Australian Frontier Wars Facts & Worksheets

The Australian Frontier Wars refer to the series of conflicts between the British colony and indigenous Australians that lasted from 1788 until the 1930s. Aiming to expand the British colony, the European colonizers carried out open massacres while the Aborigines defended their land through acts of resistance.

See the fact file below for more information on the Australian Frontier or alternatively, you can download our 26-page Australian Frontier worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

Overview

• The Australian Frontier Wars is an all-encompassing term referring to all the battles, massacres, and incidents of resistance that can be traced back to the arrival of colonists in Australia in 1788. 
• Around 90% of the Aboriginal population were killed during the Frontier Wars caused by violence as well as illnesses which were both brought by the colonizers.
• The exact number of Aboriginal deaths during the conflicts has not been exactly determined.
• Foreign illnesses, such as smallpox, flu, measles, tuberculosis, and venereal diseases, affected the indigenous population.
• According to some accounts, approximately 20,000 Aboriginal people were killed while other historians estimate it to reach 60,000.
• Some accounts detail that there were around 2,000 to 2,500 European casualties from the wars.

Arrival of the Colonizers

• In 1788, the First Fleet of the British arrived in Botany Bay, Australia.
• The First Fleet consisted of 11 ships.
• Aboard their ships were British authorities, military personnel, and prisoners who were set to settle and colonize the territory.
• Their arrival marked the beginning of the conflict between colonizers and Indigenous Australians. 

The Black War

• The Black War in Tasmania was arguably one of the biggest violent conflicts in the history of Australia. It lasted from 1824 until 1831.
• Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur declared Martial Law and gave colonizers the power to freely kill Aborigines without due process.
• Towards the end of the war, a battle called the “Black Line” was staged by the colonists.
• More than 2,000 Europeans grouped into a series of offensive lines and marched across the island driving indigenous people away from their homes by either killing them or imprisoning them in the Tasman Peninsula.
• The Black War resulted in the annihilation of the majority of Aboriginal people living in Tasmania.

The Pinjarra Massacre

• In 1834, Governor James Stirling led a group of 25 British soldiers to attack a group of indigenous residents in Pinjarra, located in the southern Peel region of Western Australia.
• The attack is now famously known as the Pinjarra Massacre.
• Around 15 to 30 Binjareb Noongar people, including women and children, were killed.
• The colonial troops staged the massacre as an act of retaliation to an earlier conflict that killed a British soldier.

The Waterloo Creek Massacre

• Led by major James Nunn, mounted police and armed pastoralists hunted a group of First Nations warriors and massacred them.
• This massacre is considered a part of a series of massacres that led up to the Myall Creek massacre.

Kilcoy and Whiteside Poisonings

• In 1842, a mass poisoning occurred in Kilcoy, Queensland wherein colonists gave bags of flour to the natives as a gift.
• The flour was mixed with strychnine, a potent poison.
• The same incident happened in Whiteside, Queensland in 1847.
• Approximately 70 Aborigines were killed in Kilcoy and another 70 in Whiteside.

The Myall Creek Massacre

• The Myall Creek massacre is one of the more well-known massacres that occurred during the Frontier Wars.
• On June 10, 1838, 12 colonists murdered 28 unarmed Indigenous settlers.
• The perpetrators underwent two trials, which resulted in seven of them being convicted of murder and subjected to death by hanging.
• The controversial verdict marked the only time when the colonists were found guilty for their violent acts against the Indigenous people.

Coniston Massacre

• One of the last massacres to be sanctioned by colonists during the Frontier Wars was the Coniston Massacre staged in the Northern Territory in 1928.
• According to historical accounts, the mass killing was caused by the death of a European named Fred Brooks.
• A man named Kamalyarrpa Japanangka was said to have killed Brooks, who was found dead on Coniston station.
• Mounted Constable George Murray led a reprisal party. 
• Over several months, the perpetrators killed over 60 Anmatyerre, Kaytetye, and Warlpiri people, including children.

Acts of Resistance

• Despite the mass killings and extreme colonial violence, the Aboriginals did not back down.
• They often employed guerilla warfare tactics, such as raids and ambushes, to attack the colonists.
• They used traditional weapons, guns, and fire as a means to attack.
• They also took advantage of their knowledge of the territory itself.

Effects of the Wars

• The Frontier Wars are yet to be acknowledged as official wars.
• Because no treaty has been set forth, many Aboriginal people still carry forward the spirit of resistance.
• Undoubtedly, the trauma brought upon the Aboriginal people has been passed on from one generation to another and even though the Frontier Wars have come to an end, the fight to end conflict against Indigenous Australians is still ongoing.

Australian Frontier Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about the Australian Frontier across 26 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use worksheets that are perfect for teaching about the Australian Frontier which refers to the series of conflicts between the British colony and indigenous Australians that lasted from 1788 until the 1930s.

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Complete List Of Included Worksheets

• Australian Frontier Wars Facts
• Keyword Search
• Modified False Statements
• Missing Facts
• Summary Timeline
• History in Sketches
• Massacre Leaders
• Image Commentary
• Knowledge Recap
• Poetry as Tribute
• Letter of Encouragement

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