The Foundation for Aboriginal and Islander Research Action (FAIRA) was formed in Queensland in 1977 after Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community delegates from across Queensland, including from rural towns and isolated reserve communities, decided to establish a functional organisation to change legislation referred to as the 'Black Acts'. In 1981 FAIRA was involved in an extended tent embassy in the King George Square and in 1982 played a major role in organising protests around the Brisbane Commonwealth Games. After the Black Acts were terminated in 1984, FAIRA continued to campaign for the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples at the local, national and international levels. FAIRA was founded and continues to be operated by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It is funded independently, and its purpose is to fight racism, have the rights of Indigenous Peoples recognised and respected in Australian law and secure Land Rights. FAIRA utilises research-based actions to address exploitation and empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Publicists - Paul Braddy, Don Davidson, Shane Hoffman, Morgan B. Howe, Liz Johnson, P Jones, Les Malezer, Steve Mam, Noel Preston, John Warby.

The archive documents the history of the press from about 1965, the time of University of Queensland Press's expansion from a university publications outlet into a fully-fledged publishing house. UQP has a strong focus on Australian studies and has produced series such as Paperback Poets, Poets on Record, Australian Authors, Studies in Australian Literature, Black Australian Writers and Australian public figures and Australian public issues on tape. Authors with production files in the collection include Peter Carey, Olga Masters, David Malouf, Thomas Shapcott, John Manifold, Michael Dransfield, Janette Turner Hospital, Nancy Cato, Judith Rodriguez, Ross Fitzgerald and Denis Murphy.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), established in 1990 under the Hawke government, was an Indigenous-elected national representative body with both administrative and representative functions that aimed to increase Indigenous participation in the public sector, particularly in regard to government processes that affected the lives of Australian Indigenous peoples.