2009

1. The National Archives Australia announce that they plan to close their Darwin office in September 2010, followed by Adelaide in 2011, and two Hobart offices in 2010/2012 due to huge savings requirements. Aboriginal people are shocked because offices are well used by services such as Link-Up to help people find and reconnect with their families.

2. January Remains repatriation

   Booth Museum of Natural History, Brighton, Britain promises to repatriate two skulls and two thigh bones, donated almost 100 years ago ^[1]. The museum also holds a Ngarrindjeri skull which has been turned into a water carrier and is considered 'extremely rare' ^[2]. The skull is with the museum since 1925 when it was donated by a local collector. 

   

3. 1 January Education

   The NT government rules that the first four hours of education in all NT schools will be delivered in English, putting an end to 34 years of bilingual education in the Northern Territory by ending the nine remaining bilingual programs.

4. 9 January Politics

   The Western Australian government announces the formation of the Indigenous Implementation Board to improve social and economic outcomes for Aboriginals. The nine-member board aims to ‘enhance Indigenous involvement in local decision-making and strengthen corporate and non-government contribution to Indigenous affairs’. Members are chosen for their expertise, not as representatives.

5. 26 January Recognition

   Aboriginal law professor Mick Dodson receives the 2009 Australian of the Year award for his lifetime commitment to improving the lives of Aboriginal people and helping to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

6. 30 January Land & land rights

   The Northern Territory government and traditional owners settle one of the longest native title claims over the Cox Peninsula, about 30 kms west of Darwin. 80% of the area will be designated Aboriginal land for the Larrakia people.

7. February Reconciliation

   Reconciliation Australia releases the Australian Reconciliation Barometer, a first-ever study on how Aboriginal and other Australians see and feel about each other.

8. 13 February Stolen Generations

   The Australian government promises to establish the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Healing Foundation which will deal with the "trauma experienced by all Aboriginal people as the after-effect of colonisation" ^[3], but with a particular focus on the Stolen Generations.

   The foundation won't deliver healing services, instead it will fund healing work, educate communities and social workers and evaluate healing programs to find out what works.

9. 30 March Land & land rights

   The Federal Court makes the largest native title determination in South Australia’s history when it regognises rights of the Adnyamathanha people to land in and around the Flinders Ranges.

10. April Stolen wages

    The NSW government changes the Aboriginal Trust Fund Repayment Scheme to allow a panel consider larger payouts and take into account non-documentary and oral evidence when considering applications.

11. 1 April Arts Stamps

    Australia Post releases five stamps featuring paintings by five Aboriginal artists: Nura Ripert (Mamu), Jan Billycan (All the Jila), Judy Napangardi Watson (Mina Mina), and for the international stamps Elaine Russell (Untitled [Mission Series]) and Tjuruparu Watson (Natjula).
    

    

12. 2 April Stolen Generations

    The Human Rights Committee report on Australia recommends the government "adopt a comprehensive national mechanism to ensure that adequate reparation, including compensation, is provided to the victims of the Stolen Generations policies" ^[4]. The Federal-Attorn General decides not to follow that recommendation and rules that no challenge to this decision be allowed.

13. 3 April Politics

    Australia supports the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). The Howard government had rejected the declaration fearing a separate customary law.

14. 3 April Northern Territory Intervention

    Contrary to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which states that all Aboriginal people have the right to self-determination, the government under the NT intervention dictates how Aboriginal people have to run aspects of their lives. 

15. May Northern Territory Intervention

    The Australian government allocates the largest amount of funding for a single year in the history of federal budgets to Indigenous affairs: A$4.8 billion. The biggest single item with A$106 million is for the Canberra bureaucracy to manage the income of Aboriginal people under the Northern Territory intervention.

16. 21 May Northern Territory Intervention

    Federal and Northern Territory governments respond to the NTER Review Board recommendations.

17. 25 May Northern Territory Intervention

    The Federal government announces a proposal to compulsorily acquire Alice Springs town camps.

18. June Remains repatriation

    Seattle Art Museum, USA is the first US institution that independently initiates a repatriation. It promises to return 'a sacred Aboriginal object' to its traditional land in central Australia and to consult with central Australian elders and representatives ^[5].

19. June Remains repatriation

    The University College, London, UK, hands over the skulls of three individuals from Victoria's Gunditjmara community and another from the Dja Dja Wurrung nation ^[6]. It is the first repatriation to Victoria.

20. June Northern Territory Intervention

    From June to August the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) runs consultations and workshops with Aboriginal people in the NT about future directions of the NTER.
    

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References