Rights and Freedoms

1945 - present
UNIT YEAR 10: RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS

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 Introduction – human
rights
• Indigenous Australians have struggled to retain their rights and freedoms and
to have governments recognise them since 1788.

• Governments have implemented policies that have discriminated against

Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (ATSI), denying them
equality, opportunity and control of their children.

• Indigenous Australians have been politically active in demanding their rights.

• 1960s onwards has seen significant improvements in struggle for recognition,

justice for the Stolen Generations and legal acknowledgement of their land
rights.

• Australia has made a commitment to achieving the goals set out in the United
Nations declaration of human rights..

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Universal declaration of
human rights
TASK 1: Watch the 10 minute YouTube link on the history of the
declaration of human rights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh3BbLk5UIQ

TASK 2: Questions after watching the clip:

- What is the purpose of having human rights?
- Why were human rights implemented (started)?
- Provide examples of how these rights have been violated after 1945
- Why are universal human rights important for humanity?

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The UN and the UDHR
The United Nations: (UN)
Created and fostered conditions for future world peace and
security.
They wanted to prevent the disregard for human rights that
had allowed the war’s cruelties to occur.
Officially came into being on 24 October 1945.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights: (UDHR)
A ‘common understanding’ of the human rights and freedoms
that people and nations should recognise, observe and protect.

Australia’s Dr Evatt made an important contribution to this

process.

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Activity - definitions

Terra nullius Reserves Missions Dispossession

Assimilation Segregation Apartheid

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Term
Activity - answers
Meaning

Terra nullius land belonging to no one

Reserves A government institution where Aboriginals were placed

Missions Christian institution where Aboriginals were placed

Dispossession the action of depriving someone of land, property, or other possessions

Assimilation absorbing Aboriginal people into white society through the process of removing children
from their families
Segregation The actions of setting someone or something apart from others

Apartheid policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race.

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Declaration of Human Rights
TASK 1: Watch the 5 minute YouTube link on human rights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDgIVseTkuE

TASK 2: Outline the reasons the declaration of human rights is important for humanity and how
it needs to be upheld to all people

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Understanding the Universal declaration of human
rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights comprises of 30 articles ways to
protect people.
Examples include:
•own property (Art. 17)
•social security and economic, social and cultural rights (Art. 22)
•work, reasonable working conditions and protection against unemployment (Art. 23)
•rest and leisure (Art. 24)
•adequate living standards (Art. 25)
•education (Art. 26)

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Universal
Declaration of
Human Rights
Looking at these articles

Which one/s do you think is important

for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander peoples and why?

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Doc Evatt – mind map and writing
task
TASK 1: Watch the 2 minute clip on Doc Evatt about the
assembly of the declaration of human rights
https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/watch/1391085123838

TASK 2: Complete CLOZE passage

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Government Policies
oProtection
oAssimilation
oIntegration

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Protection policy 1890s – 1920s
oProtection policies were introduced to spare Aboriginal
peoples from the effects of ‘White’ culture; alcohol, disease
and social inequality.
oIt treated the Aboriginal people as children who needed
looking after.
o1901: Aboriginal Protection Boards established to ‘manage’
Aboriginal populations, by removing the children from their
families.
oAfter federation it became the responsibility of each state to
oversee what they thought was a ‘dying race’ of Aboriginals.

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Protection Policy continued
On the reserves Aboriginals
They were forced to speak Food was limited resulting
were forbidden to speak
English and practice in illness and death
their native languages and
Christianity especially amongst infants.
practise their culture.

Protectors had control over

Protectors controlled the where Aboriginals worked,
‘comings and goings’ of the money, possessions,
Aboriginals on the reserves. marriages and even when
they could go swimming.

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A Government Reserve

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A Mission run by the Church

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Assimilation Policy 1920-1960
‘Full blood’ Aboriginals were
Assimilation was a This would extend to their placed away from the white
government policy designed language, culture, beliefs, community and ‘mix blood’
to absorb Aboriginal people clothing and manner of Aboriginals were placed into
into white Australian society. living. white community to marry
non- indigenous people.

