The first people to emigrate to Australia were the Aborigines , who migrated from Southeast Asia over 40,000 years ago. Generally, Aborigines were a nomadic group that survived by hunting and gathering. By the time of the first stable and permanent European settlement in Australia (1788), the Aboriginal people had developed a specific and strong culture. This culture vastly differed from that of the Australians. This diversity of culture is important to fully understand the conflicts that exist in the country today. It illustrates why the situations of diversity and ethnic conflict are problems for the contemporary children of the country. During the 18th and 19th centuries there was a huge decline in the Aboriginal population due to disease, social and cultural disruptions, and brutal mistreatment. Out of all of these factors, disease took the most lives. Aborigine people did not have the antibodies to protect them against the "European" diseases. Disease control is still an immense problem today, particularly among children and childhood diseases which should be preventable. Since healthcare is still not equal, the Aborigine and rural populations die much more often from disease.
Approximately 94 percent of Australians originally came from Europe. Although the majority of the immigrants were either English or Irish, over 18 percent of the population is comprised of Europeans from other backgrounds. There were large waves of immigration from the Middle East and Asia after WWII. Today it is evident that a diverse population exists in Australia, and children are exposed to cultures that differ from their own.
From 1929-1932 there was a great depression not only in Australia, but most of the world. This had profound affects on Australia's population, but especially the poorer facets of the community. The children in rural and Aborigine populations fared badly. Since children and their families were already economically inferior to the urban dwellers, the gap became even larger. As the depression went on, the rural and Aborigine children did not have money for food or clothing. Also, unlike their urban counterparts, they were unable to get to places to purchase items since they lived in such remote areas.
Post WWII was a time of great political struggle in Australia. Intense lobbying led to a more liberal government. The government granted more rights to the Aborigine population. This political movement lead to many new changes. For example, in the late 1960's the Aborigines first got the right to vote. This guaranteed them the rights of full class citizens and the Aborigines became more equal to other Australians. This had a positive effect on the relationships with other Australians, especially between Aborigine children and other Australian children. These laws eliminated much of the tension that had once existed between the two groups of Australians. Laws, similar to the one granting Aborigines the right to vote, ended much of the de facto racism that was passed on to the children on both sides. It allows the children to interact in positive ways because less tension exists between them. Politically and economically, contemporary Australia is just like many other developed nations in the world, however its history and culture make it a unique and distinct country.
"Australia." (1998). Microsoft Encarta. Microsoft Inc.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (1996). Key National Indicators. [Online]
Available: http://www.cit.gu.edu.au/~rwt/bookmarks/government.html
December 18, 1998
