Australian Events

Posted in 1911

  • Battlements of an iceberg, Ross Island Antarctica1 January: Administration of the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory is transferred to the Commonwealth - the ACT from New South Wales and the NT from South Australia. The town of Palmerston is renamed Darwin.
  • Australia's first Federal census is conducted - the population is 4,455,000, excluding indigenous Australians who are not counted as part of the Australian population until after the 1967 referendum.
  • Enrolment to vote for non-indigenous Australians is made compulsory.
  • Northern Territory Aboriginals Ordinance (Cth): Chief Protector is made the legal guardian of every Aboriginal and 'half-caste' child under 18 and can force any Aboriginal person into a mission or settlement; children can be removed at will. These powers are not repealed until 1957.
  • Sister Elizabeth Kenny develops a method to help children stricken by polio to walk again.
  • 35,000 people march in Melbourne in support of the 8-hour day.
  • The Royal Australian Navy is set up.
  • Douglas Mawson leads a two-year scientific and exploratory expedition to the Antarctic.