1. A brief history of Australia

2. Australia’s First Peoples
Believed to have been inhabited for over 50,000 years
Aboriginal peoples survived by a nomadic hunting and gathering lifestyle

3. The arrival of Europeans
1778- European settlers arrived
Europeans claimed to own the land
Aboriginal people were displaced from their traditional hunting lands
Europeans cleared the natural vegetation to make farms

4. The demise of the Aboriginal Peoples
Violent conflicts between Europeans and aboriginal peoples drastically reduced the aboriginal population
Europeans introduced diseases, including smallpox, which claimed thousands of Aboriginals lives
Aboriginal population dropped from over 300,000 (1700’s) to 80,000 (1950’s).

5. And the resurgence
It was not until the ’s that the Aboriginal population began to increase
Government policies attempted to ensure that Aboriginal peoples enjoyed the same standard of health and well-being

6. __________________________ (_____________________________)
European Settlements
First settlement, at present-day Sydney, was a penal colony
Criminals and political troublemakers were shipped from Britain
Britain stopped ‘exporting prisoners’ in but by then 90,000 convicts were in New South Wales (and 67,000 in Tasmania)

7. In recent times. . .
Australia granted independence from Britain in 1901
Until the 1950’s, most immigrants were from Britain
In the 1970’s, phased out legislation that prevented non-whites from immigrating to Australia
Asia is currently a major source of immigration to Australia