2014

1. 26 January

   The late Dr Yunupingu from Aboriginal band Yothu Yindi posthumously receives the Companion of the Order of Australia, one of Australia’s highest honours. The award recognises the highest degree of service to humanity.

2. 26 January

   Townsville Council for the first time officially celebrates both Survival Day (on 24 January) and Australia Day (on 26 January).
   

3. 24 June

   Inaugural National Indigenous Human Rights Awards at the NSW state parliament. Among the categories are the Dr M Yunupingu Human Rights Achievement Award (awarded to Arrernte elder Rosalie Kunoth-Monks), the Edward ‘Koiki’ Mabo Social Justice Award (awarded posthumously to Arthur and Leila Murray) and the Anthony Mundine Courage Award (awarded to Gamilaroy woman Barbara McGrady).

   There is no greater rights struggle on this continent than that of the Aboriginal struggle.

   — Shaoquett Moselmane, NSW parliamentarian who conceived of the awards ^[1]

4. 25 June

   

   The Royal Australian Mint issues a 50 cent coin commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS). The coin shows the AIATSIS logo, derived from the boomerang totem of the Gu:na:ni (Kunjen) people from the Mitchell River region, Gulf of Carpentaria, North Queensland. The design illustrates the symmetrical style of north-eastern Queensland art, and utilises rich colours used in Aboriginal works of art. A small number of coins shows this logo in colour.

2015

1. 30 May

   Nyoongar elder Robert Isaacs is named Western Australian of the Year for helping set up Australia’s first Aboriginal school, Clontarf Aboriginal College, improving the justice system and helping to assist Aboriginal people achieve home ownership and housing security.

2. 3 June

   On the 23rd anniversary of the landmark Mabo decision, Sydney Observatory honours Eddie Koiki Mabo’s legacy by naming a star after him (SSSC star Koiki, constellation: Crux).

3. 14 October

   The Western Australian government introduces the Noongar (Koorah, Nitja, Boordahwan) (Past, Present, Future) Recognition Bill 2015 to Parliament. The bill proposes to recognise the Noongar people as the traditional custodians of their lands and is the first piece of legislation in the history of the WA Parliament to include text in their language.

4. 21 October

   The winners of the 2nd National Indigenous Human Rights Awards are Tauto Sansbury (Dr Yunupingu Award for Human Rights), aunty Jenny Munro (Eddie Mabo Award for Social Justice) and Adam Goodes (Anthony Mundine Award for Courage).

2016

1. 6 June

   The Western Australian government recognises the Noongar people formally through the Noongar (Koorah, Nitja, Boordahwan) (Past, Present, Future) Recognition Act 2016 of the WA Parliament as the traditional custodians of the south west region of Western Australia. The government "recognises the Noongar peoples' important relationship with the Noongar lands, and their significant and unique contribution to the heritage, cultural identity, community and economy of WA". ^[2] The recognition is part of Australia's most comprehensive native title agreement, the South West Native Title Settlement (see June 2015) and the first statute in WA to incorporate a First Nation's language (in its Noongar Recognition Statement). ^[3]
   

2. 15 December

   The Tasmanian government passes into law an amended preamble to the Tasmanian Constitution Act to formally recognise Aboriginal people “as Tasmania’s First People and the traditional and original owners of Tasmanian lands and waters”. Tasmania was the last state that had to amend its constitution in that way.

2017

1. May

   More than 250 Aboriginal leaders from across the country gather at Uluru at the Referendum Council’s National Convention to identify amendments required for constitutional recognition of Aboriginal people. But the government rejects a proposal for a constitutionally enshrined voice to Parliament.

2. 29 May

   Since 1997 Australia Post celebrates living Australians who have positively shaped Australian society with its Australian Legends Award. In 2017 it honours three Aboriginal leaders: Tom Calma, Lowitja O’Donoghue and Galarrwuy Yunupingu for their tireless and lifelong efforts to improve social and economic outcomes for Aboriginal peoples. Together, their work has spanned the areas of land rights, economics, self-determination, health, welfare, education and reconciliation.

   Since its inception, Australia Post announced the Australian Legends Award on Australia Day. Out of respect for those who associate 26 January with invasion and the colonisation of Aboriginal people, it scheduled this year's announcement to May, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum. ^[4]

   

3. 15 August

   City of Yarra councillors in Melbourne vote unanimously to no longer refer to 26 January as Australia Day in all official documents and not hold citizenship ceremonies on that day to support the campaign to change Australia Day. Neighbouring Darebin council follows on 21 August.

4. 11 December

   The International Astronomical Union formally approves four Aboriginal names for stars. Three names come from the Wardaman language of northern Australia: Larawag is now used for the star previously known as Epsilon Scorpii, Ginan replaces Epsilon Crucis (the smallest of the five stars that make up the Southern Cross), and Wurren is used for Zeta Phoenicis. The Boorong people of the Wergaia language group in northwestern Victoria contribute Unurgunite (an ancestral figure who fights the Moon) for the star Sigma Canis Majoris.
   

2018

1. 1 March

   Vonda Malone is named the inaugural McKinnon Emerging Political Leader of the Year by a judging panel including former prime ministers. They recognise Malone, who became the first female mayor of the Torres Shire Council in 2016, for her work in finding community-led solutions for critical issues in the Torres Strait Islands, such as waste management, housing shortages and healthcare.^[5]
   

2. 13 April

   Wiradjuri woman Dhani Gilbert wins the 2018 Young Canberra Citizen of the Year Award for her community work, academic pursuits and advocacy for Aboriginal people.

3. 8 July

   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.

4. 18 November

   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.

5. 18 November

   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.

2019

1. 8 January

   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.

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References