Australia and the Aboriginal People: A Historical and Contemporary Perspective

This paper provides a historical background of Australia and the Aboriginal people, as well as an insight into the contemporary situation of the country. It discusses the impact of colonization on the indigenous people, the development of Australia since its independence, and the social issues that still need to be addressed for overall development.

Running head: AUSTRALIAN STUDIES
AUSTRALIAN STUDIES
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive summary
This paper reflects and gives an insight about Australia and the aboriginal people in Australia.
This paper provides the historical background of the country Australia and about the aboriginal
people and the current day situation of these two and provides a reflection of the country. this
paper gives a clear understanding about Australia.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Discussion........................................................................................................................................3
Historical background of Australia and Indigenous people........................................................3
Contemporary situation of Australia...........................................................................................5
Personal reflection.......................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
Australia is a sovereign country that comprises of the island of Tasmania, mainland of the
continent of Australia and many small islands. Australia is the sixth largest country in the world
by the total area and the largest and biggest country in Oceania. This paper sheds a light on the
country Australia and the indigenous Australians and will give an insight about the historical
background and the contemporary state of the country and the indigenous Australians.
Discussion
Historical background of Australia and Indigenous people
The aboriginal people of Australia have the oldest culture that is still continuing on Earth.
The arrival of the first fleet of the British ships in Sydney in the year 1788 established a penal
colony and then began the scientific exploration of Australia and later saw the establishment of
colonies in other parts of Australia (Bird, O’Grady & Ulm 2016). This colonization had a
devastating effect and impact on the indigenous or the aboriginal people because of the vast
disruption of the people’s traditional practices and lifestyles, illness of people and death that
occurred because the introduced diseases and their land dispossession (Malaspinas et al. 2016)
In the 1820’s the cheap lands of Australia and the abundance in work attracted many
British migrants and these settlers began to invade the territories of the indigenous people
(Australia.com 2019).
In 1851, the discovery of gold in Central Victoria and New South Wales attracted many
people from other states. The imposition of the mining laws on the goldfield workers by the

4AUSTRALIAN STUDIES
British Governor in Victoria led to the brutal violent anti-authoritarian grapple of Eureka
Stockade in the year 1854. The miners in 1854 were granted more rights like the right to vote
that led the way for the beginning of the Australian democracy (Australia.com 2019).
The First World War had a negative and a devastating impact on Australia however in the
Second World War the forces made important contribution to the Allied victory in Asia, Pacific
and Europe. In 1950, the economy of Australia flourished with big projects that are nation
building like the Sydney Opera House and Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme.
International demand increased for Australia’s exports of meat, wheat and metals. The rate of
ownership of houses grew dramatically (Australia.com 2019).
During the years 1910 to 1970, the country was developing however the indigenous
people of Australia were still suffering due to the governmental policies that led to the children
of the aboriginal Australians being removed from their respective houses forcibly and were put
in to institutions and adoptive families and were restricted from speaking their own native
language and often their names were changed (Australia.com 2019).
In 1967, Australia’s struggle in the Vietnam War, independence from Britain and ethnic
diversity all contributed to political, social and economic change in the atmosphere. The people
overwhelmingly voted yes that paved way for the federal government to introduce new laws on
behalf of the indigenous Australians and included them in the future censuses. Later in 1972, the
Labor Party under the leadership of Gough Whitlam did many notable works like the abolition of
university fees, introduced new health care that was free and embraced multiculturalism and
introduced equal pay for the women in Australia (Australia.com 2019).

