Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (Australia) The original inhabitants of Australia, whose existence there is thought to go back some 40,000 years. They were semi-nomadic hunters whose value systems included common use, and a spiritual appreciation, of the land. Their population is estimated to have been between 300,000 and 700,000 before White settlement began in 1788. By the early twentieth century this figure had diminished to less than 50,000, and was declining further owing to loss of land, adoption of European habits such as drinking alcohol, diseases against which they had not developed immunity (smallpox, influenza, etc.), and a declining birth rate. Violence between Europeans and Aborigines had led to the death of around 2,500 Whites and 20,000 Aborigines. During the 1930s, sparked off by celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the first European settlements, campaigns developed for an end to social and legal discrimination against Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, and for aid in areas of health, education, and employment. From the 1950s, rather than segregating them from the rest of society the government attempted to integrate them. In the following decade, Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders began to emphasize their right to assimilate themselves while maintaining their own culture. In 1967, they were granted full citizenship, and 90 per cent of (White) Australians voted in a referendum to transfer responsibility for Aboriginal affairs from the individual states to the federal government.
Since 1972, land has been returned to the Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, in central Australia and the Torres Straits respectively. In the central issue of
land claims as in other matters, the federal government usually spearheaded action on behalf of Aboriginal rights, often against fierce resistance from the individual states unwilling to concede jurisdiction over their territory. Their claims for land titles were recognized for the first time in 1992, and in 1994 they were promised considerable ownership of land. By 1991, the number of Aborigines and Torres Straits Islanders had risen again to over 250,000. They continued to be the most disadvantaged section of Australian society, with the highest death, imprisonment, and unemployment rates, and the lowest income and life expectancy rates. Their protests against continued discrimination in public life was championed by the Australian
Labour Party, but the Prime Minister, John
Howard, refused to sign a public treaty of reconciliation which contained an apology for land appropriations.
