| The People |
| The population is made up of 94% people of European descent, 4% Asian and 1.5% Aboriginal. Most live within 20 km of the ocean. |
| It is believed that Aboriginal people have been living on the continent for the last 50,000 years and that Aborigines and Torrest Strait Islanders have possibly the longest continuous cultural history in the world. The oldest skeleton found in Australia was at Lake Mungo (south west New South Wales) and has been dated at 38,000 years old. |
| On arrival Captain Cooke declared Australia to be 'Terra Nullius' (empty land) possibly because Aborigines were not cultivators and had not developed a sense of land ownership. Aboriginal children however were taught from an early age that they belonged to the land and must respect tribal boundaries. This idea was/is lost on the European settlers which has caused endless legal and sociological problems for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Not properly identified as citizens until 1967, children were also forcibly removed from their families to take on new white European identities (The Stolen Generation). This racist climate is now slowly changing with both the Mabo (1992) and Wik (1996) High Court decisions leading to land rights and native title and the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families attempting reconciliation. |
| The Land |