History of Aboriginal Australian sovereignty assertions

Sources for this page

Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.

1. 1.

   Claim: In August 1963, the Yolngu people of Arnhem Land presented Bark Petitions, written in both Yolngu and English, to the Australian Parliament, marking the first time Aboriginal people had used Westminster parliamentary forms to press a claim; the petitions responded to the federal government's excision of 140 square miles from the Arnhem Land Aboriginal Reserve for bauxite mining without consulting the Yolngu people who lived there.

   • A short history of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy – an indelible reminder of unceded sovereignty (The Conversation) link, 1963 Yolngu Bark Petitions section. Source record
2. 2.

   Claim: In 1966, Aboriginal stockmen and their families, including the Gurindji people, walked off Wave Hill cattle station in the Northern Territory; under the leadership of Vincent Lingiari, the protest evolved from a labour dispute into a campaign for the return of Gurindji ancestral lands.

   • A short history of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy – an indelible reminder of unceded sovereignty (The Conversation) link, 1966 Gurindji walk-off section. Source record
3. 3.

   Claim: The Aboriginal Tent Embassy was established in 1972 outside Australia's Parliament House, using the term "embassy" to assert that Aboriginal people had never ceded sovereignty nor engaged in any treaty process with the Crown, following a prime ministerial speech dismissing Aboriginal land-rights claims and reaffirming an assimilation policy.

   • Aboriginal Tent Embassy (Wikipedia) link, 1972 founding and sovereignty assertion section. Source record
4. 4.

   Claim: The 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart, produced by 250 Indigenous delegates at the First Nations National Constitutional Convention, called for constitutional change including a constitutionally enshrined Indigenous Voice to Parliament; its own published materials explicitly state that its discussion of Indigenous sovereignty is not about secession from Australia.

   • FAQs (Uluru Statement from the Heart) link, Sovereignty not secession statement. Movement organisation perspective Source record
5. 5.

   Claim: A referendum on constitutionally enshrining an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, held on 14 October 2023 following the Uluru Statement, was defeated at the national level and in every state.

   • 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum (Wikipedia) link, 2023 referendum result section. Source record