The film study of Rabbit Proof Fence will consolidate disadvantages faced by Indigenous people during the time of the Assimilation Policy and Protection Policy. As we watch the film, we will be making notes and answering questions based on the following booklet.
Reconciliation Reconciliation is about respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage and valuing justice and equity for all Australians. The reconciliation movement is said to have begun with the 1967 referendum in which 90 per cent of Australians voted to remove clauses in the Australian Constitution which discriminated against Indigenous Australians.
National Reconciliation Week was first celebrated in 1996. National Reconciliation Week aims to give people across Australia the opportunity to focus on reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. It is a time to 'reflect on achievements so far and on what must still be done to achieve reconciliation' (Reconciliation Australia).
National Reconciliation Week falls between 27 May and 3 June – two significant dates in the relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, the anniversary of the 1967 referendum and Mabo Day, the anniversary of the 1992 High Court judgment in the Mabo case.
The Decision On 3 June 1992, six of the seven High Court judges upheld the claim and ruled that the lands of this continent were not terra nullius or ‘land belonging to no-one’ when European settlement occurred, and that the Meriam people were 'entitled as against the whole world to possession, occupation, use and enjoyment of (most of) the lands of the Murray Islands'.
The Mabo Case was a significant legal case in Australia that recognised the land rights of the Meriam people, traditional owners of the Murray Islands (which include the islands of Mer, Dauer and Waier) in the Torres Strait. The Mabo Case challenged the existing Australian legal system from two perspectives:
On the assumption that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples had no concept of land ownership before the arrival of British colonisers in 1788 (terra nullius).
That sovereignty delivered complete ownership of all land in the new Colony to the Crown, abolishing any existing rights that may have existed previously.
Bringing Them Home is the Australian Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families. The report marked a pivotal moment in the controversy that has come to be known as the Stolen Generations. The inquiry was established by the federal Attorney-General, Michael Lavarch, on 11 May 1995, in response to efforts made by key Indigenous agencies and communities concerned that the general public's ignorance of the history of forcible removal was hindering the recognition of the needs of its victims and their families and the provision of services. The 680-page report was tabled in Federal Parliament on 26 May 1997.
During the course of the inquiry 777 submissions were received, which included 535 Indigenous individual and group submissions, 49 church submissions and 7 government submissions.
There is current media coverage of the importance of this single individual who bravely took a stand for the Rights and Freedoms in the midst of the 1960s, yet his name and significance is known by few. Refer to the following file and complete the activities.