Australians to blame aborigines for their low social and economic status.

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