Aboriginal Progressive Association
The Aboriginal Progressive Association was founded in 1937 by William Ferguson as secretary, Pearl Gibbs and Jack Patten as president in New South Wales . This organization campaigned for Aboriginal rights.
While Ferguson and Gibbs ran the association in western New South Wales, Patten led it in the northeast. The Association conducted protests and organized political meetings in the interests of Aboriginal workers.
In 1938, the Aboriginal Protest Day , the Day of Mourning , was jointly organized and carried out by the Australian Aboriginal League and the Aboriginal Progressive Association, which ultimately led to success in 1940. This measure is considered to be one of the greatest successes of the political movement for Aboriginal rights in the last century.
In essence, the Association advocated three demands:
- full citizenship and human rights
- Representation in parliament
- Abolition of the Aboriginal Protection Board New South Wales. The New South Wales Aboriginal Protection Board was established in 1883, and gained widespread interference in Aboriginal lives through the Aboriginal Protection Act (1909) , including the authority to remove Aboriginal children from their parents. This organization was renamed the Aboriginal Welfare Board in 1940 and passed the Aboriginal Protection (Amendment) Act (1940) . The Aboriginal Welfare Board was not repealed until 1969 according to the Aboriginal Act of New South Wales (1969) .
The Association ceased operations in 1944 and was reactivated in 1963 by Bert Groves and Pearl Gibbs to participate in the land rights movements as a political force. In 1966, the New South Wales government commissioned a parliamentary body to investigate Aboriginal welfare and the Association was interviewed.
The organization published its own journal from 1964 to 1970, the Churinga. Some prominent members of the new association were Joyce Clague, Dulcie Flower, Harriet Ellis, Ray Peckham, Chicka Dixon, and Ken Brindle.
Web links
- Information on reasoninrevolt.net.au (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Aborigines Progressive Association , Website Collaborating for Indigenous Rights (indigenousrights.net.au). Accessed November 8, 2017
- ^ Aboriginal Affairs in NSW: A Short History , NSW Department of Aboriginal Affairs ( Memento of March 20, 2012 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved November 8, 2017.