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      Timeline of the Nation
   

1846 - 1890   |   1891 - 1900   |   1901 - 1910   |   1911 - 1920
    1921 - 1930   |   1931 - 1940   |   1941 - 1950   |   1951 - 1960
        1961 - 1970
   1971 - 1980   |   1981 - 1990   |   1991 - 2000

 

1846 First recorded suggestion of the need to establish a ‘federal authority’ to govern Australia.
1851 Victoria separates from NSW to form its own colonial government.
1859 Queensland separates from NSW to form its own colonial government.
1871 The Australian Natives’ Association (ANA), a popular movement of Australian-born, white men is established in Melbourne. The ANA and, later, the Australasian Federation League were founded to promote the vision of one united Australia.
1877 A combined NSW and Victoria cricket team defeat England in the first cricket test played in Australia. The concept of a nationally representative cricket team is established.
1883 HandshakeThe Federal Council of Australasia is formed. This Council of colonial governments, and also including New Zealand and Pacific membership, was shunned by NSW and South Australia.
1889 9 October – Report suggests that colonies should federate for defence reasons.

24 October – Tenterfield Oration - Sir Henry Parkes, Premier of NSW proclaims that the time for federation has arrived.

1890

Australasian Federation Conference, Melbourne – delegates decide to call a Constitutional Convention to discuss and draft a constitution for a federal system of government.

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1891 National Australasian Convention, Sydney – parliamentary delegates agree to adopt the name "Commonwealth of Australia" and a draft constitution is written aboard the steamboat, Lucinda, on the Hawkesbury River. This draft provides the basis for all future redrafting. Australians now have a draft constitution but it is not adopted by the colonial parliaments. Progress towards Federation is stalled by the colonies’ concerns about their own status within a Federation. Popular support for Federation leads to the formation of the Australasian Federation Leagues, and it is the people who continue the push for Federation.
1893 SpeechCorowa Conference – the first of the "peoples’ conventions" – convened by the Australasian Federation League – endorses Dr John Quick’s plan for practical measures to break the legislative impasse by electing a new convention.
1895 "Hobart Understanding of the Premiers" – Most Premiers approve a draft Enabling Bill based on Quick’s plan.
1896 Enabling Acts are passed in SA, NSW, Tas. and Vic. These prepare the way for the popular election of delegates to a national convention to draft a constitution.

"The People’s Federal Convention" in Bathurst – spurs popular interest in electing delegates to the national convention.

1897 Elections are held in the colonies to select delegates to the national Australasian (Constitutional) Convention. Delegates meet in 1897 in Adelaide and then in Sydney before they agree on a federal constitution to be put to the people of the colonies in referenda.
1898 Delegates to the Australasian (Constitutional) Convention meet for the third session in Melbourne. Delegates agree to revise and amend the draft constitution. They adopt the amended draft Constitution Bill on 16 March in the form of a Bill that will be lodged for enactment by the British Parliament, if supported by the people in referenda.

Referenda are held. Tasmania, South Australia and Victoria return ‘Yes’ votes in favour of adopting the new federal constitution. NSW fails to attract the minimum number of ‘Yes’ votes and the Bill is not carried.

1899 January - Premiers’ Conference, Melbourne – Premiers agree to amend the Federal Constitution Bill to meet the concerns of QLD and NSW. All colonies (except WA) support the Bill and agree to sponsor its enactment in the British Parliament.

April/September – ‘Yes’ votes carried in referenda in NSW, VIC, SA, TAS and QLD.

1900 QuillMarch /July – Australian delegates in London negotiate the passage of the Federal Constitution Bill through the British Parliament and then witness Queen Victoria signing the documents and granting Royal Assent. The proclamation is made that the Commonwealth of Australia will come into being on 1 January 1901.

July – Western Australia votes ‘Yes’ to join the Federation of Australian States and is added to the Royal Assent documents after the Queen has already signed them.

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1901 January – Lord Hopetoun, the first Governor-General, proclaims the Commonwealth of Australia at a ceremony in Centennial Park, Sydney. The interim Federal Ministry is sworn in, with Sir Edmund Barton as Prime Minister. The ceremony takes place before a crowd of 250,000 people.

Customs duties payable on products moving between States are eliminated, boosting Australian manufacturing.

