On the 3rd of December 1854 at dawn, the police and soldiers attacked the miners on Bakery Hill at the Eureka Stockade.

The Eureka Stockade battle came about because the gold miners of Eureka were very angry about having to pay for gold a license, they were also fed up with the unfair way they were treated by the government and were furious with the corrupt police.

The Stockade was a wooden barricade enclosing about an acre of the goldfields,

and there were 500 diggers inside who took an oath on the Southern Cross flag. Over the following two days they gathered firearms to defend the Stockade.

On Sunday December the 3rd, at dawn, when only about 200 diggers were left inside the Stockade, soldiers and mounted police launched their attack. The battle was all over in only 15-20 minutes. Five soldiers were killed and thirty diggers were killed or later died of their wounds.

The immediate result of this rebellion was a public reaction against the Government, license hunting became almost non-existent and the Victorian jury acquitted all  but one of the miners charged.

The long term results was the Gold Fields Royal Commision led to a reform of the laws and gave the miners almost everything they had asked for. The gold license was abolished and replaced by a miners’ right costing one pound per year. Possession of this gave the digger a right to mine gold and vote in parliament.

This event is seen as the birthplace of democracy in Australia because the miners stood up for their rights and won.