Ruqayyah Snyder
Australia has a long and complex history of human habitation, stretching back tens of thousands of years. The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians first migrated to the continent during the last glacial period, around 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, via land bridges and short sea crossings from Southeast Asia. These early Australians established a rich and diverse culture, with evidence of their presence found in stone tools, rock art, and mineral pigments like ochre. The first documented European landing in Australia occurred in March 1606 when Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon arrived on the western side of Cape York Peninsula. Subsequent European exploration and settlement, particularly by the British, led to the dispossession of Indigenous peoples and the establishment of colonies, ultimately shaping the Australia of today.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Migration of people from | Southeast Asia |
| Migration date | 50,000 to 65,000 years ago |
| Migration type | Land bridges and short sea crossings |
| Earliest human remains | Lake Mungo in New South Wales |
| Date of the earliest human remains | 41,000-42,000 years ago |
| Site of human occupation | Madjedbebe rock shelter in Arnhem Land |
| Date of the site of human occupation | 50,000 years ago |
| Earliest evidence of human arrival | Mineral pigments such as ochre |
| Date of the earliest evidence of human arrival | 50,000 years ago |
| Arrival of the First Fleet of convicts | January 1788 |
| Number of convicts transported to Australia | Over 160,000 |
| Date of the discovery of gold in Bathurst | February 1851 |
| Aboriginal population before British settlement | 300,000 to 3 million |
| Aboriginal population in 2021 | 30% of the total population |
| Aboriginal languages in use or being revived | More than 120 |
| Aboriginal languages in use that are endangered | 70 |
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What You'll Learn
The first Aboriginal Australians
The Madjedbebe rock shelter in Arnhem Land, in the north of the continent, is perhaps the oldest site of human occupation in Australia. From the north, the population spread into a range of very different environments. Devil's Lair in the extreme southwest of the continent was occupied around 47,000 years ago, and Tasmania by 39,000 years ago. The oldest human remains found are at Lake Mungo in New South Wales, which have been dated to around 41,000 to 42,000 years ago.
The Aboriginal Tasmanians were isolated from the mainland from about 14,000 years ago. As a result, they only possessed one-quarter of the tools and equipment of the adjacent mainland. About 4,000 years ago, the first phase of occupation of the Torres Strait Islands began. By 2,500 years ago, more of the islands were occupied and a distinctive Torres Strait Islander maritime culture emerged.
Much of our knowledge about the earliest people in Australia comes from archaeology. The physical remains of human activity that have survived in the archaeological record are largely stone tools, rock art, and ochre, shell middens, and charcoal deposits and human skeletal remains. These all provide information on the tremendous length and complexity of Aboriginal Australian culture.
The term "Aboriginal" has been in the English language since at least the 16th century, meaning "first or earliest known, indigenous". It comes from the Latin "ab" (from) and "origo" (origin, beginning). The term was used in Australia as early as 1789 to describe its Aboriginal peoples.
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European exploration
The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians migrated to the Australian continent about 50,000 to 65,000 years ago during the last glacial period. They arrived by land bridges and short sea crossings from what is now Southeast Asia. The Madjedbebe rock shelter in Arnhem Land is the oldest site of human occupation in Australia. The oldest human remains found are at Lake Mungo in New South Wales, dated to around 41,000 years ago.
In 1788, the First Fleet of British ships arrived at Botany Bay, establishing a new penal colony in New South Wales. A camp was set up and the flag raised at Sydney Cove, Port Jackson, on 26 January 1788, now celebrated as Australia Day. In 1798, George Bass and Matthew Flinders circumnavigated Tasmania, proving it to be an island. In 1801, Flinders led the first circumnavigation of Australia, with the Aboriginal explorer Bungaree, who became the first person born on the Australian continent to circumnavigate it. In 1803, a settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land (present-day Tasmania). In 1813, Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson, and William Wentworth crossed the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, opening the interior to European settlement. In 1824, a penal colony was established near the mouth of the Brisbane River, later becoming the colony of Queensland. In 1826, the British claim was extended to the whole Australian continent when Major Edmund Lockyer established a settlement on King George Sound (modern-day Albany).
