2023

1. 8 August Stamps

   

   Australia Post releases a prepaid envelope celebrating 30 years of the landmark Native Title Act 1993. It features a photograph of Eddie Koiki Mabo on Mer island.

2. 24 August Recognition

   The Australian Electoral Commission sends out referendum booklets to all households with a guide on how to vote and the full 'Yes' and 'No' campaign pamphlets.

3. 30 August Recognition

   At a large community rally in Adelaide, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announces the referendum date as the 14 October, kickstarting a campaign to change Australia’s constitution for the first time in nearly half a century.

   On that day, every Australian will have a once in a generation chance to bring our country together. And to change it for the better. To vote for recognition, listening and better results.

   — PM Anthony Albanese ^[1]

4. 5 September Remains repatriation

   In a landmark example of cultural repatriation, Manchester museum returns more than 174 everyday objects to the Anindilyakwa community, in the Gulf of Carpentaria, off the northern coast of Australia. Items include dolls made from shells, baskets, fishing spears, boomerangs, armbands and a map made from turtle shells. Manchester Museum’s return of the objects is significant because repatriation projects normally revolve around sacred or ceremonial items. The museum’s head of collections had spent time on Groote Eylandt, and the community was directly involved in deciding what should be returned, and what should stay in Manchester.

   We have declared [Manchester Museum] is open to future repatriations, and we expect that this is part of the future of museums, not just ours, but other museums in the future.

   — Georgina Young, Head of Collections and Exhibitions, Manchester Museum ^[2]

5. 1 November Stolen wages

   The Western Australian government settles a class action by paying $180 million to thousands of former First Nations workers who were paid little or no wages, for some until they were 30 years old. Policies at the time allowed the state government to withhold up to 75% of a First Nations worker's wage. The state government later issued a public apology to the workers. ^[3]

   Financial compensation is one way to acknowledge the suffering of First Nations people. It doesn't correct the past, but it offers a way forward.

   — Vicky Antzoulatos, Head of Class Actions, Shine Lawyers ^[3]

2024

1. 7 May Arts

   Zaachariaha Fielding and Michael Ross of Electric Fields participate in the the first semifinal of the Eurovision song contest in Malmö, Sweden, with their song One Milkali (One Blood), sung in English and Yankunytjatjara. Unfortunately they are eliminated in that round.

2. 29 July Politics

   Yanyuwa Garrwa woman Senator Malarndirri McCarthy is sworn in as the new Indigenous Australians minister.

3. 15 October Stamps

   Australia Post releases four stamps celebrating the Kalkadoon Dreaming of the First Nations people of the Mt Isa region (QLD).

   The stamps showcase the work of Kalkadoon (Kalkatungu) artist Chern’ee Sutton and represent the artist’s traditional Country. Chern’ee Sutton has been the recipient of numerous awards and honours. She has been a Queensland Day Ambassador for the Arts and a Queensland Reconciliation Awards Ambassador and her work is held in collections nationally and internationally.

4. 21 October Politics Protest

   Lidia Thorpe, a Djab-Wurrung, Gunnai and Gunditjmara woman and an independent senator from Victoria, heckles King Charles, who is on a five-day visit to Australia with Queen Camilla. She approaches the stage at Parliament House yelling “This is not your country! You committed genocide against our people. Give us our land back. Give us what you stole from us – our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people! You destroyed our land. Give us a treaty. We want a treaty in this country. You are a genocidalist." Security officers had to escort her back to the foyer. She kept shouting "This is not your land. You are not my king. You are not our king. Fuck the colony!" ^[4] The incident makes global headlines.

5. 11 December Arts

   Among the 10 iconic sounds of Australia, preserved for future generations of Australians under the National Film and Sound Archive’s 2024 annual Sounds of Australia collection, are recordings of Muruwari man Jimmie Barker. He was the first known First Nations person to use recorded sound as a tool to preserve and document Aboriginal culture, producing more than 100 hours.

   Another First Nations person recognised is then-Labor senator Nova Peris, for her 2013 inaugural speech to the Australian parliament where she calls for more effective strategies to close the gap between First Nations and non-Indigenous Australians. ^[5]

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