| Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander societies |
For thousands of years the Australian continent is isolated from the rest of the world. During this time, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander societies develop their network of diverse cultures with separate laws and ceremonial traditions, home country, Dreamings and languages. In these societies, languages
differ but communication with neighbouring groups is common.
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The number of Aboriginal people living on the Australian continent before European migration is widely debated with figures ranging from 300,000 to one million. The Aboriginal population is estimated to have comprised some 700 different cultural groups, speaking 250 different languages.
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| Contact between Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Asian
societies |
Aboriginal people living in the coastal areas of what is now Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory have contact with people from the various Melanesian groups of Papua New Guinea and the Torres Strait Islands for many years. Explorers and traders from Asia and the Pacific Islands also
have contact with the Indigenous Australian peoples.
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| Dutch documents record journeys of Macassan trepangers to northern Australia. |
Macassan praus sail to the north-eastern coast of the Northern Territory. Trade continues between Aboriginal people and Macassans until the early 1900s.
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| First contact between Aboriginal people and Europeans |
Earliest recorded contact between Europeans and Aboriginal people - by crew of Dutch ship Dwyflken under Captain Willem Jansz on the western coast of Cape York Peninsula. During the 1600s parts of the Australian coast become known to European explorers, including Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, British and French.
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