Item Item 44 - Letter from New South Wales secretary for the FCAATSI

Identity area

Reference code

FVF622-Item 44

Title

Letter from New South Wales secretary for the FCAATSI

Date(s)

  • 4 Aug 1967 (Creation)

Level of description

Item

Extent and medium

2 pages ; 26 cm

Context area

Name of creator

(1918-2015)

Biographical history

Faith Bandler was born in Tumbulgum, New South Wales on 27 September 1918. Named Ida Lessing Mussing, she was the second child in a family of eight. Her father, Peter Mussing, was a South Sea Islander who had been taken from Ambrym Island, Vanuatu, in 1883, at the age of twelve and sent to Mackay, Queensland, before being sent to work on a sugar cane plantation. Her mother, Ida Venno, was an Australian-born woman of Indian-Scottish descent.

Bandler was a leading campaigner for Aboriginal rights from the 1950s through to the 1980s, advocating and campaigning for a 'Yes' vote in the 1967 Referendum. She was also involved with the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI), formed in 1958, serving as an executive member and then secretary from 1970 until 1972.

In addition to campaigning for the rights of Indigenous Australians, Bandler campaigned for recognition for the descendants of her father’s people, Australia’s South Sea Islanders, brought to Queensland as indentured labourers, 1863-1904.

In 1977 she published her first novel, Wacvie, which she based on her childhood memories of her father’s stories. In 1984 she wrote her second novel, Welou: my brother, about her brother Walter's life growing up in Australia as a boy torn between two different cultures. She died in Sydney, New South Wales, on 13 February 2015.

Name of creator

(1958-1978)

Administrative history

A conference in Adelaide in 1958 resulted in the formation of the Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement. In 1964, the organisation was renamed to include Torres Strait Islanders in the title. Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI) was formed to advance the rights of Aboriginal people. The Council included Aboriginal Advancement organisations, unions and church organisations. One of the Council's most successful campaigns was establishing the 1967 Referendum. In March 1978 FCAATSI changed its name to the National Aboriginal and Islander Liberation Movement (NAILM) but the organisation never met. It disbanded that same year after the federal government cut funding.

Archival history

From UQFL191 Constance Healy Papers.
Previously titled as: Letter from F. Bandler, New South Wales secretary for the FCAA, 4 August 1967.

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Content and structure area

Scope and content

Covering letter, addressed to 'Dear Sir' from Faith Bandler, New South Wales Secretary, Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. The letter is about the claim of the Aboriginal people of the Gurindji community being permitted to occupy their lands in the Wave Hill and Limbunya regions of the Northern Territory. Also mentions Wattie Creek. The letter refers to an attached letter to the federal government but this letter is not present. The letter is typescript, with a handwritten note in pen to 'Ted' (possibly Ted Edgan) from 'F.H.' (possibly Frank Hardy).

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Unrestricted access.

Conditions governing reproduction

Orphan work. The rightsholder for this work cannot be identified, or is identifiable but cannot be found, after a reasonably diligent search. If you believe you are a rightsholder for this material, please contact Fryer Library directly at fryer@library.uq.edu.au.

Can be reproduced for personal research and study. For other uses see About copyright. Please attribute the Fryer Library.

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Status

Revised

Level of detail

Full

Dates of creation revision deletion

Revised, Kymberley Doyle, 07-Feb-2025.
Created, Linda Justo, 19-Nov-2019.

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