The overall aim of assimilation

was for the Aboriginal race to
be culturally mixed into white
society and ultimately to be
genetically ‘bred out’ as a race
of people.

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Assimilation Policy: impact
For the Aboriginal people, assimilation meant the loss of their culture, beliefs,
language and ultimately the destruction of family ties.

The government believed the children of mixed blood would more readily learn
and adapt to white culture.

To achieve this, they were sent to special ‘training’ schools and then fostered out
to white families and homes.

In this way they were not exposed to Aboriginal culture and were engulfed in
white ways.

These children are collectively known as the ‘Stolen Generations’.

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 SOURCE ANALYSIS
‘The Board may assume full control and custody of the child of any aborigine, if after due
inquiry it is satisfied that such a course is in the interest of the moral and physical welfare of such
child. The Board may thereupon remove such child to such control and care as it thinks best.’
Section 13A, Aborigines Protection Amending Act, No. 2 of 1915

1. Write out the stimulus above

2. Underline the key areas where it indicates the government was showing its power of
removing the children
3. Outline the effect this Act (the stimulus above) had on Indigenous people

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Day of Mourning
•For Indigenous people, 26 January 1938 was a day to
mourn the losses and injustices they had endured
since British settlement.

•The 1938 Day of Mourning and Protest achieved:

• uniting Aboriginal people to demand their civil rights
• gave awareness if Australia day is an appropriate day of
celebration.

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Day of
Mourning 1938
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=ZCzShYYAkpo

oWatch the YouTube 4.57 minute

link above

oComplete activity on the

worksheet given

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Full Blooded Indigenous
children
Removed from their families and placed in state-run institutions
and prepared for unskilled and semi-skilled work.

The Kinchela Boys Home (established 1924)

In training institutions like this, boys were basic farming and
labouring skills

Cootamundra Aboriginal Girls Training Home (1911)

In training institutions like this, girls were taught the skills to be
domestic servants for white families

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 Full Blooded Indigenous
children
oCootamundra Domestic Training Home for Girls in NSW trained girls to
be domestic servants
At the home
•denied the girls any contact with their own families
•taught them nothing about their own cultures and traditions
•forbad the use of their traditional languages
•punished anyone who contravened these rules.
•paid infrequently if at all
•worked long hours with little personal freedom
•were at risk of sexual abuse.

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Stolen Generation
oStolen generation: Children who were forcibly
removed from their families and placed into
state care in missions or with white families, to
embrace white culture.
oDates roughly between 1800s to the 1970s.
oThese children face ongoing emotional and
social difficulties due to being taken away from
their families.
oOften the mixed-race or haste-caste children
were rejected by Europeans and Aboriginal
communities.

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Stolen Generation – Bringing them
Home report
•This report was called the Binging them home
report and showed the treatment Aboriginals
experiences as well as the long lasting effect it had
on their lives.

•Government reports indicate that race was the real

reason for removing the children.

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“I like the little girl in centre of group, but if taken by
anyone else, any of the others will do as long as they
are strong.”

Explain what source

suggests about
Identify the reason why
community attitudes and
the person has chosen the
expectations they hoped
child with an X.
to gain when taking one of
the children

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 Integration was adopted due to the failure of the assimilation policy. It
was an attempt to incorporate Aboriginals into Australian society as
Aboriginal people enabling them to retain their own culture, language,
and identity.

Aboriginals gained an identity and suspended removing children from

their families.
Integration However, there were still significant restrictions to their lives. The
Policy: 1960- government also wanted to sell off the ‘valuable’ mineral rich reserve land
to mining companies.
1972
The sale of reserve land meant the Aboriginals were again dispossessed
and moved to low-cost housing in the suburbs with little health and
education facilities, away from the white communities.

The Aboriginals were not happy with this option as they wanted to remain
close to their families. As a result, many Aboriginals returned to reserve
sites living in abandoned cars and makeshift tents.

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Source analysis worksheet
Complete the source analysis worksheet given to you

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