  What Do You Know?
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Archaeological evidence suggests that Aboriginal people have lived in Australia:
a. between 500 and 700 years
b. between 5 000 and 7 000 years
c. between 50 000 and 70 000 years.
Correct answer
c. You’re right! Carbon dating provides evidence from this far back.
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What was the legal term used by the British to claim sovereignty over Australia?
a. Van Diemen’s Land.
b. Terra australis.
c. Terra nullius.
Correct answer
c. You have it! How could Australia have been declared an ‘unoccupied land’?
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When were Aboriginal people recognised as citizens of Australia?
a. 1901 Federation.
b. 1967 Referendum.
c. 2001 Census.
Correct answer
b. You have it! The 1967 referendum gave Aboriginal people citizenship rights.
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Aboriginal people claim a spiritual connection through the Dreaming to:
a. the land – their ‘country’
b. secret business
c. inter-continental migration.
Correct answer
a. Yes, the land is considered spiritually sacred.
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The 1992 Mabo decision about Native Title finally rejected the fictional concept of:
a. racism
b. Terra nullius
c. legal aid.
Correct answer
b. Yes! The Mabo decision rejected the idea that Australia belonged to no-one.
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How can you tell if a person is of Aboriginal descent?
a. By the colour of their skin.
b. By the look of their face.
c. If they identify as Aboriginal and are accepted by the community.
Correct answer
c. Yes! Aboriginality is not about appearance, it’s about identity.
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Elders in Aboriginal communities are:
a. old people
b. the custodians of culture and country
c. only senior men.
Correct answer
b. Yes! Elders are the caretakers and keepers of cultural knowledge.
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The colours of the Aboriginal flag (red, yellow and black) represent:
a. earth, wind and fire
b. man, woman and children
c. earth, sun and people.
Correct answer
c. Yes! Red for earth, yellow for the sun and black for the people.
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Which 1997 report told the devastating stories of the ‘Stolen Generation’?
a. Wik.
b. Mabo.
c. Bringing Them Home.
Correct answer
c. Yes, the stories of past injustices require words like ‘sorry’.
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What policy has been developed to ensure that Aboriginal communities are able to choose the best way to meet their social, cultural and economic needs?
a. Protectionism.
b. Assimilation.
c. Self-determination.
Correct answer
c. Yes! Self-determination enables communities to seek their own solutions.
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The 1996 Wik decision meant that Native Title to land was:
a. not constitutional
b. not in the Howard Government 10-point plan
c. not extinguished by pastoral leases.
Correct answer
c. Yes! This case showed that Native Title was not extinguished by leases.
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Many Aboriginal people are disadvantaged by discrimination because of:
a. stereotyping
b. universal human kindness
c. missionaries.
Correct answer
a. Yes, assumptions and stereotyping are invalid methods of thinking!
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What are the key health risks for Aboriginal populations in Australia today?
a. Smoking and physical inactivity.
b. Psychological and sociological risks.
c. All of the above.
Correct answer
c. Yes, unfortunately all these risk factors are prevalent.
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Aboriginal youth face disadvantage through:
a. educational disadvantage unemployment and criminal justice representation
b. health risks including obesity and drug and alcohol abuse
c. all of the above.
Correct answer
c. Yes! Aboriginal youth face a tough time, but there is hope!
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What is the key concept to remember when working with Aboriginal people?
a. Do everything for them.
b. Don’t look into their eyes.
c. Treat everyone as an individual.
Correct answer
c. Yes! Make no assumptions, make it work this time!
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What is central to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identity and culture?
a. Being good at sport and art.
b. The land and the sea.
c. Moiety or skin names.
Correct answer
b. Yes, the land and sea.
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As custodians walking over the land, returning to the sacred places Aboriginal people:
a. perform ceremonies, pass on knowledge and take care of the country
b. fulfill their cultural obligations to the ancestors
c. all of the above.
Correct answer
a. Yes ceremony, custodianship and respect are all part of tradition.
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Select the best description of how the first Australians view the land and the sea:
a. real estate to be bought and sold
b. sacred like a mother and giver of life
c. clan territory with clear boundaries.
Correct answer
b. That’s right, sacred and living.
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What was different in Torres Strait Islander lifestyles compared to the mainland?
a. Fishing and trapping.
b. Hunting and gathering.
c. Gardening and navigation.
Correct answer
c. Yes, navigating and gardening.
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What event caused a mass movement of Torres Strait Islanders to the mainland?
a. Queensland annexing the Islands in 1879.
b. World War II.
c. The collapse of the pearling industry.
Correct answer
c. Yes, the collapse of the pearling industry after World War II.
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A moiety or skin classification enabled people to be:
a. named correctly
b. given the right job
c. appropriately married.
Correct answer
c. Yes, a means of organising appropriate marriages.
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Aboriginal Law is veiled in secrecy to:
a. ensure no-one knows other people’s business
b. protect knowledge with protocol and without misinterpretation
c. enable Elders to tell stories.
Correct answer
b. Yes, knowledge is for those who are chosen to know.
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How many dialects were spoken in Australia before settlement?
a. Between 200 and 300.
b. Between 300 and 400.
c. Between 600 and 700.
Correct answer
c. Yes, between 600 and 700.
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What is the most commonly used dialect today?
a. Kala Lagaw Ya.
b. Aboriginal English.
c. Pitjantjatjara / Yankuntjatjara.
Correct answer
b. Yes. Aboriginal English is the most spoken dialect today.
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ATSIC (Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Commission) the national voice of Indigenous affairs was disbanded in:
a. 1975
b. 2000
c. 2004.
Correct answer
c. In 2004, ATSIC was disbanded and responsibility for Indigenous affairs passed to the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs who provides directions and priorities and reviews Indigenous programs.
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Overt racism means:
a. deliberate acts of intolerance or hatred expressed or shown publicly in an obvious way
b. being loud or noisy about the government’s Indigenous Affairs policies
c. talking about women in a rude or disrespectful way.
Correct answer
a. Yes, this is the correct answer.
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Covert racism means:
a. treating people from all races equivalently
b. expressing racist ideas, attitudes or beliefs in subtle or hidden ways
c. calling people names to their face.
Correct answer
b. Yes. This is the most common form of racism.
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Systemic racism means:
a. ethnic groups playing the system
b. immigration policies that prohibit entry by certain racial groups
c. unfair treatment of people through rules, policies and procedures by organisations.
Correct answer
c. Yes, organisations or system that disadvantage people.
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Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) people live in cultural separation because of:
a. cultural resistance and conflict
b. cultural domination and exclusion
c. all of the above.
Correct answer
c. Yes, all of the above.
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Working both ways means:
a. ATSI people and non-Aboriginal people learning from each other
b. valuing multiculturalism and the uniqueness of ATSI cultures
c. all of the above.
Correct answer
c. Yes, all of these are the fabric of a united nation.
Part of the Australian Flexible Learning Framework Interactive Ochre
© Commonwealth of Australia 2006 What Do You Know? Quiz with Answers
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