Between 1901 and 1914 non-white people and women were severely discriminated against. Whether it was law, violence, or retribution, they were highly disadvantaged compared to white men. About a century later these problems have improved dramatically, however there is still room for improvement as these stereotypes are still disadvantaged in our nation today. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In December 1901, the Immigration Restriction Act, now known as the White Australian Policy, came into law. It had been one of the first pieces of legislation introduced in the newly formed federal parliament. This policy was designed to limit non-British migration to Australia. The federal parliament was in favor of this law as the majority of the Australian population shared the same opinion towards people of different races, which today would be considered extremely racist. Criticisms directed at nonwhites suggested that they were less advanced than whites in every sense, including moral and intellectual. Indigenous Australians were considered an "endangered race" and had almost no rights. This has shaped our nation today as even though we are not as racist as whites in 1900, we are still racist against blacks. If a black man and a white man applied for the same job with the exact same skills, the white man would get the job for one thing, his appearance. If we weren't so racist, and if we hadn't discriminated against non-white Australians in 1900, perhaps we would have a more inclusive culture today. The way we treated Aboriginal Australians was terribly wrong, now there are debates and discussions involving both races, such as Australia Day which some call invaders' day. Another great example that demonstrates the laws that have affected our nation today is discrimination, violence and rights against women. In the early 1900s whoever was in charge of the home (usually the father or husband) had the moral authority to use violence to discipline those below him in the hierarchy (wife and children). Wives and children were told that they had to accept discipline, no matter how useless they thought it was. However, violence towards people above you in the hierarchy was never acceptable, whatever the reason. The husband's role was to keep his family in line without using uncontrolled force, however, when the wife felt this was an excessive amount of force she could call upon a number of legal and social measures to ensure that her husband behaved correctly. Even though not much was done to help the wife, the husband only gave more punishment. Other methods included hiding the wife and children from the husband to protect them from beatings. Suffragettes fought hard to extend the very few rights of women in the early 1900s. However there were still very few rights and certainly no political rights. In the 20th century, women had a very stereotypical lifestyle: once married they stopped working and instead cooked, cleaned and worked for their family. If they were single they would work, however they would be paid less than a quarter of the male wage and would work the same hours if not more. Young women were expected to marry early and have children. A divorced woman was shunned by society and treated as an outcast, so most women were forced to stay in unwanted marriages. It was only in 1903 that women were granted the.