Indigenous Australian Cultures

Running head: INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIAN CULTURES
Indigenous Australian cultures
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1INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIAN CULTURES
The indigenous or the aboriginal people in Australia are the original inhabitants of the
land who have faced oppression, discrimination and humiliation for decades by the colonists.
Before the year 1788, approximately 700 languages were spoken throughout Australia which
hosted only the indigenous people with a population of 7,50,000. The country used to be a land
of diverse cultures. The aboriginal Australians constitute to 3% of the total population today
(Altman, 2018). The situation of the land along with the condition of the indigenous Australians
changed entirely with the arrival of the European people.
This paper looks into the events in the history of Australia that portrays the
discrimination and injustice against the indigenous Australians. The paper intends to compare
and analyze two events from the history of the nation; one from pre Commonwealth Referendum
in 1967 and the other one from post Referendum period. The aim of this paper is to analyze the
condition of the native Australian people at present, the relationship between the indigenous and
wider Australian people while considering the events in the past.
The first event taken into consideration belongs to the pre referendum period. The event
dates back to 1965 when a policy called the Integration policy was introduced. The policy, as
preached by the government was intended to grant more control to the aboriginal population over
their lives and society (Thomas, Bainbridge & Tsey, 2014). The government for the aboriginal
people introduced a relocation policy and new laws. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders'
Affairs Act was ammended in Queensland, which gave the Director of Aboriginal Affairs
symbolic power over the 'assisted aborigines.' According to this Act, an aboriginal person could
be apprehended for up to a year for offensive, threatening, insolent, disorderly, obscene, insulting
or indecent behavior. The person could also be arrested on grounds of escaping or attempt to
escape from the reserve. The Supreme Court of Northern Territory rejected the plea of an

2INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIAN CULTURES
aboriginal couple to return their three children who were taken from the leprosarium at Oenpelli
mission and fostered out.
The Commonwealth Referendum of 1967 (Dudgeon & Walker, 2015) is marked as a
landmark event in the history of Australia for the indigenous population. It was in this year and
after implementation of this policy that the indigenous people were considered to be counted in
the census of Australia. The second event took place in the year 1969, or the post referendum
period. The Aborigines Welfare Board in New South Wales was eradicated (Altman, 2018). All
the states by 1969 revocated the legislation to allow for the removal of the Aboriginal children
under the policy of protection. The following years witnessed the creation of Aboriginal and
Islander Child Care Agencies that contested the removal applications of children and provide
substitutes for the removal of them from their families. However, the government supposedly
took measures to help the aboriginal community. An Aborigines Advisory Council was
established. The federal government to provide financial support to sports activities established
the National Aboriginal Sports Foundation. The fight of the aboriginal population to claim their
lost pride was going on. An Aboriginal delegation went to New York to the office of the
secretary general of the United Nations to present a statement on Australian Aborigines. The
New South Wales Aboriginal Welfare board was abolished during this year. Both of the events
indicate that the European colonists tried to oppress the native Australian people using several
governmental structures and sometimes by making them believe the benefits of their policies.
The aboriginal Australian population preferred to maintain their own languages and
culture. The assimilation policy of 1935 did not allow them to do so and forced them into
following the customs and beliefs of the white colonists. On the other hand, Integration policy of
1965 supposedly allowed the indigenous Australians to practice their own culture and heritage.