1925

1. April

   Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association is formed in Sydney to oppose New South Wales Aborigines Protection Board. Its inaugural president is Fred Maynard.

1930

1. Victorian Yorta Yorta man William Cooper petitions the King to have an Aboriginal representative in the federal House of Representatives, the main chamber of the national Australian parliament. A similar attempt is made in NSW. They are unsuccessful.

1937

1. 27 June

   In Dubbo, western NSW, trade unionist and Aboriginal politician William Ferguson launches the Aborigines Progressive Association, in opposition to the Aborigines Protection Board, after officials of the Board had arbitrarily used their powers to harass Aboriginal people.

1958

1. 13 February

   Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines is set up. It group brings together a number of civil rights and Aboriginal welfare organisations. Its work plays a large part in bringing about the 1967 referendum. In 1964 the title changes to Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI).

1971

1. Aboriginal flag is designed by Luritja artist Harold Thomas and flown for the first time in Adelaide.

2. NSW Aboriginal Legal Service is formed, followed by Aboriginal pre-school, Black Theatre and the Aboriginal Housing Company.

1972

1. June

   Mullenjaiwakka, also known as Lloyd Clive McDermott, becomes the first Aboriginal barrister, when he is called to the NSW Bar. Lloyd is also a passionate rugby player. He died in April 2019.

1973

1. The Whitlam government introduces the first Department of Aboriginal Affairs (DAA), employing Aboriginal people for Aboriginal issues. The DAA begins a national programme to improve health services for Aboriginal people. It also introduces the first national body elected by Aboriginal people, the National Aboriginal Consultative Committee (NACC), which has only an advisory role, however. Aboriginal people elect the members.

1975

1. Australia ratifies the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, guaranteeing self-determination to Aboriginal Peoples.

1990

1. 5 March

   Bob Hawke's Labor government establishes the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) through the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission Act 1989. It allows elected regional councils and a board of commissioners to make decisions on policy and funding.
   

2. 16 July

   Founding of the Aboriginal Provisional Government (APG) which sees Aboriginal people as a sovereign people and campaigns for Aboriginal self-determination and self-government, rejects assimilation into the Australian state, and maintains that Aboriginal people have the right to decide the future of their lands and lives to the exclusion of colonial interference.

1992

1. Torres Strait Islander flag designed.

1995

1. June

   The Australian Government proclaims the Aboriginal flag as an official ‘Flag of Australia’ under section 5 of the Flags Act 1953.

2007

1. 13 July

   National Indigenous TV launches during NAIDOC Week on Black Friday, marking the beginning of a new era for Aboriginal television.

2008

1. June

   Aboriginal people in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) vote for Australia’s first elected Aboriginal representative body since ATSIC’s demise in 2005. Seven representatives will be elected every three years to advise the ACT government on policy that affects the lives of the ACT’s Aboriginal population.

2009

1. 27 August

   Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma outlines the proposed model for a new national Indigenous representative body to fill the void since the demise of ATSIC in 2004. The model enables representation by Indigenous land councils, peak bodies and other Indigenous organisations, as well as a place for leaders operating at all levels. It has a 50/50 gender rule for representatives and an overseeing role of an ethics committee.

2. 22 November

   The government announces its support of the new representative body for Aboriginal people, called the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples (NCAFP).

2011

1. 17 April

   Yindjibarndi woman Jodi Broun and Butchulla man Les Malezer become the first elected national Indigenous leaders since the abolition of ATSIC as they assume the positions of co-chairs of the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples.

2. 8 June

   The National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples gets the first elected board, giving Aboriginal people the first elected national representative body since the abolition of ATSIC.

2012

1. 15 September

   More than 200 people, including newly arrived asylum seekers, receive an Aboriginal passport. The Aboriginal passport was first introduced in 1988 by Palawa (Tasmanian) activist, Michael Mansell, and was issued to an Aboriginal delegation that visited Libya.

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