Aboriginal Australians are the oldest known civilisation on Earth, with ancestries stretching back roughly 75,000 years. Aboriginal people currently make up 3.8% of Australia's population.

Torres Strait Islander flag

when the British invaded what we now know as Australia on 26th January 1788 (Invasion Day, Mourning Day. Celebrated as Anniversary Day, Australia Day), it triggered a massacre of Indigenous people so the British could claim the land for their penal colonies. They declared it 'Terra Nullius' a Latin term meaning "No man's land." This was called the Frontier Wars.

Exactly how many people died is unknown due to high numbers of Aboriginal deaths.
In ‘Queensland’ alone it is estimated that 60,000 Aboriginal people died, and around 90% of the Aboriginal population in general prior to invasion was killed.
This was an attempt of genocide.

Many Indigenous people were also taken as slaves during this time. The practice of kidnapping and slavery of First Nations people was known as ‘Blackbirding’ and was a profitable business for some of the early settlers who would 'round them up' at gunpoint.

Indigenous people did not have the guns and weapons the British had; nor did they have immunity to the diseases. They stood no chance against the invaders.The Wars are said to have ended as late as 1934 however, many acts of violence and oppression against the community continue today.

In Australia, between 1910 and the 1970s, governments, churches and welfare bodies forcibly removed many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. These children became known as the Stolen Generation. They usually chose 'half-caste' children, children who were half Aboriginal and half European.

This was based on assimilation policies which claimed that the lives of First Nations people would be improved if they became apart of White Society.

These children were usually placed on missions or reservations or adopted by white families where they suffered abuse, and were denied family, community, and culture and taught to reject their Indigenous heritage in exchange for white culture. Names were changed and native languages were forbidden.

During this time, women and children were raped by white men, to force them to produce white children and basically ‘breed out the black.’ It was heavily effective, and many Indigenous people today carry European genes as a result - such as blue eyes, fair skin and blonde hair.

There are currently more than 17,000 Stolen Generation survivors. This has left a trail of trauma on survivors and their descendants.

As of today, over 31% of aboriginal people live in poverty. 45% receive government income payments. The school attendance rate is 88%. 33% of men in prisons are Indigenous. Most Aboriginal people are unable to access healthcare due to income and racism.

This is a direct result of governmental treatment and their failure of Indigenous people that continues today, with the ongoing struggles for recognition and reconciliation.