The bilingual education programme in the Northern Territory was initiated on the 14th December 1972. The analysis will be divided into four parts. The first examines briefly the historical and cultural context of the Northern Territory as well as the comparative methodology to be used in the dissertation. The second introduces some Third world case studies and the North American experience in bilingualism as background for the bilingual education programme in the Northern Territory. It also looks at linguistic concepts with reference to bilingualism in terms of literacy acquisition, compensatory theories in language learning and the dynamics of culture in a bilingual situation. The third part analyzes the establishment of the bilingual education programme under the central theme of cultural imposition. Finally the fourth part looks at the specific development of bilingual education in the Northern Territory and suggests some future options. There are two main concepts that will be developed through the dissertation. One of them is that Aboriginal society has for a long time been the recipient of western culture, western ideas and western values. The other is that education, whether it is bilingual or not, has been and is part and parcel of that massive cultural transfer.