Historical milestones | National Museum of Australia

Key events in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history 1967–2005

This timeline includes events of national importance in the life of Australia’s First Nations people after the 1967 Referendum paved the way for the adminstration of Indigenous affairs becoming the responsibility of the federal government.

Late 1960s

1970s

1971: Land rights activists set up the Aboriginal Tent Embassy opposite Parliament House in Canberra. More on the Aboriginal Tent Embassy

1973: Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam establishes the National Aboriginal Consultative Committee as an advisory body to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. The committee is an elected assembly of 40 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and effectively replaces the Council for Aboriginal Affairs.

1973: The Department of Aboriginal Affairs is created as the agency with responsibility for Aboriginal affairs policy, administration and programs, replacing the Office of Aboriginal Affairs.

1973: The Aboriginal Arts Board is set up to raise awareness of contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts.

1974: The Aboriginal Land Fund Act is passed to help in purchasing land.

First National Aboriginal Consultative Committee meeting

1976: The Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act is passed, the first attempt by the Australian Government to legally recognise the Aboriginal system of land ownership.

1976: The National Trachoma and Eye Health Program begins.

1977: Malcolm Fraser’s coalition government conducts a review of the National Aboriginal Consultative Committee and replaces it with the National Aboriginal Conference. It has a broader system of representation and is an advocate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander political rights.

1978: The Northern Territory passes the Aboriginal Sacred Sites Bill, leading to the establishment of a permanent authority for the protection of sacred sites.

Lardil artist Dick Roughsey, left, and Herbert ‘Nugget’ Coombs

1980s

1990s

2000s

A collection for the future

After the closure of ATSIC, no one knew what would happen to the artworks and objects that had been removed from the organisation’s office across the country. Many staff members felt it was important that everything should be kept together. The entire Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Art collection is now part of the collection of the National Museum of Australia, where the objects can be preserved, studied and displayed in the future.

This highly significant collection illustrates an important part of Australia’s history. It is entwined with the story of the relationship between government and Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from 1967 to 2005.

Many of the artworks and objects are also things of great beauty. And all of them are like objects in a time capsule – a time capsule representing the regional and stylistic diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art and culture over nearly 40 years.

The National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples

After the closure of ATSIC, the Australian Government appointed an advisory body, the National Indigenous Council, to provide advice on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues. However, following the election in 2007 of a Labor government, the Council was abolished.

In 2009 a steering committee, chaired by Australian Human Rights Commissioner Tom Calma, recommended the formation of a new independent body, the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples.

This congress commenced operations in 2010. It is responsible for providing advice to government on, and advocating for, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. However, it is not responsible for providing funding or programs to communities, as ATSIC had done, nor is it answerable to government.

About the collection

An extraordinary collection

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