Current archaeological evidence suggests that human occupation
of Australia began around 50,000 to 60,000 years ago. The first
settlers are believed to have migrated from Southeast Asia in
gradual stages, by way of the islands of Indonesia. By 35,000
years ago Aboriginal people had established themselves throughout
the continent.
Contact with British settlers, beginning in 1788, initially led
to economic marginalisation, a loss of political autonomy, and
death by disease. So-called pacification by force culminated in
the late 1880s, leading to a massive depopulation and extinction
for some groups.
Australian independence from Britain changed little in the relationship
between Whites and Aborigines. As the European pastoral industries
developed, several economic changes came about. The appropriation
of prime land and the spread of European livestock over vast areas
made a traditional Aboriginal lifestyle less viable, but also
provided a ready alternative supply of fresh meat for those prepared
to risk taking advantage of it.
As large sheep and cattle stations came to dominate outback Australia,
Aboriginal men, women and children became a significant source
of labour, usually on a voluntary basis but sometimes under conditions
that amounted to virtual slavery. At first, the Aborigines were
inexperienced and often unwilling workers, but they soon developed
great skills at station work. As one European ringer said: 'A
white man rides around all day looking for cattle and not finding
any; an Aborigine rides around looking for cattle tracks. For
European workers, life in the outback was harsh, dangerous and
ill paid. For Aboriginal workers it was usually worse yet, wages
often being restricted to food and other basic items, particularly
in the early years. Typically, an Aboriginal stockman could expect
to earn half as much as a European doing the same job. This system
lasted until the introduction of equal pay legislation in 1965,
which paradoxically brought about widespread unemployment and
yet more hardship.
By the 1940s almost all aborigines were missionised and assimilated
into rural and urban Australian society with limited rights; many
aborigine children were taken from their natural parents and given
to foster parents to promote assimilation.
Until the 1960s Aboriginal people were denied basic political
rights, including the right to vote. However, by the mid 1960s
Aboriginal people had the right to vote in both state and federal
elections.
Land and property rights fuelled an important civil rights movement
in the 1970s. Aborigines spoke out for equal rights, and specifically
for land rights for property that had been forcibly taken by British
settlers. The Aboriginal Land Rights Act, passed in 1976, became
instrumental in territories with tribal associations. The 1990s
witnessed further rights milestones, including government legislation
that returned a great degree of autonomy, and increased wages
and welfare benefits to aboriginal people.
