2021

1. 9 March Reconciliation

   The Victorian government announces an inquiry into the ongoing effects of the violent dispossession and genocide of Aboriginal people during colonisation by the British empire and racist policies by Australian governments. Named the Yoo-rrook justice commission, after the Wemba Wemba/Wamba Wamba word for ‘truth’, it will investigate both historical and ongoing injustices against Aboriginal people and it part of the truth-telling process the Uluru Statement From the Heart called for.

   It’s the first commission of its kind in Australia and will be given the powers of a royal commission, meaning it will be able to compel evidence under oath.

2. 16 March Treaty

   The federal government rejects a senate motion, led by Patrick Dodson, to set up an enquiry into truth-telling and treaty-making which are key elements of a Makarrata process as called for in the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

3. 22 March Health

   In Phase 1b of Australia's COVID-19 vaccine rollout, six million higher-risk Australians becoming eligible including Aboriginal people aged over 55. Phase 1a covered frontline workers, and Phase 2a will cover the remaining Aboriginal age groups.

4. 26 March Arts Stamps

   

   The Australian Legends of Cricket stamp issue celebrates six players, among them Kamilaroi man Jason 'Dizzy' Gillespie, the first Aboriginal man to play cricket for Australia. Gillespie played all three formats of cricket – Test, One Day and Twenty20. He retired in 2008.
   

5. 28 April Recognition

   The Reserve Bank of Australia becomes an inaugural member of the International Central Bank Network for Indigenous Inclusion. The Te Pūtea Matua (Reserve Bank of New Zealand), Bank of Canada and the Reserve Bank of Australia formed this voluntary network on 1 January 2021 to share knowledge and best practices, promote engagement with Indigenous Peoples and foster greater understanding and education about Indigenous economic issues and histories. The network's inaugural meeting is on 2 June 2021.
   

6. 5 May Arts

   Simon & Schuster publishes Anita Heiss' novel, Bila Yarrudhang-galang-dhuray (River of Dreams in Wiradjuri), believed to be the first title of any commercial Australian novel appearing solely in an Aboriginal language.
   

7. 13 May Politics

   Wiradjuri woman Yvonne Weldon announces to run for the Lord Mayor of Sydney, making her the first Aboriginal person to run for the position. The election will be in December.

8. 14 May Treaty

   The First People's Assembly of Victoria establishes the Yoo-rrook Justice Commission, the first truth-telling body in Australia. It is independent of both government and the Assembly. Yoo-rrook means ‘truth’ in the Wemba Wemba / Wamba Wamba language, which is spoken in the north-west region of Victoria.

9. 21 May Arts

   Gamilaroi artist Travis De Vries claims to have created the first Aboriginal non-fungible token (NFT) with his artwork Tear it Down (Cook Falling). He offers it for 1770 Tezos (tez) coins, a digital currency.

10. 26 May Recognition

    Exactly four years after it was released, the Uluru Statement from the Heart is awarded the Sydney peace prize for 2021. The judging panel said the Uluru statement was a “powerful and historic offering of peace” and a “clear and comprehensive agenda for healing and peace within our nation”. ^[1]

11. 31 May Arts

    For the first time in its 25-year history, the international Australian Fashion Week (31 May – 4 June) opens with a Welcome to Country and features two Aboriginal runways with an all-Aboriginal cast and all-Aboriginal designers, curated by Aboriginal people (runway 1: First Nations Fashion and Design (FNFD), runway 2: Indigenous Fashion Projects (IFP)).

    For a long time we've been associated with $4.99 boomerangs. No more please. We are luxury. It is an ancient, beautiful culture that has such depth and beauty.

    — Amanda Healy, Wonnarua woman, CEO of Kirrikin (Indigenous Fashion Project) ^[2]

12. 15 June Treaty

    The Queensland government establishes a $300 million Path to Treaty Fund. It plans to use its returns "to progress Queensland’s Path to Treaty and support the Government’s response to the Treaty Advancement Committee report" ^[3] which it received on 12 October 2021.
    

13. 22 June Treaty

    The Tasmanian government vows to take further steps towards reconciliation with the island state's First Nations community, including a truth-telling process and working on a pathway to treaty.
    

14. 26 June Land & land rights

    After 40 years of fighting for recognition of their traditional ownership over the Jabiru township, on the eastern side of Kakadu National Park, NT, the Mirarr people received freehold title over the town, the first of its kind in Australia. Jabiru was built in 1978 on Crown Land without the involvement of traditional custodians to service the controversial Ranger uranium mine, majority-owned by Rio Tinto.
    

15. July Recognition

    The ABC’s current affairs program 7.30 starts using Aboriginal place names when it introduces places on its program to improve representation of the Aboriginal community in its programming and make the public use more frequently Aboriginal names, voices and languages. The names are shown on the straps across the screen that appear in the news and sit alongside the official government name for cities and towns.

16. 5 July Recognition

    Australia Post launches new packaging with a dedicated space for traditional Aboriginal place names above the street address, following up on an update to their addressing guidelines in November 2020. The new parcel post designs and express post satchels also include an Acknowledgment of Country.

17. 6 July Arts Stamps

    

    In its Australian Contemporary Sculpture issue, Australia Post shows one artwork of Lex Namponan, a Wik man from Aurukun, QLD, who is renown for his milkwood sculptures of camp dogs. The dog is a sacred totem for the clan, and his works, such as the laughing Smiley Blue Eye, combine cultural significance with popular market appeal. The other artwork is from Yvonne Koolmatrie, a Ngarrindjeri woman from South Australia. She is a master grass weaver, and her wide-ranging subjects include animals, human figures, planes and hot-air balloons, as well as traditional objects such as Eel trap, featured on the stamp.
    

18. 10 July Sport

    Ngarigo woman Ashleigh Barty wins the Wimbledon Grand Slam, the second Australian and Aboriginal woman to do so, exactly 50 years after Evonne Goolagong Cawley's first win in 1971. Ash beats Czech player Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-7, 6-3.

19. 23 July Sport

    Basketballer Patty Mills, a Kokatha, Naghiralgal and Dauareb-Meriam man, becomes Australia’s first Aboriginal flagbearer at an Olympics opening ceremony at the 32nd Olympic Games, held with one year delay (due to the corona virus pandemic) in Tokyo, Japan.

20. 5 August Stolen Generations

    The Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory promise to compensate survivors of the Stolen Generations with up to $75,000 each for the suffering inflicted on them by forcibly removing them from their families, after the federal government no longer opposes a compensation scheme.
    

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