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Artefacts about Activism & Advocacy

Department of Labour and National Service minute dated 21 July 1972excerpt.
Workers involved in walk-off denied payments
Aboriginal workers walked off the Victoria River Downs cattle station in 1972 over pay and working conditions. The government was hesitant to pay Unemployment Benefit even though they passed the work test.
Photo of Joyce Clague seated behind a desk, with a pen in hand.
Activists use payments for change
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people used government payments to gain further rights and freedoms. Activist Joyce Clague’s story reveals how payments became linked to land rights.
Clipping of an article showing a photo of Kevin Coombs at a desk and the title 'Kevin Coombs - disabled but able'. The title of the page reads 'International Year of Disabled Persons'.
DSS promotes payments for people with disability
In a special edition of Aboriginal Quarterly, the government promoted help for Aboriginal people with disability and featured Aboriginal voices in articles for the International Year of Disabled Persons.
Somebody Now front page
Torres Strait Islander’s activism leads to change
In her autobiographies, Ellie Gaffney discussed her work advocating for direct payments for Torres Strait Islander people and for a DSS office to be established on Thursday Island.
Excerpt titled 'Only man on the island', alongside a photograph of a man looking to the right, and a map of Tasmania with locations labelled.
DSS servicing for Aboriginal people expands in Tasmania
It took time and activism to establish government services for Aboriginal people in Tasmania. These DSS newsletters introduce the first Tasmanian Aboriginal Liaison Officer in 1984 and show how services expanded into the 1990s.
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