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Since then Australia has come forward and has become a favorable country that promotes
multiculturalism, has grown in the industry and education sector and has made positive changes
that has helped and is still helping immigrants to come and settle here because of the favorable
political and economic factors.
Contemporary situation of Australia
Australia has gone through a lot of change since the independence from Britain. The
country has grown from all aspects politically, economically, socially and culturally. Australia is
one of the developed countries today. Modern day Australia has become advanced and aims to
change the society and the environment for good and further development. The business in
Australia has developed and is highly open to foreign market that helps the country grow in
terms of economy that helps in the employment rate of Australia (Abc.net.au 2019).
The historical events have shaped up the current culture of Australia. People
commemorate the start of the British settlement as Australia Day (Fozdar, Spittles & Hartley
2015). The gold rush revolutionized Australia due to the inrush of migrants in the country
because of the increase of wealth in the nation. The convict colonies have turned into the modern
cities and have paved way for multiculturalism in Australia. Australia has highly developed
socially since their independence has mostly made positive changes for the inclusion of
indigenous people in the society.
Aboriginal people in Australia have been discriminated since the time of the invasion of
the Europeans. Aboriginal people have suffered immensely and have stayed in adverse situations
and conditions since then they have faced discrimination however the Australian government has
been making laws to support indigenous people and for their inclusion in the society. The

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aboriginal people hold a unique status as they are the first people of Australia and thus
professionals of child care have helped and have tried making an environment to support
inclusion of the aboriginal children in schools with various methods and enhanced services
(Earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au 2019). The laws for the inclusion for the aboriginal students
have helped in the growth and development as it has been seen that many aboriginal students
have been opting for their studies in order to make a better future. The percentage of this is
growing that proves the efficiency of the government.
Aboriginal people have been backward in terms of their health and are physically weak
because of the lack of health services and thus the government has setup many health services in
the areas where aboriginal people reside to take care of their health and have come up with
special programs to help curb the suicide rates of the aboriginal people (Nationalgeographic.com
2019). Inclusion of the aboriginal people in the society is being encouraged and has paved way
for the social acceptance.
Australia has been developed and is continuously developing. Australia now is a favorable
country to stay in because of the development in the health sector (Australian Government
Department of Health 2019). The country provides its citizens with good, safe, affordable and
quality health care (De Henau et al. 2016). Government has taken up initiatives to ensure the best
quality health care service reaches to all. The country is advance in terms of technology and has
made developments in the education sector as well. The contemporary Australia is a culturally
diverse, advanced and a developed country and intends on growing to achieve their ultimate
goals to make the country more perfect however there are many social issues like the overall
inclusion of the aboriginal people, homelessness, abortion issues, gay marriage and many more
that needs attention for the overall development of the country.

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Personal reflection
After assessing and reading about the historical as well as the contemporary Australia I
have come to the conclusion that Australia in its true sense is a developed country. Australia
caters to the public efficiently and provides basic necessities to ensure the healthy living of the
citizens in Australia. Australia has come a long way since their independence and has evolved to
become one of the developed countries. Australia has not changed in terms of being a hub to the
migrants. Australia because of its wealth attracted migrants and attracts migrants even now
because of the development of the country. I think that Australia has considered social issues
seriously thus implementing laws for the support of aboriginal people in the country to pave way
for equality among all the citizens of the country. According to me Australia is still growing and
needs to make may other changes for the overall development of the society. The government of
Australia has introduced laws in support of the aboriginal people however these laws have not
been efficient enough as aboriginal people are still discriminated in the society and there is lack
of facilities for them despite of the government initiatives. The country still needs to grow to
achieve equality as there are growing number of homeless people, laws against gay marriage,
adoption rights for gay couples and many more. These social issues are important to ensure the
overall development of a country as a country’s growth cannot be assessed only by the economic
development but also need to be developed in terms of the social aspect. If Australia is
successful in eradicating the social issues that are currently prevailing in the country then it will
help the country to achieve their goal in ensuring equality in the country that will not only help
the citizens to grow but will also contribute the country to grow.

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Conclusion
Australia is a favorable country and has gone through many ups and downs to come to
achieve this positive position. The country has implemented many changes and has taken many
effective decisions that have helped the country grow after the independence from the colonial
rule. However there are certain issues and the country needs to come up with enhanced laws that
will help in achieving this goal.

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Reference
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Nationalgeographic.com (2019). Aboriginal Australians. [online] Nationalgeographic.com.
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