2018

1. 8 June Treaty

   The Northern Territory government signs a memorandum of understanding (a pledge to work towards a treaty) with all four Aboriginal Land Councils in the Northern Territory, pledging to work towards a treaty. Chief Minister Michael Gunner says his government is ready to negotiate a "Northern Territory Treaty" without Commonwealth involvement. ^[1] After the appointment of a treaty commissioner, consultations determine the level of interest in a treaty amongst Aboriginal Territorians. This is the first time the NT government and land councils have agreed to work together in this way, and the first time in decades that the four big land councils – the Northern, Central, Anindilyakwa and Tiwi – have joined together in consensus. ^[2]

   At the pace communities are comfortable, the government is ceding decision-making power back to where it belongs – the communities.

   — Michael Gunner, chief minister of the territory ^[3]

2. 8 June Treaty

   The Northern Territory government and all four of the NT’s Aboriginal land councils sign a historic agreement to begin treaty talks. The Barunga agreement commits the all parties to a 3-year process to consult all Territorians to “develop a process to negotiate a Northern Territory treaty” with the aim “to achieve real change and substantive, long-term benefits for Aboriginal people”. ^[4]

3. 3 July Treaty

   The Victorian parliament passes the Advancing the Treaty Process with Aboriginal Victorians Act 2018, Australia’s first ever treaty law. It outlines future elements to support treaty negotiations (e.g. a treaty authority and negotiation framework), a mechanism to recognise a representative body, guiding principles for the treaty process and reporting obligations.

4. 8 July Recognition

   The 15th Assembly of the Uniting Church of Australia endorses the observance of a "Day of Mourning" on the Sunday before Australia Day, at the request of members of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC). The request came as an alternative to changing the date for Australia Day. Every year, Uniting Church congregations nationwide will hold worship services that reflect on the effect of invasion and colonisation on Australia’s First Peoples.

5. 12 July

   In a “historic apology”, Western Australia’s Police Commissioner Chris Dawson formally apologises for the mistreatment of the state’s Aboriginal people at the hands of police, acknowledging the “significant role” police played in contributing to a traumatic history. (full transcript)

   Today, on behalf of the Western Australia Police Force, I would like to say sorry to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for our participation in past wrongful actions that have caused immeasurable pain and suffering.

   — Chris Dawson, Police Commissioner, Western Australia ^[5]

6. 15 August Stolen Generations

   A report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and the Healing Foundation reveals for the first time the direct link between the forced removal of tens of thousands of Aboriginal children from their families and the real-life symptoms of intergenerational trauma. It finds that Stolen Generations members are almost twice as likely as other Aboriginal people to rely on welfare payments and experience violence.^[6]
   

7. 24 August Politics

   Scott 'ScoMo' Morrison becomes Australia's 30th Prime Minister.

8. 24 August Massacres

   Northern Territory Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw apologises for the for state-sanctioned massacre of Aboriginal people at Coniston (200 kilometres north of Alice Springs). "As a police officer and commissioner I'm sorry for what has occurred." he says in a speech.

9. 22 September

   A team of marine archaeologists from the US and Australia announce that they have found the final resting place of the Endeavour, the ship used by Captain Cook to sail to Australia in 1770. She lies at Newport Harbour, Rhode Island, on the east coast of the USA, 270 kilometres north-east of New York.

10. 17 October

    The Reserve Bank of Australia issues a new version of the $50 banknote that features Ngarrindjeri man David Unaipon. It shows his totem, the Black Swan. The excerpt of his book now appears as microprint behind his shoulder, and the note uses elements more closely related to his nation such as two shields and navel cords which clans exchanged to promote ‘fellowship’. ^[7]

11. 22 October

    Prime Minister Scott Morrison apologises to child sexual abuse victims and survivors at Parliament House. The apology follows a 5-year Royal Commission which exposed horrific abuse of children at institutions around Australia, and systematic attempts to cover it up. The inquiry heard from 17,000 survivors, of which 8,000 recalled their abuse in private sessions. More than 14% of respondents came from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.^[8]

12. 18 November Recognition

    The New South Wales government buys 25 Watson Street in Putney, in Sydney’s north-west, from a developer for $2.9m. The property sits on the last resting place of 18th century Aboriginal interpreter Woollarawarre Bennelong. The government plans to turn it into a public memorial site.

13. 18 November Recognition

    The NSW government purchases 25 Watson Street in Putney (about 14 kms west of Sydney's CBD on the Parramatta River) to ensure the protection and preservation of the believed resting place of early intermediary Woollarawarre Bennelong.

14. 22 November Stolen Generations

    The government passes the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Amendment Bill, granting the Children’s Court the power to decide whether a child who has stayed with foster parents for up to two years should be restored to their family or be adopted by the foster parents. Aboriginal people worry the new law leads to a new generation of stolen Aboriginal children.

15. 23 November Prison

    Western Australia establishes the Custody Notification Service, 27 years after it was recommended by the Royal Commission Into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.

16. 21 December Arts

    Gamilaroi woman Brooke Boney joins Channel Nine as the entertainment correspondent of the Today breakfast show to become one of the few Aboriginal faces on television. She was previously working for radio station Triple-J.

2019

1. 8 January Recognition

   Queensland writer and Kokomini man, Graham Akhurst, becomes the first Aboriginal Australian recipient of the two-year Fulbright W.G. Walker scholarship. It is awarded annually to the highest-ranked postgraduate applicant.

2. 20 January Recognition

   The Uniting Church of Australia holds the first "Day of Mourning" (each Sunday before Australia Day). Congregations nationwide should "acknowledge the dispossession, violence and murder of First Peoples, lament the fact that as a Church and as Second Peoples we were and remain complicit", reflect on the effect of invasion and colonisation and honour Australia’s First Peoples. ^[9]

3. 26 February Recognition

   The ACT government "recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as Australia's first people" in its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Agreement 2019–2028. It also recognises First Nations peoples right to self-determination and the importance of land. The Agreement sets a ten-year direction for the government's handling of First Nations affairs in four "core areas" and six "significant areas" of work. This agreement builds on the previous 2015 agreement.

4. March Politics Self-determination

   The Coalition of Peaks enters a historic formal partnership agreement on Closing the Gap with the Council of Australian Governments (COAG). It sets out shared decision making and joint actions over the next ten years to help improve the lives of Aboriginal people.

   The agreement means that for the first time Aboriginal people, through their community-controlled peak organisations and members, are sharing decisions with governments on Closing the Gap, under a formal arrangement.
   

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