User:Wasechun tashunka/sandbox/Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders

Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders

Logo of the FCAATSI
Abbreviation	FCAATSI
Formation	February 13, 1958 (1958-02-13)
Founded at	Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Dissolved	1978 (1978)
Focus	Indigenous Rights Activism
Headquarters	Melbourne, Victoria (pre-1967) Sydney, New South Wales (post-1967)
Formerly called	Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement (FCAA)

The Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders was a civil rights organisation which campaigned for the welfare of Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders. It was influential in lobbying in favour of the 1967 Referendum on Aboriginal Australians.

Background

The idea of uniting Aboriginal Rights groups in order to form a united lobbying forces had existed for some time, fueled by periodic concern for the plight of indigenous Australians; however two occurances in the mid-50s encouraged renewed discussion of the issue. The London Anti-Slavery Society began planning to approach the United Nations on behalf of Australian Aboriginals, accompanied by an information gathering visit of Australia by Lady Jessie Street. At the same time, public concern was raised over living conditions among nomadic Aborigines living on the Warburton Ranges following the publication of a report and a subsequent film shot by Bill Grayden and Douglas Nicholls. These events motivated activist Shirley Andrews to, in 1957, begin planning a meeting of concerned parties.

History

Foundation (1958)

On February 13th, 1958, a meeting was held in Adelaide, Australia, attended by twelve delegates from nine Aboriginal rights and welfare leagues and twelve observers. The meeting culminated in the foundation of the Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement, designed to unite existing lobby groups, with a goal to help "the Aboriginal people of Australia to become self-reliant, self-supporting members of the community".

To this aim, five key principles were established:

• Equal citizenship rights with other Australian citizens
• An adequate standard of living equivalent to that expected by other Australians
• Equal pay for equal work and the same industrial protection as for other Australians
• Free and compulsory education for detribalised Aborigines
• The absolute retention of all remaining native reserves, with native communal or individual ownership

Expansion (1958-1966)

The organisation grew in numbers, especially among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. From the original 25 founding members, the organisation's membership grew to 220 in 1965; over the same timeframe, the number of aboriginal members grew from 4 to 65. From 1963, an annual conference was held in Canberra, Capital Territory, attracting delegates from 65 affiliated organisation, with one third of attendees at the conference in 1970 being indigenous.

In 1964, the organisation's remit was expanded to include Torres Strait Islanders, and the name was therefore changed to the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders.

1967 Referendum

Main article: Australian referendum, 1967 (Aboriginals)

In 1962, a national campaign was launched, following a partition by the Aboriginal-Australian Fellowship, in order to push for a more active involvement in Aboriginal affairs at a Commonwealth level. By the end of the year, the petition had over 100,000 signatures, and after continuous lobbying, members of the council were able to meet with Prime Minister Robert Menzies in 1965. This meeting was considered to have been crucial in the change in government attitude, which led to the hugely successful 1967 Referendum, giving the Australian Parliament the power to legislate for Aboriginal peoples.

Aboriginal Membership Controversy (1967-1970)

The 1967 Referendum was seen as a major success for Aboriginal rights, however it signaled an end of unity in the FCAATSI. Allegations were made that the organisation was not representative of indigenous peoples, as the Executive Council had a white majority. This eventually led to the resignation of the General Secretary, Stan Davey, as well as two other high-ranking Aboriginal executives, Oodgeroo Noonuccal and Charles Perkins. Faith Bandler took over as acting General Secretary, moving the headquarters to Sydney in the process.

Discontent with the lack of involvement of indigenous members in the leadership of the organisation was accompanied with questioning of the focus on a common struggle between different races. The emerging alternative opinion was that the time had come for indigenous peoples to take full control of lobbying efforts and base their agenda solely on indigenous matters. The "Report on Aboriginal and European Leadership in FCAATSI", written by Barrie Pittock and published in the council's Annual Report of 1968, expresses this desire for more indigenous leadership, and echoes discontent that this has not been sufficiently met:

[T]here is a basic need to have Aborigines as spokesmen for their own people; and I believe that while this organization, and this Executive, have sought to encourage Aboriginal leadership, we have not done it.

— A.B. Pittock, "Report on Aboriginal and European Leadership in FCAATSI"

This division came to a head in the Annual Conference of 1970, in which motions were tabled proposing a restriction on membership and voting rights to indigenous members. The failure of these motions led to their proponents leaving the organisation, resulting in the formation of the National Tribal Council by Oodgeroo Noonuccal and Douglas Nicholls, which lasted three years before disbanding.

Decline and Demise (1970-1978)

The dream of a indigenous-controlled council was finally realised in 1973, however with an increase in the number of non-affiliated organisations campaigning for indigenous rights, and the formation of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and the National Aboriginal Consultative Committee, the importance of the FCAATSI diminished. The council eventually changed its name to the National Aboriginal and Islander Liberation Movement (NAILM) to reflect its change in focus, but when state funding was removed in 1978, the organisation disbanded.

See Also

• Aboriginal Australians
• Australian referendum, 1967 (Aboriginals)
• Self-determination of Australian Aborigines
• Torres Strait Islanders