1965: Freedom Ride
Aboriginal people led a group of supporters on a "freedom ride" through western New South Wales protesting discrimination against Aboriginal people.

1966: Wave Hill Walk-Off
Led by the Gurindji people, 200 Aboriginal cattle workers and their families walked-off Wave Hill Station striking for better pay and conditions. The nine-year strike developed into a successful claim for return of traditional Gurindji lands.

1967: "Citizenship" Referendum
Australians overwhelmingly recognised Aboriginal people as citizens by giving the Federal Government the constitutional power to make laws for Aborigines.

1971: Aboriginal Tent Embassy
Aboriginal people set up a "tent embassy" outside the then Parliament House in Canberra calling for national land rights and an end to discrimination.

1971: Gove Land Rights Case
The Yolngu peoples' fight for land rights led to a Federal Court case where Justice Blackburn found that Yolngu could not prevent mining on their lands because Australia was legally terra nullius (empty, unoccupied land).

1973 - 4: Woodward Inquiry
The Gove case led to the establishment of the Woodward Commission into Aboriginal Land Rights in the Northern Territory.

1975: Gurindji Hand Back
Prime Minister Gough Whitlam hands over title to traditional Gurindji lands.

1976: Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act
Following from the recommendations of the Woodward inquiry, the Whitlam Labor Government drew up this Act and it was later passed by the conservative Fraser Government on December 9, 1976.

1989-90: Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody
The Federal Government set up the Royal Commission to inquire into the high rates of death among Aboriginal people held in custody. The Commission's report included recommendations on ways to change the police, court and prison systems, and on ways to change the underlying causes of Aboriginal incarceration.

1989: ATSIC
The Federal Government established the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission under an Act of Parliament to replace the Department of Aboriginal Affairs with a statutory authority elected by Aboriginal people.

1991: Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation
The Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation was set up by the Federal Government to promote reconciliation between Indigenous and other Australians, as part of the response to the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.

1992: Mabo Case
The High Court found that Indigenous title to land was not wiped out by the European invasion of Australia. This case overturned the doctrine of terra nullius, and recognised native title.

1993: Native Title Act passed
The Native Title Act was passed by the Keating Labor Government to recognise the findings of the Mabo case in statute law and establish processes to deal with native title claims.

1995: Indigenous Land Corporation established
This was the second part of the Keating Government's response to the Mabo decision. The corporation was set up to administer a fund to buy land on behalf of Indigenous people.

1996: Wik Case
The High Court's Wik decision found that native title could coexist with other land interests on pastoral leases, which cover some 40% of the Australian land mass.

1998: Native Title Amendment Bill
The Howard Coalition Government significantly wound back native title rights recognised in the Wik and Mabo decisions by empowering the States and Territories to legislatively extinguish native title.

1999: Senate disallowance of NT native title laws
Senate rejects proposed Northern Territory amendments to native title regime, which would have removed the right of Aboriginal people in the NT to negotiate agreements on land subject to native title claim.