William Farrer releases his Federation strain of rust-resistant wheat.

Ribbon cuttingMay 9 – Australia’s first Federal Parliament is opened in its temporary home in Melbourne by the Duke of York.

Victoria introduces an aged pension of one shilling per day.

Henry Lawson’s book of stories "Joe Wilson and his Mates" is published.

1902 HatThe Franchise Act gives women throughout Australia the right to vote, but largely excludes Indigenous Australians and people of Asian, African and Pacific Island backgrounds.
1903 The High Court of Australia is established.

The Defence Act 1903 enables the Commonwealth to take full responsibility for the command and administration of the Australian Army.

1904 Frederick McCubbin paints The Pioneer, a three-part painting depicting life in the bush.

Gold ballFirst Australian Open Golf Title is held.

Peter Dawson and Dame Nellie Melba make their first records.

1906 Violin PlayingWorld's first feature film, The Story of the Kelly Gang, is made by the Tait brothers.

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is established – becoming Australia’s first permanent orchestra.

SwimmerThe NSW law prohibiting daytime swimming in the surf is repealed. The Bondi Surf Bathers’ Lifesaving Club is formed. (The first person saved in 1907 is Charles Kingsford Smith.)

1907 Mug of BeerCarlton and United Breweries (CUB) is formed.

Peters Ice-Cream is established.

Norman Brookes is the first Australian to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon. He is also in the winning doubles team and Australasian Davis Cup team.

1908 Establishment of scouting groups throughout the country.

Victoria beats South Australia in the first interstate Australian Rules game.

Australia wins the gold medal for Rugby Union at the London Olympics.

BooksWe of the Never Never by Aeneas Gunn is published.

My Country by Dorothea Mackellar is published.

1909 AirplaneFirst powered aeroplane flight in Australia.

Decision is made to make military training compulsory.

1910

Henry Handel Richardson’s The Getting of Wisdom is published.

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1911 Douglas Mawson leads a two-year long scientific and exploratory expedition to the Antarctic.

The Royal Australian Navy comes into being.

The Commonwealth Electoral Act makes enrolment to vote compulsory, but voting remains voluntary.

The Northern Territory is transferred from South Australia to the Commonwealth.

First Commonwealth Census is conducted.

1912 Brittish MoneyCommonwealth Savings Bank opens.

Walter Burley Griffin wins an international competition for the design of the Australian national capital.

MedalsAustralia sends women to the Olympics (Stockholm) for the first time. Fanny Durack and Mina Wylie contest the 100m freestyle and win gold and silver medals respectively.

Australia's first official wireless station is opened in Melbourne.

1913 The Foundation stone is laid for the national capital, which is named Canberra.
1914 - 1918 The First World War - From a population of fewer than 5 million, over 320,000 enlisted and served overseas of whom over 60,000 were killed and 156,000 were wounded, gassed or taken prisoner. Australian forces fought with distinction in New Guinea, Egypt, Turkey, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, France and Belgium. The Royal Australian Navy made a significant contribution in various theatres of the war and the newly formed Australian Flying Corps served in the Middle East and France.
1914 The Red Cross begins in Australia.

First postal air service delivery is made in Australia.

1915 SurferMelbourne pharmacist George Nicholas develops Aspro.

BHP opens its first steel-making plant in Newcastle, NSW.

Surfboard riding demonstration in Sydney by Duke Kahanamoku and Isobel Letham.

C.J.Dennis' The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke is published and becomes an unexpected bestseller, inspiring stage and screen adaptions.

1916 Hotels close at 6 o'clock ' starting the "six o’clock swill".

Returned Sailors' and Soldiers' Imperial League of Australia is formed, the forerunner of the Returned and Services League (RSL).

1917 Daylight saving is introduced to save fuel resources.Clock
1918 The Magic Pudding written and illustrated by Norman Lindsay, and Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, written and illustrated by May Gibbs, are published.
1919 The film version of The Sentimental Bloke opens in Sydney.
1920

AirplaneQueensland and Northern Territory Air Services (QANTAS) is founded. (QANTAS is now the oldest airline in the world after KLM.)

Australia becomes a founding member of the League of Nations.

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1921 The first Archibald Prize for portraiture is awarded to William McInnes for his portrait of H. Desbrowe-Annear.

