2018

1. 22 September

   A team of marine archaeologists from the US and Australia announce that they have found the final resting place of the Endeavour, the ship used by Captain Cook to sail to Australia in 1770. She lies at Newport Harbour, Rhode Island, on the east coast of the USA, 270 kilometres north-east of New York.

2. 17 October

   The Reserve Bank of Australia issues a new version of the $50 banknote that features Ngarrindjeri man David Unaipon. It shows his totem, the Black Swan. The excerpt of his book now appears as microprint behind his shoulder, and the note uses elements more closely related to his nation such as two shields and navel cords which clans exchanged to promote ‘fellowship’. ^[1]

3. 22 October

   Prime Minister Scott Morrison apologises to child sexual abuse victims and survivors at Parliament House. The apology follows a 5-year Royal Commission which exposed horrific abuse of children at institutions around Australia, and systematic attempts to cover it up. The inquiry heard from 17,000 survivors, of which 8,000 recalled their abuse in private sessions. More than 14% of respondents came from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.^[2]

4. 18 November Recognition

   The New South Wales government buys 25 Watson Street in Putney, in Sydney’s north-west, from a developer for $2.9m. The property sits on the last resting place of 18th century Aboriginal interpreter Woollarawarre Bennelong. The government plans to turn it into a public memorial site.

5. 18 November Recognition

   The NSW government purchases 25 Watson Street in Putney (about 14 kms west of Sydney's CBD on the Parramatta River) to ensure the protection and preservation of the believed resting place of early intermediary Woollarawarre Bennelong.

6. 22 November Stolen Generations

   The government passes the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Amendment Bill, granting the Children’s Court the power to decide whether a child who has stayed with foster parents for up to two years should be restored to their family or be adopted by the foster parents. Aboriginal people worry the new law leads to a new generation of stolen Aboriginal children.

7. 23 November Prison

   Western Australia establishes the Custody Notification Service, 27 years after it was recommended by the Royal Commission Into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.

8. 21 December Arts

   Gamilaroi woman Brooke Boney joins Channel Nine as the entertainment correspondent of the Today breakfast show to become one of the few Aboriginal faces on television. She was previously working for radio station Triple-J.

2019

1. 8 January Recognition

   Queensland writer and Kokomini man, Graham Akhurst, becomes the first Aboriginal Australian recipient of the two-year Fulbright W.G. Walker scholarship. It is awarded annually to the highest-ranked postgraduate applicant.

2. 20 January Recognition

   The Uniting Church of Australia holds the first "Day of Mourning" (each Sunday before Australia Day). Congregations nationwide should "acknowledge the dispossession, violence and murder of First Peoples, lament the fact that as a Church and as Second Peoples we were and remain complicit", reflect on the effect of invasion and colonisation and honour Australia’s First Peoples. ^[3]

3. 26 February Recognition

   The ACT government "recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as Australia's first people" in its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Agreement 2019–2028. It also recognises First Nations peoples right to self-determination and the importance of land. The Agreement sets a ten-year direction for the government's handling of First Nations affairs in four "core areas" and six "significant areas" of work. This agreement builds on the previous 2015 agreement.

4. March Politics Self-determination

   The Coalition of Peaks enters a historic formal partnership agreement on Closing the Gap with the Council of Australian Governments (COAG). It sets out shared decision making and joint actions over the next ten years to help improve the lives of Aboriginal people.

   The agreement means that for the first time Aboriginal people, through their community-controlled peak organisations and members, are sharing decisions with governments on Closing the Gap, under a formal arrangement.
   

5. 4 March Treaty

   Mick Dodson starts as the inaugural NT treaty commissioner. He will lead treaty negotiations between Aboriginal people and the NT government and present a final report within 2.5 years. His appointment is supported by all four NT land councils and the minister for Aboriginal affairs.

6. 11 March Remains repatriation

   The German state of Baden-Württemberg intends to return ten identified Aboriginal skulls stored at the Albert Ludwigs University in Freiburg.

7. 13 March Land & land rights

   The high court delivers a landmark ruling recognising 'customary value' as a major component of compensation under the Native Title Act for the first time. It orders the Northern Territory government to pay $2.53m in compensation to a group of native title holders. It is the first time the high court has considered the monetary value of native title and associated compensation for the removal of land rights. The case is considered one of the most significant land rights cases since the Mabo ruling that could pave the way for billions of dollars in liability payouts by Australian governments. ^[4]

8. 9 April Recognition

   

   The Royal Australian Mint issues a new 50 cents coin that shows the word "money" in 14 Aboriginal languages, a tribute to the International Year of Indigenous Languages. As there hasn't been a traditional Aboriginal word for "money", new words were used often related the look and feel of coins: piece, pebble, stone, rock, grey.

9. 11 April Treaty

   Victoria sets up the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, an independent body that will be the voice of Aboriginal people in Victoria in the future treaty process and tasked to negotiate a framework for a treaty. It is a not-for-profit company with 33 elected representatives from 5 voting areas (four in regional Victoria and the fifth in metropolitan Melbourne) and 12 nominated representatives, one from each of the 12 formally recognised traditional owner groups in the state.

10. 15 April Sport

    Greg Inglis, captain of South Sydney, announces his retirement from rugby league after 14 seasons for health reasons.

11. 19 April Recognition

    The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government establishes the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander agreement 2019–2028 which sets long-term aspirations for improving social, environmental, economic and cultural infrastructure in communities and acknowledges the right to self-determination. Its delivery action plan sets out ten focus areas: children and young people, community leadership, cultural integrity, inclusive community, justice, connecting the community, economic participation, health and wellbeing, housing, and life long learning. The previous agreement ran from 2015–18.

12. 30 April Arts Stamps

    

    Australia Post issues a stamp commemorating the International Year of Indigenous Languages. There were at least 250 Aboriginal languages in Australia before invasion. Of the 120 or so languages that remain, about 100 are at risk of being lost. Only about 13 languages are alive as a first language spoken by the younger generation.

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