In 1829, the Swan River Colony (present-day Perth) was founded on the west coast, evolving into the largest Australian colony by area. In 1836, the colony of South Australia was settled, and the foundation of South Australia is generally commemorated as Governor John Hindmarsh's Proclamation of the new Province at Glenelg on 28 December 1836. The Polish scientist and explorer Count Paul Edmund Strzelecki conducted surveying work in the Australian Alps in 1839 and became the first European to ascend Australia's highest peak, naming it Mount Kosciuszko. In 1851, Victoria became a separate colony, and the discovery of gold near Bathurst, New South Wales, sparked a gold rush, causing inflation and labour shortages.
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British settlement
The British settlement of Australia began with the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip. The fleet established a camp and raised the British flag at Sydney Cove, Port Jackson, on 26 January 1788, a date which later became Australia's national day, Australia Day. The colony was formally proclaimed by Governor Phillip on 7 February 1788, and the territory of New South Wales claimed by Britain included more than half of mainland Australia, as well as many islands in the Pacific.
In the early years of British settlement, the majority of European settlers in Australia were convicts sent by the British government, although there were also some free settlers. These free settlers typically paid their own way to Australia and were generally quite prosperous. As the number of free settlers grew, the British government began to pay transportation costs for less wealthy migrants in the early 1800s, providing them with free land and agricultural tools, as well as convict labour, on the condition that the land be used productively. This appeal to those suffering from unemployment and poverty in Britain due to the Industrial Revolution.
The colonisation of Australia came at a cost to the continent's Indigenous peoples. Initially, relations between Aboriginal peoples and European newcomers were generally friendly, with the Aboriginal people of Sydney mostly avoiding the newcomers. However, conflict soon developed as the Europeans expanded their settlements into Aboriginal territory, and competition for access to land increased friction between the two groups. As the settlers' behaviour became unacceptable to the Indigenous population, individuals were killed, and these killings were met with reprisals from the settlers, often on a disproportionate scale. Aboriginal resistance to the invasion of their lands led to violent clashes and economic warfare, with the Aboriginal people employing guerrilla tactics and targeting livestock and property.
Over time, the British settlement of Australia expanded beyond New South Wales. In 1803, Governor Phillip Gidley King established a settlement in Van Diemen's Land (modern-day Tasmania) to forestall possible French settlement. This settlement centred on Launceston in the north and Hobart in the south. In 1824, the Moreton Bay penal settlement was established on the site of present-day Brisbane, and in 1829, the Swan River Colony was founded on the west coast, with its capital at Perth. The Swan River Colony was the first convict-free and privatised colony in Australia, although it later accepted convicts due to labour shortages. In 1836, the colony of South Australia was established as a privately financed settlement based on the theory of "systematic colonisation", and it remained the only British colony in Australia to maintain a ban on convict labour.
By 1850, the population of Brisbane had reached 8,000, and the settler population of New South Wales had grown to 180,000, with 70,000-75,000 living in the area that became the separate colony of Victoria in 1851. In the same year, Britain granted Van Diemen's Land, South Australia, and Victoria semi-elected Legislative Councils, and agitation for democratic reforms continued to grow among the increasing number of free settlers and people born in the colonies. In 1857, the British government agreed to the separation of Queensland from New South Wales, and in 1859, the colony of Queensland was proclaimed.
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Gold rush
The Australian gold rush, which began in 1851, was a significant event in the country's history, attracting people from all over the world and shaping its population and society.
The first discovery of payable gold was made in February 1851 by Edward Hargraves near Bathurst, New South Wales, at a site called Ophir. Hargraves had learned new prospecting techniques such as panning and cradling during his time at the California Gold Rush. Before the end of the year, gold was discovered in other parts of the state, including to the west, south, and north of Sydney.
