The Struggle for Aboriginal Rights in Australia

Javiera Sothers Senior Division Individual Website

When I began this project, I wanted to do it on a topic that would be something no one had looked into before. I sought for a topic that was fresh, exciting, and something that truly depicted this years theme: Rights and Responsibilities. I studied different continents until I came to the final two: Latin America and Australia. Since I come from Latin America already, I decided to begin doing research on Australia, and further on I decided on the subject of Australian aborigines. The basis for my project was set. I began researching my topic, and as I began unraveling layer after layer of information, I knew I had discovered something worth looking into. I first read several articles on the injustice brought upon aboriginal Australians and how, from the beginning, the government abused their rights. I then searched for primary source documents that accurately represented and/or described these events. The documents were few in number but they were valuable nonetheless. Using different research databases, I managed to get an overall idea of the struggle in Australia. I was considerably impacted by this since I had never before known the injustice and conflict that has been happening in Australia for the last few hundred years. Using the information I acquired, I began my website. I had decided to do a website before I began research to frame a mental picture. My mental picture was this: introducing the topic, elaborating on the past discriminatory acts by the government, tying it in with NHD theme, and finally, describing the results of these acts today and the continuing struggle. Once I had that structure down, I began making pages for the topics. After I had most of the information on my site, I began looking for videos and music to further emphasize my topic. Using different systems on the Internet, I highlighted the important parts in the multimedia and cut them down to less than 45 seconds. Once I had that, I revised my website one final time, and published it.

The struggle for aboriginal rights in Australia accurately represents this years NHD theme: rights and responsibilities. The Australian government abused the rights of aboriginal Australians throughout their colonization, and the aborigines had no say. It is a universal idea that aborigines are entitled to all or at least some of their land, just like Native Americans in the United States. However, Australian aborigines were repeatedly denied their rights. Responsibilities come into play concerning the governments burden. The Australian government has the responsibility to give all Australians their rights, whether it is for land, citizenship, or something as simple as being counted in the census. The Australian government has ignored these responsibilities, and as a result, Australia remains the only commonwealth country that has not signed a treaty with its indigenous people. This years theme perfectly encircles the struggle for aboriginal rights in Australia.