Australia – from ancient First Nations cultures to a modern federation
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have lived in Australia for tens of thousands of years, forming one of the oldest continuous cultures on Earth. Hundreds of distinct nations, each with their own languages, laws and deep spiritual ties to Country, cared for the land long before Europeans arrived.
Dutch navigators charted parts of the coast in the seventeenth century, and in 1770 James Cook claimed the east coast for Britain. In 1788 the First Fleet arrived at Sydney Cove to establish a penal colony. Over the following decades further colonies were founded, free settlers followed the convicts, and the gold rushes of the 1850s brought rapid growth. For First Nations peoples colonisation meant dispossession, violence, disease and later policies such as the forced removal of children, whose consequences are still felt today.
On 1 January 1901 the six colonies united to form the Commonwealth of Australia. The losses of the First World War, especially at Gallipoli, became central to national memory. After the Second World War large-scale immigration from Europe and later from Asia transformed society, and the discriminatory White Australia policy was gradually dismantled. The 1967 referendum, the Mabo decision on native title and the national apology of 2008 marked important steps in reckoning with the past.
Today Australia is shaped by its First Nations heritage, a diverse multicultural population and a vast, varied landscape.
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