To deal with ailments, Aboriginal People used a range of remedies – wild herbs, animal products, steam baths, clay pits, charcoal and mud, massages, string amulets and secret chants. Some of these remedies had no empirical basis, but it is clear from the accounts of colonists that they worked.

Many of the remedies, of course, did directly heal. Aromatic herbs, tannin-rich inner barks and kinos have well documented therapeutic effects. Other plants undoubtedly harboured alkaloids or other compounds with pronounced healing effects. Unfortunately, very few native remedies have been tested systematically.

It is important to recognise that Aboriginal remedies varied between clans. There was no one Aboriginal pharmacopoeia, just as there was no one Aboriginal language.

HEADACHE	Red ash (Alphitonia excelsa)  Headache vine (Clematis microphylla)  Rock fuchsia bush (Eremophila)  Liniment tree (Melaleuca symphyocarpa)  Tamarind (Tamarindus indica)  Snakevine (Tinospora smilacina)	Bathe with crushed leaves in water  Crushed leaves inhaled  Leaf decoction drunk  Crushed leaves rubbed on head  Fruit pulp rubbed on head  Mashed stems wound around head
COUGHS, COLDS	Lemon grasses (Cymbopogon)  Fuchsia bushes (Eremophila)  Tea trees (Melaleuca)  River mint (Mentha australis)  Great morinda (Morinda citrifolia)	Decoction drunk or applied as wash  Decoction drunk  Crushed leaves inhaled  Decoction drunk  Ripe fruit eaten
FEVERS	Turpentine bush (Beyeria lechenaultii)  Kapok tree (Cochlospermum fraseri)  Lemon grasses (Cymbopogon)  Red river gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis)  Tea tree (Melaleuca viridiflora)	Leaf decoction taken  Bark and flower decoction drunk  External wash of boiled leaves  Steamed leaves inhaled  Bath of crushed leaves in water
DIARRHOEA	Lemon grasses (Cymbopogon)  Eucalypt bark (Eucalypt)  Cluster fig (Ficus racemosa)  Sacred basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum)  Native raspberries (Rubus)	Decoction drunk  Infusion drunk  Bark infusion drunk  Root infusion drunk  Leaf infusion drunk  Decoction drunk
WOUNDS	Billygoat weed (Ageratum)  Tree orchid (Dendrobium affine)  Spike rush (Eleocharis dulcis)  Paperbark tea trees (Melaleuca)  Cocky apple (Planchonia careya)	Crushed plant applied  Bulb sap dabbed on cuts  Decaying plant bound to wounds  Bark wrapped as a bandage  Bark infusion poured into wounds
ACHES AND PAINS	Northern black wattle (Acacia auriculiformis)  Beach bean (Canavilia rosea)  Rock fuchsia bush (Eremophila freelingii)  Beaty leaf (Calophyllum inophullum)	Root decoction applied  Mashed root infusion rubbed on  Wash with leaf decoction  Rub with crushed nut and ochre
STINGS	Nipan (Capparis lasiantha)  Native hop (Dodonaea viscosa)  Beach convolvulus (Ipomoea pes-caprae)  Snakevine (Tinospora smilacina)  Peanut tree (Sterculia quadrifida)	Whole plant infusion applied  Chewed leaves bound to sting  Heated leaf applied  Root poultice applied  Heated leaves pressed on sting
RHEUMATISM	Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon)  Konkerberry (Carissa Ianceolata)  Beach bean (Canacalia rosea)  Tick-weed (Cleome viscosa)  Stinging tree (Dendrocnide moroides)  Nettle (Urtica)	Bathe in bark infusion  Oily sap rubbed as liniment  Mashed root infusion rubbed in  Leaves applied  Boiled leaves and bark rubbed in  Patient beaten with leaves
SORE EYES	Ironwood (Acacia melanoxylon)  Green plum (Buchanania obovata)  Regal birdflower (Crotalaria cunninghamii)  Emu apple (Owenia acidula)  Fan flower (Scaevola sericea)	Root decoction administered  Infusion of inner bark applied  Sap or leaf decoction given  Wood decoction applied  Fruit juice applied
SORE EARS	River mangrove (Aegiceras corniculatum)  Lemon grass (Cymbopogon)  Native hop (Dodonaea viscosa)  Lady apple (Syzygium suborbiculare)	Leaf decoction applied  Root decoction poured into ears  Boiled root juice applied   Fruit pulp applied
TOOTHACHE	Green plum (Buchanania obovata)  Denhamia (Denhamia obscura)  Supplejack (Flagellaria indica)  Pemphis (Pemphis acidula)  Quinine berry (Petalostigma pubescens)	Tooth plugged with shredded wood  Tooth plugged with inner bark  Benumbing stem chewed  Burning twig applied  Fruits held in mouth

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