Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have faced disadvantage in various areas, particularly in housing. The disadvantages these people face today are the result of policies introduced by European settlers, then by the government. The policies introduced were protection, assimilation, integration and self-determination. It is difficult to understand the housing disadvantages faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people if you don't know their history. In 1788, when European settlers “colonized” Australia, Australian land was known as “terra nullius” meaning “land that belongs to no one.” . This decision set the stage for the problems and disadvantages faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for 216 years. The protection policy was intended to disperse tribes and force Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people off their traditional lands so that "white Australians" could have more control. The protection policy implemented by the British colonies pushed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people into reserves. These reserves were managed by religious missionaries and overseen by the Aboriginal Protection Board from 1883. The protection policy was strengthened by the Aborigines Protection Act (NSW) of 1909. This Act remained in force until 1969. The Act allowed the police to detain rations to pressure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to relocate and expel entire clans from specific districts. Conditions were extremely poor on the reservations. There were few sanitation facilities. Often the "houses" were actually sheet metal shacks with dirt floors. Police have granted... middle of paper... housing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people under the "Aboriginal Housing Programme". Since then, the actions of state and federal governments have been questionable over the centuries. the "colonization" of Australia, but as Australia increasingly becomes a multicultural and multiracial society, acceptance by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is increasing. The disadvantages faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are slowly diminishing as the government introduces legislation and establishes commissions. There will always be issues for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in relation to housing, but Australia is moving in the right direction to correct this problem and provide a much better future for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and all the whole of Australia..