FCAASTSI

Question 1

FCAATSI

Answer 1

In 1958, Aboriginal delegates Jeff Barnes, pastor Doug Nicholls, and Bert Groves joined unionists, feminists, communists, and Christians to form a federal council to campaign for Aboriginal affairs to become a federal matter, in order to end the discriminatory state-based acts

Question 2

Land Rights

Answer 2

• recognition of aboriginal law and custom
• letting aboriginal people have a say in the land (not destroying potentially sacred land without permission)

Question 3

Housing

Answer 3

• Access to housing (in rural areas and through the government)
• Policies of segregation grouped most South Australian Aboriginal people in nine reserves around the state

Question 4

Voting Rights

Answer 4

• Allow for Indigenous people to be included in the census and altered the ‘race power’ to allow federal parliament to make ‘special laws’ for Indigenous people
• Commonwealth electoral act was amended in 1962 to give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults the right to vote in federal elections (but not compulsory)

Question 5

Economic

Answer 5

• Pay gap (before 1966 it was common for Indigenous people to be paid 1/3 of non-Indigenous people, sometimes even for rations)
• Wage control (structure of FCAATSI was based on the Australian Labour Party, so equal wages and working conditions were a focus, especially in the NT)
• Access to jobs (activists worked to raise awareness about working conditions and disadvantages for aboriginal people)