Australia’s connection with a diverse world

How have the lives of Indigenous people changed since European settlement?

Write a PETAL paragraph to explain your response.

POINT: The writer describes how the European settlement badly affected the Idigenous
people’s lives and treated them as inferior, primitive and uncultured.
ELABORATE: The British had no understanding of the Aboriginal people they met, or of
their traditions and ways of life. They did not even understand the deep ties Aboriginal
people had with the land. They believed Aboriginal people needed to be taught Eurpean
ways in order to survive.
TEXTUAL EVIDENCE: The text states that, “The Australian government was forcing the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders peoples to live in the same way as the British
settlers and hold the same beliefs and values.”
ANALYSE: This explains why the settlers removed the Aboriginal children from their
families, without their consent. Children were put in religious institutions, reform schools
or foster families. This was effective as they became known as the “Stolen Generation”.
They did not only lose their families but also their culture, language and names.
LINK: This is significant as it links to the National Sorry Day, an annual event, which
acknowledges that Australian governments were responsible for the way they treated the
Indigenous people and damaging their lives.