Education in Australia Timeline

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have been teaching and learning on Country and Place for thousands of generations. Despite colonial efforts to destroy sophisticated education practices, First Nations education systems have endured and changed over time. 

Governor Lachlan Macquarie founded the Native Institution, marking the beginning of attempts to assimilate Aboriginal children into colonial society by removing them from their families and communities. The institution set a precedent for future policies of child removal and assimilation, contributing to the historical injustices experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.  

The First Education Act made schooling ‘free, compulsory and secular’ to all children in that colony (later state). The other colonies followed, with similar legislation. Many Aboriginal children were excluded from formal schooling, as they were often removed from their families and placed in institutions or missions under policies aimed at assimilation. Those who did attend faced discrimination and were often taught to abandon their traditional languages, cultures, and identities, contributing to the broader history of exclusion and marginalisation of First Nations peoples in Australia. 

This Act introduced free and compulsory education in NSW. Students could be expelled under direction, meaning that Aboriginal children could be removed from schools for reasons related to their cultural background, race, or perceived “unsuitability.” 

The policy allowed Aboriginal students in NSW to attend their nearest public school, however schools could exclude them if they were perceived to have health or hygiene issues. 

Government schools were directed to exclude Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students if complaints were received from non-Indigenous parents. 

First Nations activists, including William Cooper, Douglas Nicholls, and Jack Patten, organised a protest in Sydney on January 26, the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet, which they called the "Day of Mourning". The protest included a march through the streets of Sydney, beginning at Sydney Town Hall and ending at the Australia Hall. It was one of the first major civil rights gatherings in the world marking the beginning of organised advocacy for Indigenous rights, including access to education. The Day of Mourning was held annually from 1940 to 1955 on the Sunday before Australia Day and was known as Aborigines Day. 

Aboriginal people were required to apply for exemption certificates under various state protection acts to attend a state school and live in a town, rather than a reserve or a mission. This often involved severing ties with community and culture.  

The National Aborigines Day Observance Committee (NADOC) was formed which led to NADOC Week being established in 1975. It was renamed in 1991 to NAIDOC to recognise Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is a celebration of First Peoples’ achievements, history and culture.  

A group of University of Sydney students, including Charles Perkins, embarked on a bus trip through regional New South Wales to expose and challenge the racism and segregation faced by Aboriginal people in country towns and schools.  

The capacity for principals to exclude Aboriginal children from schools was finally removed from the NSW Teachers handbook. 

The National Aboriginal Consultative Committee was established by the Whitlam government, making it the first national body elected by Aboriginal people in Australia. 

The NADOC committee was composed entirely of Aboriginal members for the first time. 

The Schools Commission enlisted a National Aboriginal Consultative Committee to assess the state of Aboriginal education in December of 1967. It was the first time Aboriginal peoples were consulted regarding the education of their children.  

The Victorian Aboriginal Education Association was first established in 1976 as the Victorian Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (VAECG). VAECG registered as the Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Incorporated (VAEAI) in 1985. 

Senator Neville Bonner, the first Aboriginal Australian to become a member of the Parliament of Australia, called for the establishment of a National Committee to address the educational disadvantages faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. He advocated for improvements in educational policies, including better access to schools and culturally appropriate curricula.  

The National Aboriginal Education Committee (NAEC) was established to provide advice to the Australian Government on educational issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples such as curriculum development, teacher training, school attendance, and community engagement. The NAEC advocated for the inclusion of First Nations cultures, languages, and histories in the curriculum, and ensuring that schools respected and acknowledged First Nations students' cultural identities. The NAEC became a key advisory group in education policy up until 1989 and led to the development of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy. 

The New South Wales Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (AECG), peak body for Aboriginal education in New South Wales was established in 1977.

Establishment of SNAICC (Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care), as the national peak body Aboriginal community-controlled organisation representing the interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, families, communities and organisations across Australia. 

The Australian Government appointed an Aboriginal Education Policy Task Force to provide advice on Indigenous education in Australia, and identify priorities in funding for existing programs and new initiatives. Chaired by Professor Paul Hughes, the final report of the Task Force highlighted the high level of Indigenous educational disadvantage documented in previous studies and made 59 recommendations, including a proposal for a coordinated national Aboriginal education policy.

The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy was developed in response to the ongoing educational disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. Within the Policy, there were long-term goals to address the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students including increased involvement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in educational decision making. In 1995, the policy was reviewed and it was found that only a few of the goals had been put into action. 

The Hobart Declaration set national goals for Australian education, emphasising equity and the need for education to reflect Australia’s cultural diversity, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives.  

The RCIADIC made 339 recommendations, including calls for a process of national reconciliation and the establishment of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, aiming to improve relationships between Aboriginal and non-Indigenous Australians. The report dedicated a chapter to schooling, illustrating connections between inadequate and unfair schooling systems and contact with the criminal justice system. 

In September 1991, The Australian Parliament unanimously passed the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation Act 1991, formally launching a process of national reconciliation and formally establishing the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (CAR).  

The Australian government established ATSIC to provide a representative voice for Indigenous Australians in policy decisions. The Commission played a key role in advocating for Indigenous rights, including education, land rights, and welfare services, until it was abolished in 2004. 

The first National Week of Prayer for Reconciliation, supported by Australia’s major faith communities 

CAR expands the Week of Prayer for Reconciliation to launch Australia’s first National Reconciliation Week. 

