Changing Rights and Freedoms of Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians have been struggling for rights for centuries. Their battle started with the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, and the declaration of ‘Terra Nullius’. Since then, life has been a hassle. Aboriginal people have faced all kinds of inequity and discrimination, dwelling in harsh conditions, as well as being denied basic human rights. The fight for freedom has been long and tedious but, over time, has progressed.

The path to justice has been very complicated. The first step was reached in c.1869, with the initiation of the Policy of Protection. The policy was deemed to ‘protect’ the Indigenous population, but instead did the opposite. The Aboriginal people were watched like hawks and needed authorization to do basically anything. This included leaving a fenced in ‘designated area’. In 1937, the Policy of Assimilation was put into place. This involved adapting the ‘half-castes’ or ‘quadroons’ into white society, and was associated with the Stolen Generation. In c.1965 the Policy of Integration was introduced, which allowed Aboriginal people to freely practice their cultural customs. The most recent step was reached in c.1972 with the policy of Self Determination, and allowed for Aboriginal people to live however they liked.

In 1957, a ten-year debate for Indigenous rights began. A campaign involving Indigenous and Non-Indigenous groups arose, pressuring the commonwealth government into removing the discriminatory parts of the constitution. Section 127 had stated that, “In reckoning the numbers of people of the Commonwealth Government, or of a State or any other part of the Commonwealth, Aboriginal Natives shall not be counted,” meaning that Aboriginal people were not part of the census. From 1962 to 1965, more than 50 petitions were sent to the Commonwealth government, all asking for the same thing. On May 27, a referendum was held to remove section 127 and part of section 51. In the end, 90.77 percent of electorates voted ‘yes’; the highest percentage of YES votes ever recorded in a federal referendum. The success of the referendum also allowed for the government to make laws for the Aboriginal population.

The 1967 referendum may have embraced Aboriginal people in the census but it did not, however, give them extra rights. Land rights were still an issue that was yet to be resolved. On August 22 1966, Vincent Lingiari led 200 Gurundji people in a ‘walk off’ from Wave