Australia is a multicultural society, consisting of people from all around the world. Australia has always had a mix of cultures and people although not in the same way as it does today.

When the white man first came to the shores of Australia, he found the land inhabited by Aboriginal people. They lived simple lives, and their activities included hunting, fishing and the procuring of vegetable food. Their dwelling place or gunyah was a shelter formed by the boughs and bark of trees, which afforded them protection from the elements. The weapons of war and the chase used by the men were the boomerang, spear and club. They also used a stone axe, which consisted of a piece of hard brittle stone chipped or ground to a suitable shape and fixed securely in a forked piece of wood by means of bark, string and gum, or animal tendons. The women used a stick hardened by fire and pointed at one end. It was called a "digging stick," and was used both as a weapon and a domestic implement for digging edible roots
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Fish were either speared or caught in nets woven of grass and bark. The nets were set in shallow portions of the river course, and the fish were usually trapped as they traveled with the tides. Extraordinary skill was developed by the Aboriginal people in the use of the fish spear. The native fisherman would wade in the river and secure his meal by throwing the spear at a ripple in the water which experience had taught him was an indication of the presence of fish. The kangaroo and other animals were stalked and killed for food, and the skins and furs were used for sleeping rugs. Certain species of grubs and snakes were included in the somewhat extensive menu of the Aboriginal people, and, when a lizard was seen basking in the sun, it was promptly caught, cooked and eaten. As the Aboriginal people had but little knowledge of the methods for preserving animal food, their existence alternated between a feast and a famine. When a big haul of fish was secured, it was customary for them to camp on the riverside until the food supply was exhausted.

The Aboriginal people lived together in tribes. Each tribe was distinguished by a common language, lizard . The ceremonies connected with the initiation rites were very elaborate and surrounded with secrecy. The secrets of initiation were held exclusively by the men of the tribe, and, if a woman was caught within sight of the ceremonies, she was immediately killed. Attached to each tribe were tribal doctors or "medicine men."