Indigenous History

European settlement brought about many changes in traditional Aboriginal life and some indigenous people began performing jobs around the town for white masters. The presence of Aboriginals in the town began to concern some residents, and in 1857 a ban was introduced, prohibiting their presence after 4.30pm and on Sundays.

In 1858 two Aborigines from the Breakfast Creek area, Dalinkua and Dalpie, protested the treatment their people were receiving in letters to the Moreton Bay Courier. After many years of unrest, the government passed an act called the Aboriginal Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act in 1897. Under the act, Queensland was divided into districts, and special reserves were set up within each district, and the Aborigines were relocated to these areas. A minority was allowed to stay on in the city to work for the Europeans, but the city lost the majority of the indigenous population.

The act was amended later in 1934, when new policies gave the European ‘protector’ more control over the lives of the Aboriginal people, but this was repealed in 1939 when the Aboriginals Preservation and Protection Act was introduced although the most repressive policies remained in force.

In 1965, Protection was replaced by surveillance in the Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders Affairs Act and over the 1970’s and 1980’s many indigenous people returned to Brisbane to meet up with relatives and friends and to seek work.

Gregory, Helen. (1996) The Brisbane River Story. Meanders through Time. Australian Marine Conservation Society.

Buchanan, Robyn. (2000) "In the Beginning... The Story of Brisbane" published in "This is our Brisbane", 4BH Radio, (now DMG Radio Australia).