The escapee convicts (ref. 1790) reported on the vast coal deposits lying along the beaches on Awbakal Country (Newcastle). Lt. John Shortland was the first Englishman to officially set foot on the Awabakal lands at Muloobinbah (Awabakal word for 'Place of Sea Fern', now known as Newcastle), reported of vast cedar and ash timber resources along the river.

This British company was formed for large-scale operations of a colonial settler's pursuits. Aboriginal land rights were swept away when A.A.CO. issued new grants and land titles to private settlers. The first grant, containing 1 million acres, was chosen by Mr Dawson, the original agent, in the neighbourhood of Port Stephens. 

Throughout 1836 and 1837 the frontier Aboriginal resistence to invasion reached a level that the settlers found unacceptable. More than 40 Gooris had peacefully set up camp on Henry Dangar’s Myall Creek property. On 9 June 1838 a posse of armed white settlers appared and the Gooris sought protection in one of the station hand’s huts. From here they were roped together - men, women and children. 28 Goories had been cut to pieces with swords, decapitating most of the babies and children. Heads had been hurled far from the bodies. One man had been burnt to death, while an attractive woman had been kept alive and repeatedly raped. 

Edmund Kennedy sought to find a route from Rockhampton to the Cape York Peninsula in order to take the land over for pasturalism. The expedition found the country too rough near the coast and had to abandon most of their supplies. Kennedy and Wonnarua man Jacky-Jacky continued ahead alone for the last leg of the journey. Only kilometres short of the Cape they were attacked by Gooris and Kennedy was killed. Jacky-Jacky survived to complete the journey and meet their supply ship. He then led a return party in an unsuccessful attempt to recover Kennedy’s body. Jacky-Jacky returned south to a hero’s welcome, including being awarded a brass chest-plate by Governor FitzRoy, before returning to his people around Singleton.

On 5 March 1867 the Maitland Mercury reported on the cricket match between a white Maitland representative team and the Koori cricket team from Victoria. The match was played in front of 3000 spectators. The Koori team toured England in 1868 and became the first Australian Cricket Team to do so. It’s record in England was 14 wins, 14 losses and 19 draws from 47 matches. One of the stars of that team was Johnny Cuzens, whose traditional name was Yellanach. This tiny man (5 feet 1 inch or 155cm) was, with Johnny Mullagh, the star of the famous Aboriginal cricket team. He played 46 of the 47 matches; scored 1364 runs for an 18.94 average; and took 113 wickets for an 11.38 average. Dr W.G. Grace praised the ‘all round form’ of Cuzens and Mullagh. In 1866 Cuzens played for Victoria against Tasmania. (Tatz at al: 1996)

The states joined together and formed the Commonwealth of Australia. The Commonwealth Constitution stated that “in reckoning the numbers of the people...Aboriginal natives shall not be counted”. During debate in Queensland on protection powers over Aborigines, Augustus Gregory, Member of Parliament for Chermont, says: “The law of evolution says the nigger shall disappear in the onward progress of White Australia” - cited in Weekend Australian, 27-28 May 2000.

The Act provided the Aborigines Protection Board, which had existed since 1881, with legal powers to 'provide for the protection and care of Aborigines.' It was the first piece of legislation that dealt specifically with Aboriginal people in New South Wales. It applied to all Aboriginal people but contained particular provisions for children, including the right of the Protection Board to remove youths from Aboriginal Reserves and place them into service.

On the morning of 12 August 1952 a disbelieving Australia heard that Dave Sands (born of the Dunghutti peoples), national and Empire middleweight boxing champion and contender for the world title, had died the previous evening at the age of 26. Dave suffered head and internal injuries when the truck he was driving crashed and overturned on a metre high embankment as the road divided near Dungog. (Phil Wilkins, The Sun 19.8.1985). Dave was perhaps the best known of the famous Ritchie family. The six brothers fought under the name of Sands during the 1940s and 50s, forging forged a unique record in world boxing. The Ritchie family maintained a close association with the Newcastle area with Clem, the eldest brother, and their sister Lillian, being actively involved with the setting up and then the ongoing activities of the Awabakal Co-op.

The university’s involvement with the Goori community is worthy of note. In acquiring the land in 1963 it participated in the forced removal of Gooris from the site:
“In April, the Newcastle City Council ordered the removal of nineteen squatters, mainly Aborigines...It took eighteen months of effort by the City Council, the University, the Department of Education, the Crown Solicitor and the Aborigines Welfare Board (who had to rehouse the settlers) to reach a solution (Wright, 1992: 84).

In 1971 a midden was uncovered while clearing for housing near Swansea Heads. An archaeological excavation in 1972 revealed that this was a very old campsite, being carbon-dated as 7,800 years. The dig was conducted by Frances Bentley and Len Dyall. Human remains were discovered along with many stone implements and also food remains, which enabled the researchers to reconstruct the diet of the inhabitants.

