Indigenous Australians have faced many changes to their original lifestyle, with many policies being put in place. These policies had an incredible impact on the way Indigenous Australians lived. The policies inflicted on Indigenous Australians were wide-ranging and had many impacts. Policies of assimilation, protection and integration have had mainly negative impacts on the community, leading to a loss of identity, language and religion. Self-determination and reconciliation policies have had mainly positive effects on the Australian Indigenous community, creating a stronger bond between black and white Australians, encouraging the idea of ​​bridging the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. These policies had an incredible influence on the lives of Aboriginal Australians, changing many ways of living. These policies changed the course of history for all Australians. The Protection Policy was the first policy and had serious consequences for Aboriginal Australia. Violence against Aboriginal people was high, white Australians felt it was their duty to protect Aboriginal people, policy was aimed at separating Aboriginal people from white Australians. They were deported and placed on government reservations and religious missions, where they were forced to become Christians. The aim of the policy and missions was to eradicate all indigenous languages, religions and spiritualities. In 1883, a protection council was created to direct the missions. The missions and camps had a paternalistic approach, treating natives the same way a parent would treat a young child. The impact of this policy was horrific, making the mission similar to a prison. Aboriginal people lost their independence and became extremely dependent on the community and living alongside white Australians, while other Aboriginal people happily moved into the community and came to live more civilized lives. The next policy introduced was the policy of self-determination. It was very well received by the indigenous community, because it gave indigenous people back some of their rights. As relations between non-Indigenous Australians and Indigenous Australians have improved, there has been a strong demand for reconciliation. With many opinions, including why people today should apologize for the past injustices of Australians. The effects of reconciliation were caused by the controversial approach; there were many speeches, activities and “forgiveness days”. The effects of all policies varied considerably, due to differences between policies. The effects it caused changed the course of history and brought us to where we are today..