TheatreGladys Moncrieff stars in the musical Maid of the Mountains at the Theatre Royal, Melbourne.

Australia's first Rotary Club is formed in Melbourne.

Ginger Meggs is introduced.

1922 The first branch of the Country Women’s Association in Australia is formed.

Along the Road to Gundagai is written by Jack O’Hagan.

Charitable organisation, The Smith Family, is established by five

Sydney-based businessmen who wish to remain anonymous.

1923 Jar of vegemiteRadio station 2BL provides the first live broadcast of a musical concert.

Vegemite first produced by Kraft Walker Cheese Co. of Melbourne.

The Violet Crumble bar is introduced.

1924 In Sydney, the Australian Aborigines’ Progressive Association is formed to campaign for Aboriginal rights.
1926 Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (later the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation – CSIRO) is founded to provide research services to agriculture and primary industry. Swimmers

Invention of the pedal wireless and the Speedo swimming costume.

The Imperial Conference of 1926, held in London, confirmed the fully autonomous status of Australia the British Commonwealth of Nations, while stressing that they remained united by a common allegiance to the Crown and so a voluntary member of the British Commonwealth of Nations.

The first Miss Australia competition is held.

Anna Pavlova tours the country.

1927 Parliament moves to Canberra and its new accommodation in provisional Parliament House (now known as Old Parliament House).

DogMechanical hares used for the first time at a greyhound race.

40 people die in a Sydney ferry disaster.

1928 The world’s first "talkie" movie, The Jazz Singer, screens in Sydney.

A Royal Commission recommends the establishment of a censorship board for films.

1930 HorseDon Bradman scores 452 not out in one innings.

Phar Lap wins first Melbourne Cup.

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1931 Sir Douglas Mawson returns to Antarctica with an expedition that explores and charts 4,000 miles of polar coastline. Mawson formally proclaims the 42 per cent of Antarctica that is now claimed as Australian territory.

Cinesound Review newsreels are first shown.

1933 The movie In the Wake of the Bounty, starring Errol Flynn, opens.

Book and coffeeThe Australian Women’s Weekly is launched.

Western Australia, in a special referendum, votes to secede from the Commonwealth.

1934 CarInvention of the utility truck for the Ford Motor Company.
1936 The last Tasmanian tiger dies.
1937 BikeRadio series Dad and Dave begins.

Sir Hubert Opperman cycles across Australia.

1938 Sydney hosts the first Empire Games to be held in Australia, the forerunner of the Commonwealth Games.

GalleryAn exhibition of indigenous artist Albert Namatjira’s works is held in Melbourne.

1939 - 1945 The Second World War – Almost a million Australians served in the Second World War; Australian servicemen fought in campaigns against Germany and Italy in Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa; and against Japan in south-east Asia and in other parts of the Pacific. Whilst most troops served overseas, sizeable bases were established in northern Australia when an invasion by Japanese troops seemed possible following bombing raids on Darwin, Broome and Townsville in early 1942.
1939 Bushfire The first flight of a Wirraway – the first warplane made in Australia.

Worst bushfires in Australia’s recorded history devastate Victoria.

1940 Howard Florey leads the team of scientists responsible for the development of penicillin as an antibiotic.

ABC appoints Margaret Doyle, its first female announcer.

Petrol is rationed.

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1941 Russell Drysdale rises to prominence.
1942 SunSugar is rationed.

Daylight saving is introduced to save fuel resources.

1943 Approximately 180,000 US servicemen are based in Australia.

Movie reelCinematographer Damien Parer wins Australia’s first Oscar for his coverage of Australia’s war efforts.

1944 Uranium exploration begins on a large scale.

T boneRationing of meat is introduced to ensure supplies are available for export to allies.

Unemployment and Sickness Benefits are introduced.

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme is introduced to provide subsidised medicine.

1945 Australia becomes a founding member of the United Nations. The Australian Minister for External Territories champions the rights of the smaller powers. From the inauguration of the UN, Australia has been a consistent supporter of the UN in its efforts to maintain peace in the world. Australia has sent members of its defence forces to support UN sanctioned operations in Korea (1950-53) and the Gulf (1990-91) and peacekeeping missions in disturbed areas around the globe.

