1973

1. The first Aboriginal side tours New Zealand.

   Rugby League is the first sport in Australia to appoint an Aboriginal player as its national captain: Arthur Beetson when the Kangaroos play France.

2. Brothers Vern and Frank Daisy are institutions in Mt Isa (Queensland) football for many years.

1977

1. Larry Corowa scores five tries for Monaro against a visiting Great Britain side. He plays for Balmain, NSW and Australia and is regarded as a brilliant winger. Corowa is later presented with an MBE.

1982

1. Mark (Gordon) Ella, an Aboriginal rugby union player, often considered as one of Australia’s all-time greats in that sport, is named Australian of the Year.

1988

1. Second Aboriginal cricket team tours England.

1996

1. 29 July

   Aboriginal sprinter, Cathy Freeman, wins a silver medal in the 400 metres run at the Atlanta Olympics, USA, and Nova Peris-Kneebone becomes the first Aboriginal person to win a gold medal for being part of the victorious Australian women’s hockey team.

1998

1. Aboriginal athlete and Olympic gold medallist, Cathy Freeman, receives the Australian of the Year award. ⇒ Famous Aboriginal people

2. Nova Peris wins gold in the 200m final and the 4x100m relay at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, becoming the first Australian to win international gold medals in two different sports, hockey and relay.

2000

1. Cathy Freeman wins gold in the women’s 400m at the Sydney 2000 Olympics. The opening and closing ceremonies celebrated Indigenous cultural identity and history and provided some deft political comment on contemporary Aboriginal issues.

2006

1. 17 May

   Boxer Danny Green loses to Aboriginal man Anthony Mundine by points decision over 12 rounds. The fight remains one of the most watched bouts in Australian boxing history.

2008

1. 27 June

   Nathan Jawai is the first Aboriginal Australian basketball player to be drafted into North America’s National Basketball Association (NBA), playing for the Toronto Raptors.

2009

1. Boxer Anthony Mundine claims his third world boxing title.

2. The Football Federation Australia announces a ten-year Indigenous Football Development Program to give soccer a higher profile in the Indigenous community and to lift the percentage of Indigenous players in the sport’s elite level.

2010

1. 12 February

   Indigenous Sport Queensland launches the Queensland Indigenous Sports Hall of Fame.

2. 13 February

   The Indigenous All Stars team plays the National Rugby League All Stars, two years after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s apology to the Stolen Generations.

3. 12 June

   Timana Tahu, an Aboriginal player of the Sydney-based Parramatta Eels Rugby League club, walks out of the NSW Origin team camp in response to racist comments by the team’s assistant coach Andrew Johns, sparking a media debate about racism against Aboriginal players and people.

2011

1. 8 May

   Aboriginal boxer Lionel Rose dies aged 62. He was the first Aboriginal boxer to win a world title. ⇒ Famous Aboriginal sports people

2014

1. 25 January

   AFL player Adam Goodes becomes Australian of the Year “for his leadership and advocacy in the fight against racism both on the sporting field and within society”.

2015

1. July

   After more than 12 months of ongoing racism by booing fans of opposing teams Adam Goodes withdraws from playing AFL for a week. In support of Adam some media start an “I Stand With Adam” campaign. 150 organisations join together to call for renewed efforts to stamp out racism in sport and everyday life. Goodes quits for good in September after 18 years of professional football.

2016

1. 29 March

   Inaugural Indigenous Football Week, to highlight the achievements of Aboriginal soccer players past and present, as well as the next generation of talent. The week is also a major fundraising initiative for John Moriarty Football, a not-for-profit organisation that works to improve education and life outcomes for young Aboriginal footballers and their families in remote Australia.

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