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Timeline of truth-telling in Australia

Last edited: December 5, 2024

There is growing interest and demand for Australia to engage in truth-telling about the historical and contemporary practices and attitudes that have defined the nation’s relationship with First Nations Peoples.

Grandmothers Against Removals (GMAR)

Survey data from Reconciliation Australia suggests there is widespread community interest in and support for truth-telling at local, State and national levels. Eighty three percent of the general community and 87 percent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples surveyed in the 2022 Australian Reconciliation Barometer said that Australia should undertake formal truth-telling processes.

Below is a timeline of some key truth-telling events that have marked Australia’s journey towards truth so far.

Timeline

1835

The Proclamation of NSW Governor Richard Bourke in 1835 implemented the legal principle of terra nullius in Australian law as the basis for British settlement. This fiction of terra nullius was intended to justify and legitimise the dispossession, dispersal, and inhumane treatment of First Nations peoples and can be understood as the ‘original lie’ which truth-telling efforts (such as the Mabo decision) continue to disrupt and unsettle.

1989 - 1991

Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody

1992

On 3 June 1992 the High Court of Australia recognised that a group of Torres Strait Islanders, led by Eddie Mabo, held ownership of Mer (Murray Island).

In acknowledging the traditional rights of the Meriam people to their land, the court also held that native title existed for all First Nations people. This landmark decision gave rise to important native title legislation the following year and rendered terra nullius a legal fiction.

1995 - 1997

National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal Children from their Families

2000

In 2000 the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation presented their final report to Prime Minister John Howard following on from the ‘Decade of Reconciliation’. This report was the result of a decision of the Australian Parliament who in 1991 voted unanimously to establish the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation and a formal reconciliation period.

2008

A formal Apology to members of the Stolen Generations on behalf of the Australian parliament was made by then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on 13 February 2008.

2017

Referendum Council’s Final Report is released and the Uluru Statement from the Heart is issued.

2021

Yoorrook Justice Commission – Australia’s first formal truth-telling process – established in Victoria.

May 2023

Queensland’s Path to Treaty Act 2023, passed by the Queensland Government in May 2023, establishes a legal framework for a Truth-Telling and Healing Inquiry (The Inquiry) as part of the Treaty process, as well as the establishment of a Treaty Institute.

August 2023

The Yoorrook Justice Commission delivers its ‘Yoorrook for Justice’ report, the result of its year-long inquiry into Victoria’s injustices against First Peoples in the child protection and criminal justice systems.

28 November 2024

Qld Government passed legislation to repeal the Path to Treaty Act and cancel the Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry.

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Media Release

Allies urge Qld Government to allow Truth-telling Read

Media Release

ANTAR Response to NT Government Reforms Read

Scorecard

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Submission

Truth and Justice Commission Bill 2024 Read

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