This company was formed by Goori brothers, originally from the New England area. Initially, the company was independent of government funding. Its main activity was railway line construction although it diversified to include labour hire. Robert, Roy and Bill Smith had many years’ experience working on the NSW Government Railways and although lacking in formal qualifications, they knew how to construct railway track, including surveying and costing. Bill moved into the Maitland area in 1955 and after fifteen years’ service on the railways, formed Smiths’ General Contractors in March 1969. The company’s paid up capital was six dollars. They tendered for work and was successful in carrying out projects in many areas of NSW. The first year of operations yielded a turnover in excess of one million dollars. When working outside of Newcastle, Smiths often employed local Gooris to support the Newcastle work crews. The company ensured that 75% of its workforce was Goori. Perhaps the company’s most noted local achievement was the laying of the track for the coal loader at Port Waratah and during this time Smiths employed more than 100 persons. (Heath, 1998: 66)

By 1973 along with other Gooris and some non-Aboriginal supporters, Bill Smith was instrumental in establishing the Newcastle Aboriginal Advancement Society which obtained a federal grant a year later to carry out a cultural awareness program in Newcastle. Due to funding difficulties this organisation was superseded by the Awabakal Newcastle Aboriginal Cooperative Limited which commenced activities in 1975 and, in February 1977, was formally registered as a Community Advancement Cooperative Society. In 1982, it obtained a second registration as an organisation under the Charitable Collections Act. The cooperative’s goals were clearly listed: a. Hold a cultural camp for 9 to 15 year olds at Rathmines the week before Christmas; b. Establish an Aboriginal Health Centre; c. Reclaim the Sacred sights (sic) at the Wattagans and establish a permanent reserve and cultural centre; d. Establish an Aboriginal Pre-school; e. Obtain an Aboriginal legal service field officer to work from the Co-op; f. Set up a loaning and Homework Centre which would include such teaching programs as; the teaching of the Awabakal dialect; g. Establish our own club; h. Set up our own housing Co-op. (Minutes, Awabakal A.G.M. 1977 - Heath,1998:66). By 2000 many of the programs outlined above had been achieved by the Newcastle Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander community. Some, directly by the Awabakal Co-op, and others independent of it. But most often through the initial negotiations and support of the Co-op.

Excavations of shell middens were conducted on the Aboriginal site at Birubi, near Port Stephens NSW. Prior to 1788 Birubi was an important burial and ceremonial site for the traditional Worimi Aboriginal people.

In September 1980, nine Newcastle citizens met in a school classroom to discuss the Aboriginal situation. The meeting recognised the need and the opportunity to establish a Newcastle Support Group. It was agreed that the Group would be open to all citizens, both black and white, and would endeavour to promote better understanding between Aborigines and non-Aborigines, and support initiatives proposed by Aboriginal groups both locally and nationally. “We have been united in an endeavour to put aside the 200-year old attitude that non-Aborigines know what is best for Aborigines; we are prepared at all times to listen to what the Aborigines are saying” - John P. (Jack) Doherty, President, Newcastle Aboriginal Support Group (cited in On The Fringes Of Newcastle Society, Mary R. Hall and W.J. Jonas, 1985)

An archaeological survey was conducted at Kerrabee Dam, near Muswellbrook by Awabakal Co-op for the Hunter Development Board.

The second NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (AECG) Conference held in Newcastle. The NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (AECG) began in 1977 as a committee of Aboriginal people invited by the Department of Education to advise it on Aboriginal Education.

Bill Jonas, grandson of William Jonas the renowned Goori horseman who rode at King George V coronation in London, was appointed to the Maralinga Royal Commission (investigating the effects of British nuclear tests in Australia). At this time Bill was chairperson of the Awabakal Co-op and the first Goori to obtain an academic appointment at Newcastle University. Later he became Principal of the Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) before taking the position of Director of the National Museum in Canberra. In 1999 Bill moved to Sydney to take up the appointment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner.

Hunter ACS established under a 12-month Commonwealth Employment Program grant to promote the care and fostering of Aboriginal children in Aboriginal homes.

Aboriginal Education Unit established at Tighes Hill, TAFE.

The College of Advanced Education accepts a Bi-Centenary Grant to build Wollotuka Centre in In September. The Wollotuka Institute is now a unit within the University of Newcastle. It is a strategic and operational body which is responsible for all Indigenous activities of the University.

THE Wollotuka Centre, which was completed in 1986, was officially opened for the Bicentenary - with no Gooris in attendance.

Awabakal Co-op organises demonstrations for Queen’s visit. Queen Elizabeth II visited Newcastle in 1988 to open Queens Wharf.

September sees the death of Dunghutti boxer Clem Ritchie (Sands), one of the leading 'Fighting Sands Brothers' - ref. younger brother, Dave Sands, who died in 1952.

Corroborees are held at Wollombi and Newcastle University by Gooris who have embraced traditional law to take up responsibilities as traditional custodians in the region.

John Lester who was brought up in Sydney but of the Wonnarua people (Country also known as Singleton) was appointed as Professor at the Umulliko Research Centre, University of Newcastle. The Umulliko Indigenous Higher Education Centre seeks a deeper level of framework, in which the past, present and future are combined to form a holistic Indigenous understanding. In the language of the Awabakal people, Umulliko means 'to create, to make, to do'.

On 14 April, the Council of the City of Newcastle acknowledged that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, in this council area Awabakal and Worimi, were the first peoples of this land, and are the proud survivors of more than two hundred years of continuing dispossession.  As a vital step towards building a just, common future, Newcastle Council recognised the loss and the grief held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander caused by alienation from their traditional lands, the loss of their lives and their freedom, and the forced removal of their children. Newcastle City Council, in negotiation with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, proposed to develop an action plan to redress disadvantages and attain justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of this community.

On 10 June the Memorial at the Myall Creek Massacre Site was unveiled, acknowledging the terrible events that took place at Myall Creek Station on 10 June 1838. Two basalt blocks mark the beginning of the memorial walkway which is a 600-metre winding path through woodland and grasses. At various stages along the walkway there are seven oval shaped granite boulders containing plaques with etchings and words in English and Gamilaroi, telling the story of the massacre. At the end of the walkway the memorial is set on a rise overlooking the site of the massacre between five spreading gumtrees. The memorial rock is a large granite boulder with a simple plaque surrounded by a circle of crushed white granite, edged in by stones. The massacre site was added to the Australian National Heritage List on 7 June 2008 and the NSW Heritage on 12 November 2010.