The recommendations made within the Bringing Them Home: National Inquiryvv into the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families report led to the apology to the Stolen Generations in 2008. The report highlighted the effects of forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, including education. 

Replacing the Hobart Declaration, the Adelaide Declaration emphasised that schooling should be socially just, with First Nations students having equitable accesses to education, and all students possessing “the knowledge, skills and understanding to contribute to, and benefit from reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians”.  

The statement was released at the World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education in 1999 and advocated for Indigenous peoples' rights to access education that “reflect, respect and embrace Indigenous cultural values, philosophies and ideologies”  

On May 28, 2000, an estimated 250,000 people participated in the Walk for Reconciliation in Sydney, calling for a formal apology to the Stolen Generations and a treaty between Indigenous peoples and the Australian government. This was a moment of national unity and advocacy for reconciliation. 

The Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation's Roadmap to Reconciliation led to the establishment of Reconciliation Australia in 2001. 

The Stronger Smarter Institute (formerly known as the Indigenous Education Leadership Institute) is formed in 2005. The Institute began as an innovative partnership between Education Queensland and the Queensland University of Technology, moving to an independent not-for-profit organisation in 2013.

On February 13, 2008, then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd issued a formal apology to the Stolen Generations in the Australian Parliament. This was a significant moment in the reconciliation process, acknowledging the harm caused by the forced removal policies. 

The National Indigenous Reform Agreement (NIRA) contained six targets focused on life expectancy and health, education and employment. 

 

Replacing the Adelaide Declaration, the Melbourne Declaration provided the foundation and policy framework for the development of the Australian Curriculum. It also included the responsibility of education to promote reconciliation, stating “All young Australians become … active and informed citizens… understand and acknowledge the value of Indigenous cultures and possess the knowledge, skills and understanding to contribute to, and benefit from, reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians” 

The Melbourne Declaration led to the establishment of Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) to oversee the implementation of the planned nationwide curriculum initiative national curriculum, which would include cross-curriculum priorities: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures, Asia and Australia's Engagement with Asia, and Sustainability.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) was  formally endorsed by the Australian Government in 2009. The UNDRIP states the importance of education reflecting the cultures, traditions, histories and aspirations of Indigenous peoples. 

Education Ministers endorsed the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers developed by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. These include strategies for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students (Focus Area 1.4) and understanding and respecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians (Focus Area 2.4). 

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Action Plan (2010-2014) was created to further assist the work of the AEP and the Melbourne Declaration, and further encourage non-Government education providers to join in the work of achieving six of the targets for closing the gap. The Plan was endorsed in 2011 and led to the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Strategy. 

The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Strategy was released in 2015. The Strategy had seven priorities: leadership, quality teaching and workforce development; culture and identity; partnerships; school and child readiness; literacy and numeracy; attendance; and transition points including pathways to post school options. 

 

In 2015, through the support of the UN Secretary General's Global Education First Initiative Youth Advocacy Group and the Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education, the National Indigenous Youth Education Advocacy Coalition (NIYEC) was established off the back of a National Indigenous Youth Education Advocacy Workshop. NIYEC mobilised Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth to drive the decisions made about their education and to support young people to be the next generation of education leaders. 

Narragunnawali: Reconciliation in Education is launched as a program of Reconciliation Australia to support schools and early learning services to take action towards reconciliation.  

The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Curricula Project, running from 2017-2019, was introduced to empower all teachers to integrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives into their classroom practice. 

The Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration was released in 2019, superceding the Melbourne Declaration. Central to this policy was the commitment by Australian Governments to empower First Nations students to reach their full potential; acknowledging the need for strategic effort and investment, and for all students to have the opportunity to develop the skills to contribute to, and benefit from, reconciliation between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians 

AITSL released its discussion paper ‘Building a culturally responsive Australian teaching workforce’ through collaboration and consultation with the profession, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education experts, students, families, and communities. This also resulted in a professional learning toolkit with resources to support the cultural responsiveness of teachers and leaders to enhance their teaching practice. 

Building upon the work of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Curricula Project, Ngarrngga, is launched as a collaboration between the Faculty of Education, Indigenous Studies Unit and Indigenous Knowledge Institute at the University of Melbourne. Ngarrngga aims to develop high-quality curriculum resources made by educators for educators, in collaboration with highly respected Indigenous Knowledge Experts. Ngarrngga (pronounced "Naan-gah") is a Taungurung word meaning to know, to hear, to understand. 

National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Corporation (NATSIEC) is established to focuses on education policies and programs of national importance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and provides advocacy and advice to Australian governments. 

Co-hosted by Reconciliation Australia’s Narragunnawali program and the University of Melbourne’s Ngarrngga program, the Reconciliation and Education: Past-Present-Future forum brought together key education leaders and stakeholders from every state and territory in the teaching of First Nations histories and cultures. The Forum led to the release of the 2023 Summary Report which explores the past, present and futures of education, and considers the challenges and successes that demand attention to drive a stronger future of reconciliation both in and through education. 

 The Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) updates the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) and My Time Our Place (MTOP) framework to include a focus on strengthening Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives throughout the frameworks including the vision, principles, practices and outcomes. 

The Australian government announced $18.2 million over four years to develop a new National First Nations Education Policy in the 2024–2025 federal budget. The policy will be developed in collaboration with First Nations stakeholders and peak organisations.  

The Parties to the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement to encourage and support self-determination of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities, to significantly improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education.