The Victorian gold rush was sparked in June 1851 when James Esmond found gold near the town of Clunes. This was followed by discoveries at Castlemaine, Daylesford, Creswick, Maryborough, Bendigo, and McIvor. Victoria's deposits were so rich that the colony accounted for more than one-third of the world's gold production during the 1850s. The richest gold fields were found in Victoria, with Ballarat and Bendigo Creek being notable sites.
The gold rushes caused a huge influx of people from overseas, with Australia's population increasing nearly fourfold from 430,000 in 1851 to 1.7 million in 1871. Between 1852 and 1860, 290,000 people migrated to Victoria from the British Isles, 15,000 came from other European countries, and 18,000 emigrated from the United States. The gold rushes also attracted non-European immigrants, particularly the Chinese, who suffered discrimination due to their differing techniques, physical appearance, and fear of the unknown.
The gold rushes transformed the convict colonies into more progressive cities, with the influx of free immigrants bringing new skills and professions and contributing to a burgeoning economy. The mateship that evolved between these immigrants, termed "diggers," led to the emergence of a unique national identity. The gold rushes also greatly expanded Australia's population, boosted its economy, and helped create a wealthy, liberal society with a high standard of living.
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Post-World War II immigration
In the immediate aftermath of World War II, the Australian government, led by Prime Minister Ben Chifley, established the federal Department of Immigration to administer a large-scale immigration program. Chifley commissioned a report that found Australia was in urgent need of a larger population for defence and development purposes. The report recommended a 1% annual increase in population through immigration, a target that was supported by Melbourne economist WD 'Bill' Forsyth, who argued that immigration should be linked to the development of urban industry rather than just rural areas.
Arthur Calwell, the first Minister for Immigration, promoted mass immigration with the slogan "populate or perish", reflecting the government's fear of invasion during the war and the belief that a larger population was necessary for defence. Calwell looked outside of Britain for new migrants, including those displaced by the war from the Baltic region, southern and eastern Europe, and, temporarily, the Middle East and Asia. These immigrants, known as "Ten Pound Poms", found employment in a booming manufacturing industry and government-assisted programmes, such as the Snowy Mountains Scheme, a hydroelectricity and irrigation complex that remains the largest engineering project undertaken in Australia.
The post-war immigration program transformed Australian society, introducing the first non-British migrants sanctioned by the government. It also contributed to a shift away from the White Australia policy, as the country began to embrace multiculturalism. By 1955, one million post-war immigrants had arrived in Australia, and by 1960, 1.2 million people had migrated, contributing to a third of the nation's population growth. This period of immigration played a significant role in shaping modern Australia, both socially and economically, and by 2021, the country's population had grown to more than 25.5 million, with 30% of the population born overseas.
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Frequently asked questions
Human habitation of the Australian continent is estimated to have begun 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, with the migration of people by land bridges and short sea crossings from what is now Southeast Asia.
The oldest human fossil remains found in Australia date to around 40,000 to 42,000 years ago. These were discovered at Lake Mungo in New South Wales. Other evidence includes stone tools, rock art, shell middens, and charcoal deposits.
The first documented landing on Australia by a European was in March 1606, by the Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon. However, there is evidence that explorers from Portugal, Spain, and other countries may have reached Australia earlier.
British settlement of Australia began in 1788 with the arrival of the First Fleet of convicts at Botany Bay, led by Captain Arthur Phillip. James Cook had previously sailed and mapped the east coast of Australia in 1770, claiming it for Great Britain and naming it New South Wales.
British settlement had a devastating impact on the Indigenous people of Australia, who were dispossessed of their land and suffered from introduced diseases. The British also attempted to assimilate Aboriginal people through measures such as land grants, Aboriginal farms, and the establishment of a Native Institution for the education of Aboriginal children.
