Australian
1907: Harvester minimum wage judgement by Justice Higgins
"In 1907 Justice Henry Bourne Higgins, President of the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Court, set the first federally arbitrated wages standard in Australia. Higgins’s ruling became the basis for setting Australia’s minimum wage standard for the next 70 years.Using the Sunshine Harvester Factory as a test case, Justice Higgins took the pioneering approach of hearing… Read More »1907: Harvester minimum wage judgement by Justice Higgins
1975: Dismissal of the Whitlam Government
"On 11 November 1975, after a series of dramatic events including a 1974 double dissolution and a budgetary supply crisis, the Gough Whitlam-led federal Labor government became the first (and only) government in Australian history to be dismissed by the Governor-General. While this constitutional crisis has overshadowed the Whitlam years, the administration left a lasting… Read More »1975: Dismissal of the Whitlam Government
1964: Passage of National Service Act by Australian Parliament
An Act to amend the National Service Act 1951-1957. The National Service Act 1964, was an Australian federal law, passed on 24 November 1964, which required 20-year-old males to serve in the Army for a period of twenty-four months of continuous service (reduced to eighteen months in 1971) followed by three years in the Reserve.… Read More »1964: Passage of National Service Act by Australian Parliament
1998: Award of the first Sydney Peace Prize to Muhammad Yunus
The Inaugural Sydney Peace Prize was presented to Professor Muhammad Yunus for his innovative work enabling the world’s poor to become independent through access to microfinance, and for his inspiring advocacy of view that poverty is the denial of all human rights and that peace is freedom from poverty. In 2006, Professor Yunus went on… Read More »1998: Award of the first Sydney Peace Prize to Muhammad Yunus
1986: Meeting of Saint John Paul II with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Alice Springs
"Dear Aboriginal people: the hour has come for you to take on new courage and new hope. You are called to remember the past, to be faithful to your worthy traditions, and to adapt your living culture whenever this is required by your own needs and those of your fellowman. Above all you are called… Read More »1986: Meeting of Saint John Paul II with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Alice Springs
1976: Appointment of Sir Douglas Nicholls as Governor of South Australia, first Aboriginal person to hold vice-regal office
"A trailblazer who won hearts around the nation, the achievements of Sir Douglas Nicholls KCVO OBE JP are many and varied, taking in the fields of sport, politics and social justice. He broke new ground — as the first Indigenous Australian to receive a knighthood in 1972, and the first to be appointed to vice-regal… Read More »1976: Appointment of Sir Douglas Nicholls as Governor of South Australia, first Aboriginal person to hold vice-regal office
International Day for Abolition of Slavery
Slavery is not something from the past. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) more than 40 million people worldwide are victims of modern slavery. 'Modern slavery' is an umbrella term referring to practices such as forced labour, debt bondage, forced marriage, and human trafficking. These practices place people in situations of exploitation that they cannot refuse… Read More »International Day for Abolition of Slavery
2000: 350,000 people walk for reconciliation in Melbourne and Perth
The Melbourne walk, starting at Flinders Street Station and finishing at King’s Domain gardens, drew as many as 300,000 people. The bridge walk and similar events across Australia were enormously important in showing that public sentiment was moving towards support for more concrete steps in the reconciliation process. Though the event was organised by Aboriginal… Read More »2000: 350,000 people walk for reconciliation in Melbourne and Perth
2000: Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation Final Report presented
At the end of the year 2000, the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation handed its final report to the national Parliament at a ceremonial event at Parliament House in Canberra. This letter contained in the full report provides an overview of the decade-long work of the Council and a way forward for the nation to achieve… Read More »2000: Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation Final Report presented