Line #8 UsefulNotes/FirstAustralians


1	[[quoteright:249:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Australian_National_and_Indigenous_Flags_small_4500.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:249:Three of Australia's ''official'' flags. Left: Australian Aboriginal Flag. Right: Torres Strait Islander flag.]]
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4	Also known as Indigenous Australians, Original Peoples, First Nations. If you think this is the same thing as Aboriginal Australians,[[note]]The term "Aborigine" is now seen as outdated and racist.[[/note]] then you've learnt TheThemeParkVersion of Australia's earliest inhabitants.
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6	First Australians are not one ethnic group - there are hundreds of different cultural and language groups spread across this continent. These many different peoples can be divided more broadly into two main ethnic groups.
7	* '''[[UsefulNotes/AustralianAborigines Aboriginal Australians]]''' - traditional lands are on Australia's mainland, Tasmania and other islands, to the exclusion of islands in the Torres Strait.
8	* '''UsefulNotes/TorresStraitIslanders'''- traditional lands are located in the islands throughout the Torres Strait.
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10	The terms 'Indigenous Australians' and 'First Peoples' are intended to capture both Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders. Australia's First Peoples have been the traditional custodians of the Australian lands for around 65,000 years but following the 1788 invasion, British colonisation and genocide of their peoples, they remain one of the country's most disadvantaged communities.
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12	!!Landmark Advances
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14	1962: the electoral act was amended, giving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples the "right to register and vote", but voting was not compulsory (as for the rest of the population). Full voting rights were not granted federally until Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were required to register on the electoral roll in 1984.
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16	A '''1967 referendum was passed''' with 90.77% approval. It amended the constitution to allow the Australian Government to make laws concerning Indigenous Australians.
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18	When Australia's Constitution first came into being in 1901 there were only two parts that referred to the First Peoples of Australia: Section 51 (xxvi) gave the Commonwealth power to make laws with respect to ‘people of any race, other than the Aboriginal race in any state, for whom it was deemed necessary to make special laws’; and Section 127 provided that ‘in reckoning the numbers of people of the Commonwealth, or of a State or other part of the Commonwealth, aboriginal natives shall not be counted’.
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20	This meant that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people weren’t recognised as part of the Australian population.
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22	It also meant that the states could create their own policies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Dispossession was rampant, as was oppression and control of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ lives. The states enacted Aboriginal Protection Acts which gave them the legal right to remove children from their families.
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24	Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have always protested and fought against these injustices. There was no single moment that sparked the 1967 Referendum, more a growing swell of support for change led by a range of people and organisations. In the late 1950s, changes in other countries toward equality and civil rights focused public attention on the injustices faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
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26	Protest events were getting more media attention as well. The Warburton Ranges controversy in 1957, the Yirrkala Bark Petitions in 1963, the 1965 Freedom Ride and the Wave Hill walk-off that began in 1966, are some that drove these issues into the international spotlight.
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28	Targeted and effective campaigns were run by organisations like the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI), the Australian Aborigines League, the Aboriginal-Australian Fellowship, and the Aborigines Progressive Association.
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30	The ABC and AIATSIS’ collaborative online exhibition ‘Right Wrongs’ is an excellent resource that pays tribute to these protests, organisations and individual activists.
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32	On 27 May 1967, Australians voted to change the Constitution so that like all other Australians, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples would be counted as part of the population and the Commonwealth would be able to make laws for them. A resounding 90.77 per cent said ‘Yes’ and every single state and territory had a majority result for the ‘Yes’ vote. It was one of the most successful national campaigns in Australia’s history.
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34	Thousands of people worked on the campaign and achieving the ‘yes’ was a huge victory, signalling a change in the mindset of Australia’s majority. It opened the door to First Nations Australian agency, bringing to light many strong leaders and organisations, and the expectation that things could be different. Change was possible, and they were willing to fight for it. In many ways, that fight continues today
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36	'Mabo' In '''1992, Terra Nullius was overturned.''' Torres Strait Islander Eddie Mabo challenged the doctrine of Terra Nullius as it had been applied to Australia by the British. The Mabo decision altered the foundation of land law in Australia by overturning the doctrine of terra nullius (land belonging to no-one) on which British claims to possession of Australia were based. This recognition inserted the legal doctrine of native title into Australian law. The judgments of the High Court in the Mabo case recognised the traditional rights of the Meriam people to their islands in the eastern Torres Strait. The Court also held that native title existed for all Indigenous people in Australia prior to the establishment of the British Colony of New South Wales in 1788. In recognising that Indigenous people in Australia had a prior title to land taken by the Crown since Cook's declaration of possession in 1770, the Court held that this title exists today in any portion of land where it has not legally been extinguished. The decision of the High Court was swiftly followed by the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth), which attempted to codify the implications of the decision and set out a legislative regime under which Australia’s Indigenous people could seek recognition of their native title rights
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38	!!First Australians in media
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40	Remember the time Website/{{Google}}'s signature changed into an interesting dot-painting-like logo? If you do, you used the search engine when it was celebrating the birthday of Oodgeroo Noonuccal. Noonuccal was an Australian poet, political activist, artist and educator. She campaigned for Aboriginal rights, and was the first Aboriginal Australian to publish a book of verse. The first Indigenous Australian ''writer'' was David Unaipon, who is featured on the Australian $50 note.
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42	One of the most famous songs ever written and sung about Australia, ''My Island Home'', came from the (mostly Indigenous) Warumpi Band. Its writer was Neil Murray, but the singer who catapulted it to incredible fame was Christine Anu, a Torres Strait Islander. The song is one of the most emotionally powerful songs to Australians, and some see it as an alternative to the NationalAnthem.[[note]]Another hugely popular alternative anthem is ''I Am/We Are Australian'' - as with everything, their resonance is not absolutely universal. Unquestionably, however, they are cultural icons of the Australian nation.[[/note]]
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44	Portrayals of First Australians on television can be found across a range of shows and channels, including on:
45	* NITV, Australia's National Indigenous Television service, broadcasts First Australians oriented content. A digital channel of Creator/{{SBS}}.
46	* ''Living Black'', a current affairs show about First Australian issues. It is broadcast on Creator/{{SBS}}.
47	* ''Message Stick'', similar to the above, broadcast on [[Creator/AustralianBroadcastingCorporation The ABC]].
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49	Aboriginal Australians are represented in media much more frequently than Torres Strait Islanders. However, celebrities such as Christine Anu, and programs such as ''Series/TheStraits'', likely indicate this is changing somewhat. Many of Australia's First Peoples identify as both Aboriginal and as Torres Strait Islander, one high profile example is basketball [[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation NBA]] player Patrick 'Patty' Mills,[[note]].
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51	For [[UsefulNotes/AustralianAborigines Aboriginal Australians]] or UsefulNotes/TorresStraitIslanders in media specifically, click on the blue links for their respective entries or better yet rely on a source created and run by Australia's First Peoples.
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Context UsefulNotes / FirstAustralians