BoatThe first Australian branch of Alcoholics Anonymous is formed.

The first Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race is won by Rani in 6 days, 14 hours.

1946 The Hills Hoist is invented.

The Commonwealth Parliament is given the power to legislate on a wide range of social services after a referendum on the issue is carried.

An Australian is voted in as the first President of the United Nations Security Council.

The ABC broadcasts Federal Parliament for the first time.

MusicCorroboree, inspired by Aboriginal music, earns worldwide recognition for composer John Antill.

Minister for Immigration Arthur Calwell launches the post-war immigration scheme.

1947 Sidney Nolan first exhibits his Ned Kelly series.
1948 The first Australian designed and manufactured car is launched. The 48/125 was produced by General Motors Holden at its Fisherman’s Bend plant.

Australian Minister for External Affairs DR HV Evatt is elected President of the United Nations General Assembly.

Australia signs the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.

BookRuth Park’s Harp in the South is published.

Clothing ration cards are no longer needed.

Plans are announced to eradicate TB within 20 years.

1949 The Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme begins. A shortage of labour forced Australia to look overseas for workers. Over 100,000 people worked on the scheme, two thirds of them had come from overseas to join the Australians already working on the scheme. One hundred and twenty people died during construction, which lasted almost 25 years. The scheme remains one of the world’s great engineering achievements.

Indigenous Australians who are eligible to vote in State Elections in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania are also given the right to vote in Federal Elections.

The Nationality and Citizenship Act is passed. Rather than being identified as subjects of Britain, the Act established Australian citizenship for people who met eligibility requirements.

Petrol rationing ends.

1950 - 1953 Korean War – Australia was one of twenty-one member nations to respond to the United Nations Security Council’s call for military assistance to repel an invasion of South Korea by communist-backed North Korean troops. Over 17,000 Australian men and women served in the Korean war. Australian casualties numbered more than 1,500 of whom 339 were killed.
1950 Frank Hardy is arrested for libel following the publication of Power Without Glory.

Australia plays a leading role in establishing the Colombo Plan for providing aid and training to South East Asian countries.

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1950 - 1960 Malayan Emergency – Australian troops were sent to Malaya as part of a Commonwealth of Nations response to a growing communist guerrilla insurgency. Australian forces were involved in prolonged operations designed to destroy the guerrillas’ support and operations bases throughout the Malay peninsula. Lasting 13 years, the Malayan Emergency was the longest continuous military commitment in Australia’s history. Of 7,000 Army personnel who served in Malaya, 51 were killed although only 15 deaths were a result of operations.
1951 Australia signs the ANZUS Treaty with the United States and New Zealand.

The radio-based School of the Air opens.

Come in Spinner by Dymphna Cusack and Florence James is published.

1952 News paperThe Melbourne Argus newspaper is the first in the world to publish colour photos in a daily newspaper.

Free access to public hospital treatment is no longer available.

1953 Economy class is introduced on QANTAS flights to London.

The Television Act is passed by Federal Parliament, endorsing the establishment of government and commercial broadcast networks.

1954 Royal visit by the Queen and Prince Phillip.

TheatreThe six o’clock swill ends.

Ray Lalor’s Summer of the Seventeenth Doll is first performed.

The Petrov Affair makes headlines.

1955 Charles Chauvel’s film Jedda premieres in Darwin.

I Can Jump Puddles by Alan Marshall is published.

1956 Rock StarJohnny O’Keefe is Australia’s first "rock star".

The first television broadcast goes to air.

The Olympic Games are held in Melbourne, with Australians winning a record 13 gold, 8 silver and 14 bronze medals.

1957 The CSIRO develops improved radar and microwave navigation systems for aeroplanes.

The television version of Pick a Box begins. On radio, the program has been running for many years.

Joern Utzon from Denmark wins the Opera House international design competition.

Australia wins its first Rugby League World Cup.

1958 The "black box" flight recorder is invented in Melbourne.
1959 Electric PlugThe first power from the Snowy Scheme becomes available.

Australia becomes a signatory to the International Antarctic Treaty.

The Sidney Myer Music Bowl is opened in Melbourne.

1960 Sir MacFarlane Burnet shares the Nobel Prize for Medicine, for work on acquired immunological tolerance.Spectacles

The world’s first plastic spectacle lenses are designed in Australia.

