CHANGING TIMES - WORLD EVENTS AND POPULAR CULTURE



Then

Young adults aged 18-34 years in 1976 were born between 1941 and 1958, with many of them being baby boomers (born in the baby boom after the Second World War). They grew up over the 1950s and 1960s. Many of their parents were born around the time of the Great Depression, and experienced the Second World War as young adults.



...In the 35 years to 1976

1942: The bombing of Darwin.

1944: Liberal Party of Australia formed.

1945: End of the Second World War.

1948: Pharmaceutical Benefits scheme introduced.

1949: Dismantling of the White Australia Policy begins.

1950: Communist Party Dissolution Bill passes in the Parliament of Australia.

1956: Mainstream television is first broadcast in Australia.

1958: QANTAS international services commence.

1959: Australia's population reaches 10 million.

1962: All Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people gained the unqualified right to vote in Federal Elections.

1964: National Service is reintroduced.

1965: Australia joins war in Vietnam.

1966: Removal of the 'marriage bar' from the Commonwealth Public Service Act allows women to keep their jobs once they marry.

1971: Australia's combat role in Vietnam ends.

1972: The Australian Labor Party wins its first Federal Election in 23 years.

1973: The White Australia policy ends.

1974: University fees abolished.

1975: The Governor General sacks Gough Whitlam and dissolves Parliament, the Liberal National Coalition wins the Federal Election.

1975: The Family Law Act 1975 established the concept of no-fault divorce in Australian law.



Now

Young adults aged 18-34 years in 2011 were born between 1976 and 1993, and form a large part of what many refer to as Gen Y (at the older end). Many of their parents are from the baby boomer generation, and they are the first generation to have the internet widely available.



...In the 35 years to 2011

1976: The first Vietnamese refugees arrive in Australia by boat .

1977: Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket is launched.

1979: Arbitration Commission grants maternity leave for all women in private industry.

1981: 1st Australian death from HIV/AIDS.

1984: Medicare launched.

1984: Advance Australia Fair proclaimed as national anthem.

1985: The Uluru National Park handed over to the Mutilulu Aboriginal community.

1986: The House of Representatives has its first woman speaker.

1987: Women surpassed men for the first time in participation in higher education.

1988: Australia celebrates its Bicentenary, New Parliament House is opened.

1989: The Higher Education Contribution scheme is introduced.

1989: The internet is introduced to Australia.

1991: The Industrial Relations Commission approves Enterprise Bargaining.

1993: The Native Title Act is passed.

1999: Australians vote 'no' to referendum on whether Australia should become a republic.

1999: The Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act is passed by parliament, replacing the Affirmative Action Act 1986.

2000: The Sydney Olympic Games are held.

2003: The Iraq war begins.

2004: Facebook first launched.

2008: Prime minister Kevin Rudd apologises to Indigenous Australian for the stolen generations.

2008: Quentin Bryce sworn in as Australia's first female Governor General.

2010: Julia Gillard becomes first female Prime Minister of Australia.



Source: ABC Online, 2002, A Selected History of Australia , < www.abc.net.au >