Terra nullius

Nowadays, when you picture a child, most people would picture them living life to the fullest. Maybe going to the park, setting up playdates, playing with friends, and just having fun with their families. Now imagine a small child having their normal life taken from them within a blink of an eye. Being forcefully taken from their families due to their ethnicity, and put into institutions. They taught them that they weren't who they really were, raped and even neglected. Just like the Holocaust,…

worshiping a Christian God and praising the monarchy that governs you. Two months have passed since you have left port and at last you reach shore. A lush green horizon that unfolds in front of you as you step upon the lunar shores. What do you see? Terra nullius, or a land unowned and unmanaged? That’s what these men who landed there in 1492 believed they were gazing upon. Ecstatic, these men thought of how great it will be to populate the land with the same values and ideas instilled in them…

“History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be reworked, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.” The acknowledgement of history is vital in an individual’s progression to remedy past mistakes. “The Secret River” illustrates a narrative about 19th Century Australia, whilst simultaneously making comment on the treatment of Indigenous Australian’s at the time. The racist attitudes of the white settlers in the story can also be seen as the foundation of contemporary-day Australia’s…

Charles Perkins through his Freedom Ride in 1965 and Vincent Lingiari, the elder of the Gurindji people, who promoted the Wave Hill Strike in 1966. In 1992, Eddie Mabo, on behalf of the Murray Island people, successfully overturned the concept of ‘terra nullius’ in the High Court as they ruled that Australia was occupied at the time of British settlement. In due course, this decision led to the creation of the Native…

the design ‘Australia Est. 1788’ on the front were approved by the government to be sold by huge Australia stores such as Big W and Aldi. Although it was removed due to backlash, many shirts were inevitably sold which legitimises the concept of terra nullius. Many Australians unknowingly accept that the First Fleet rightfully gained possession of Australia even though it, being the oldest continent, was inhabited by Aboriginals for at least 70 000 years. Article 2, ‘Modern Australia’s defining…

states, “One of the first effects of international law on indigenous rights was was ironically through the legacy of their disposession”-- the colonization and subjugation of indigenous territories was legally sanctioned by rules like “discovery”, “terra nullius” and “conquest” (1). At the end of the 18th century, The first time the League of Nations dealt with the rights of Indigenous People was through the International Labor Rights movement. In 1957, ILO 107…

Despite being aware of the existence of these people, the British considered the Australian continent to be a terra nullius under English law, meaning a land belonging to no one and started their settlement in 1788. The population of the aboriginals declined significantly after British settlement due to unfamiliar diseases from Europe and also due to violent conflicts…

In 1788, Europeans first discovered and settled in Australia. When Australia was established as a colony of Britain, the conflict between Indigenous people and white people had started. The British tried to displace Aboriginal people from their land. They made lots of policies to get rid of Aboriginal people and tried to assimilate Aboriginal people into ‘white’ society. In 1991, the process of reconciliation formally began and this process has been continuing till now. Although the Indigenous…

The purpose of this paper is to critically analyse the impact of history and colonisation on contemporary First People’s health outcomes. It will also analyse how these impacts influenced Australia’s First Peoples ability to build trustful and respectful relationships within the healthcare system. It will commence by explaining the policy era of colonisation and how this era impacted on health. This will then lead into strength-based approaches that healthcare professionals can use to build…

his audiences understanding about Australian and Aboriginal history, as he was an active member of the Indigenous community and high profile Aboriginal law graduate. This speech was given 4 years after the Mabo decision rejected the theory of Terra Nullius and just a few days after prime minister John Howard criticised the ‘black armband’ view of history, which then caused a debate over how Australians should respond to their past. This was a time of social and political anxiety in Australia’s…