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1961 Iron ore boom in Pilbara, WA

The play, The One Day of the Year, by Alan Seymour opens amid controversy about its apparent criticism of ANZAC Day and returned soldiers.

1962 Snake antivenene, capable of counteracting poison from most Australian snakes, is developed by the CSIRO.

Indigenous Australians across the nation gain the right to vote in Federal Elections.

The Vietnam War – Australia’s involvement in Vietnam began in 1962 when the US and its allies responded to South Vietnam’s call for assistance to stem the communist insurgents and their comrades from North Vietnam. Whilst Australia’s involvement in the war was strongly supported in the earlier years years of the conflict, opposition to the war grew as it became clearer a decisive victory was unlikely. The war was the cause of the greatest social and political dissent in Australia since the conscription referendums of WWI.

Perth hosts the Commonwealth Games.

RecordsFrank Ifield’s I Remember You becomes the first Australian record to appear on the US charts.

1963 Sir John Eccles shares the Nobel Prize for his research on the transmission of nerve impulses.
1965 The Freedom Ride, led by Charles Perkins, tours Aboriginal communities in rural areas. The protest symbolises the changing tide of political sentiment towards the rights and living conditions of Australia’s indigenous people.
1966 Japan replaces Britain as Australia’s largest export customer.

Oil and gas found by BHP and Esso in Bass Strait.

Australian forces are involved in the Battle of Long Tan – their heaviest action of the Vietnam war. The battle curbed communist control over the area. A total of 50,000 Australians served in the Vietnam war – 496 were killed and almost 2,000 wounded.

MoneyDecimal currency is introduced on 14 February.

The ban on the employment of married women in the Commonwealth Public Service is lifted.

1967 Australia’s first satellite is launched from Woomera Rocket Range, SA.

More than 90% of people vote "Yes" in a national referendum which affirms the Australian citizenship of Indigenous Australians, and allows the Commonwealth Government to legislate on their behalf.

1968 Australia signs the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty.
1969 The radio telescope in Parkes, NSW relays to the world the first pictures of the Apollo XI moon landing.
1970 Point Danger lighthouse in NSW becomes the world’s first laser beam emitting lighthouse.

The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer is published.

200,000 Australians participate in anti-war demonstrations.

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1971 The first one-day cricket match is held in Melbourne.
1972 The orbital internal combustion engine is developed by Ralph Sarich in Perth, WA.

AirplaneThe Interscan aviation guidance system is developed by the CSIRO.

Australia recognises the People’s Republic of China.

The Commonwealth Arbitration Commission rules that women doing the same job as men have the right to be paid the same wage.

1973 Australians develop the "pop-top" can. Soft drink

77 unionists are arrested after trying to prevent the demolition of historic buildings in the Rocks area of Sydney. "Green Bans" are introduced to protect heritage sites.

Patrick White wins the Nobel Prize for Literature.

The eligibility age for voters in Federal Elections is dropped from 21 to 18 years of age.

Opera HouseThe Sydney Opera House is opened.

Maternity leave for Commonwealth Public Servants is introduced.

1974 Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin.
1975 Sir John Warcup Cornforth shares the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

The Gurindji people of Northern Territory are granted ownership of their tribal land, having fought to reclaim the land from the British company, Vestey Ltd.

Colour television is introduced. Television

1976 The CSIRO and ICI develop and market Sirotherm, a commercial-scale water desalination and purification plant.

Pastor Sir Doug Nicholls, an Aboriginal man, becomes the Governor of South Australia.

The Federal Government rules to stop sand mining on Fraser Island.

1977 Australian scientists develop the world’s first system for storing solar energy on a mass scale.

Citizens in Australian Territories are given the right to vote at referendums to alter the Constitution.

Advance Australia Fair becomes Australia’s national anthem after a national opinion poll finds it the most popular option with the Australian people.

1978 The Northern Territory is granted self-government following passage of enabling legislation through the Commonwealth Parliament.

PeopleA protest march by homosexual rights supporters held in Sydney results in the arrest of 93 people. The event is now commemorated each year with the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

1979 The bionic ear is developed by researchers in Melbourne.

The tiny camera used in sports broadcasts as the "race cam" or "stump cam" is developed by an Australian engineer.

