Modern humans (Homo sapiens) arrived in Australia at least 40,000 years ago.
Notes on verification
Well-corroborated by multiple independent sources including peer-reviewed research (Nature) and archaeological dating from Lake Mungo and Madjedbebe. The 40,000-year figure is a conservative lower bound; current consensus suggests arrival may be even earlier (47,000-65,000 years ago). [cascade flags: aggregator_dropped_primary_exists,wikipedia_dropped_other_sources_exist | tier=silver indep_score=1.0 clusters=2 claim_tier=notable | framework convergence=partial (upstreams: Madjedbebe optical dating study (Clarkson et al., Nature 2017), Lake Mungo radiocarbon/luminescence dating studies, 2025 archaeogenetic study in Science Advances) — publishers independent, evidence may not be | kind=empirical eligibility=high]
Sources
- Digs & Discoveries - Settling Southeast Asia - Archaeology Magazine - November/December 2012 (seed:history_and_archaeology)
- https://www.nature.com/articles/nature22968 (corroboration)
- https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/mungo-lady (corroboration)