Australia: A History of Immigration
January 26,
1788
Post WW2
Immigration
Populate or
Perish
First Fleet arrive
in Sydney Cove
50 000 BC
Approximately
50 000 years
ago ancestors
of Aboriginal
peoples arrive
1700
1750
1800
1850
1900
Post 2001
Refugees
from the
Middle East
1950
2000
1851
The Gold
Rush
January 1
1901
Federation
of Australia
1975-85
South-East
Asian
refugees
Glossary
Immigration Timeline Task
•Create a timeline outlining important immigration periods in Australian
history. (Use the events we studied during the first lesson and, if you know
it, add the time your family arrived).
•Create a hyperlink from each period to a separate page.
•On each page give more detail about that particular period, outlining:
1. The reasons for the event/ migration
2. Number of immigrants coming to Australia
3. Attitudes of Australians at the time
4. Government policy at the time
5. An image
6. Legacy (a brief description of what that particular group has added to Australian culture
Eg. Workforce, artists, food
•In the case of governmental action or developments, outline the
significance of these events in relation to immigration policy – ie
Federation
To complete the task:
1.
Open a new PowerPoint document
2.
Copy the first slide from this document
This will form the basis of your work
3.
To use Hyperlink:
1.
1.
Open a new slide
Highlight the text
Right click on the text
Left click on “Hyperlink”
Select “Place in This Document”
Click on the new slide
The First Fleet
For approximately 50 000 years the first Australians
lived in relative peace. After Captain James Cook
discovered the east coast of New South Wales in 1770 a
new fate of the continent was sealed. He reported to
the British Government that New South Wales would
be a suitable place for habitation and so it was decided
to send eleven vessels, 9 of which contained criminals,
to ease the pressure on English gaols. (1) reason.
Previously the British had used America to dump its
prisoners, but as America had defeated Britain in the
American war of Independence (1775-1783), Britain
was forced to stop this practice.
Captain Arthur Phillip was commissioned oversee the
monumental journey to New South Wales and establish
a colony. The first Governor of New South Wales lead
an expedition of eleven vessels containing
approximately 780 convicts, 180 of whom were
women, and approximately 200 marines and officers.
(Turner,B. 1992) (2) number
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Federation and the Immigration Restriction Act
On the First of January 1901 the six colonies federated to
form the Nation of Australia. Immigration policy was a
principle duty of the newly formed Federal Government.
One of the first laws that it passed was the Immigration
Restriction Act 1901. The purpose of the act was to
preserve British culture and Influence. They achieved this
by including a dictation test that potential immigrants had
to pass (p14, Brash, 2009). In a further act to restrict
‘undesirable people’ from immigrating, the Australian
Government allowed the immigration officials to set the
dictation test in any European language they liked. This
way they could force an English speaking person to sit the
exam in an obscure language and thus fail. This policy of
restriction became unofficially known as the White
Australia Policy and was in use until the Whitlam
Government. In 1901 the Pacific Island Labourers Act was
also passed. This policy saw the removal of thousands of
Pacific Islander workers known as Kanakas.
The Immigration Restriction Act and White Australia
Policy had widespread support. Powerful publications
such as The Bulletin encourages nationalistic purity to
both protect British Culture but also to protect Australian
workers from cheap overseas labour (p20, Brash, 2009).
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Glossary
Asylum Seeker
Refugee
UNHCR
Multiculturalism
Boat People
Temporary Protection Visa
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