The Alligator Rivers region in the Northern Territory is proclaimed as Kakadu National Park. The area takes its name from the Gagudju people of the area.

Pregnant women on a Rocking ChairThe Capricornia section of the Great Barrier Reef is proclaimed as the first stage of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

Maternity leave is granted to all women in the Australian workforce.

1980

The right of appeal to the English Privy Council against judgements made in Australian courts is finally ended. The High Court of Australia becomes the highest court of appeal in the Australian judicial system.

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1981 The CSIRO develops a solar desalination system for use in remote areas.

The South Australian and Federal governments hand back title of 102,630 square kilometres of land to the Pitjantjatjara traditional owners.

1982 Brisbane hosts the Commonwealth Games.

Thomas Keneally is Australia’s first Booker Prize winner with Schindler’s Ark.

The Australian National Gallery opens in Canberra.

1983 The CSIRO produces a vaccine against footrot using genetic engineering techniques.

Australia and New Zealand begin to create a common market.

1984 BabyThe world’s first frozen embryo baby is born in Melbourne.

Advance Australia Fair is finally accepted as Australia’s official national anthem.

1985 Freehold title of land that includes Ayres Rock and Mt. Olga is granted to the traditional landowners – the Mutitjulu people. The Mutitjulu lease the land back to the Australian Government for a 99-year period.

Racing CarFirst Formula One Grand Prix to be held in Australia is held in Adelaide.

1986 Gene shears are discovered by CSIRO scientists.

The world’s first plastic, solar hot water system is invented and commercialised in Australia.

Dennis Chatfield invents the Chatfield Tree Planter, a machine which ploughs and plants in one movement.

1987 The world’s first wave-piercing catamaran is designed in Australia.

The Photon Counting Array, a light detector for telescopes is invented. It can amplify a single unit of light one million times.

25,000 Vietnam veterans from all over Australia are given another welcome home parade in Sydney – 15 years after the last Australian troops were recalled.

1988 The world’s first non-chemical, biological pesticide is invented at the University of Adelaide.

Australians mark the bicentenary of the arrival of the First Fleet.

The Golden Wattle is proclaimed our national floral emblem.

New Parliament House is opened in Canberra.

1989 ComputerA computer software team from the University of Melbourne develops TITAN, a "superfast" information retrieval system.

Clean Up Sydney Harbour Day achieves enormous public response with over 40,000 Sydneysiders donating their time and energy to clean up the harbour. Based on this success, Clean Up Australia Day is created.

1990

The world’s first reading machine for the blind is invented in Melbourne.

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1991 A Sydney University research team discovers a new method of keeping transplant organs in good condition.
1992 A team of inventors and engineers develops a portable oil containment system that will enable ships to deploy their own booms to contain oil spills immediately.

The world’s first multi-focal contact lenses are invented in Queensland.

3 June – the High Court Mabo decision establishes that the Meriam people hold native title over the Murray Islands. The decision effectively quashes the notion of terra nullius which asserts that Australia did not belong to anyone before the arrival of Europeans.

1993 ToddlerDr George O’Neil develops a portable drip-feed "balloon". The system has the potential to save the lives of young children suffering from dehydration and malnutrition.

An Unknown Australian Soldier is laid to rest at the Australian War Memorial.

1994 The Garvan Institute of Medical Research isolates the gene responsible for osteoporosis.
1996 New flu drug is developed by the CSIRO.

Commonwealth, State and Territory governments agree to introduce national uniform gun control laws.

The High Court of Australia holds that the native title of the Wik and Thayorre people of Cape York has survived the granting of pastoral leases.

1997 Australian Women’s Cricket Team wins the World Cup for the fourth time.

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission releases the report of its Inquiry Into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families.

Ted Matthews, the last survivor of the first ANZAC landing at Gallipoli, dies aged 101.

1998 DollarsThe Australian Stock Exchange is demutualised and floated as a public company becoming the world’s first stock exchange to be listed on an exchange.
1999 Both houses of the Commonwealth Parliament pass a motion signalling an acknowledgment of, and regret at, the hurt past that policies of the Australian government have caused to indigenous Australians.

Trophy cupAustralian sportswomen and men win world titles in many sports including cricket, netball, rugby union, surfing, hockey and squash.

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