Aboriginal Tent Embassy | |
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Indigenous land rights in Australia Part of History of Indigenous Australians | |
Date | 26/27 January 1972 |
Location | Canberra, Australia 35°18′04″S 149°07′48″E / 35.30111°S 149.13000°E |
Caused by | Dispossession of Indigenous Australians |
Goals | Land rights, self-determination and reassertion of Indigenous sovereignty |
Methods | Nonviolent resistance, civil disobedience, peaceful protest |
Status | Ongoing |
The Aboriginal Tent Embassy is a permanent protest occupation site as a focus for representing the political rights of Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander people. Established on 26 January (Australia Day) 1972, and celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2022, it is the longest continuous protest for Indigenous land rights in the world.
First established in 1972 under a beach umbrella as a protest against the McMahon government's approach to Indigenous Australian land rights, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy is made up of signs and tents. Since 1992 it has been located on the lawn opposite Old Parliament House in Canberra, the Australian capital. It is not considered an official embassy by the Australian Government. The Embassy has been a site of protest and support for grassroots campaigns for the recognition of Indigenous land rights in Australia, Aboriginal deaths in custody, self-determination, and Indigenous sovereignty.