Leadership and community

• Centenary of suffrage
  • Great Queensland women from our past
  • History
    • Key players
    • Support and opposition
    • Timeline of suffrage
    • What the legislation said
  • Indigenous rights
    • The Act
    • Fighting for rights
  • Resources for schools
• National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women's Gathering (NATSIWG)
• International Women's Day
• Seminars
  • Community leadership seminar series
  • Indigenous Women's Mentoring Workshops
  • Previous seminars
• Women into local government
  • Resources
• Women on Boards
  • For organisations
  • For women
  • Register of nominees

Fighting for rights

The United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights, includes -

• the right to life, liberty and security of the person;
• the right to an adequate standard of living including housing and social services;
• the right to education, including technical and professional education; and
• the right to work and a free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work, to security in the event of unemployment, sickness and old age.

Legislation denied Indigenous Queenslanders many basic human rights like control over personal property, freedom of movement and labour and custody of their children.

By the late 1950s, a number of organisations had formed in Queensland to push the Indigenous rights agenda. They included Queensland Council for the Advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (QCAATSI) and Queensland Aboriginal Advancement League (QAAL), both affiliated to the national Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement (later known as FCAATSI) and One People of Australia League (OPAL).

These groups influenced electoral reform and changes to discriminatory practices in housing, health, education and employment.

Two key players on the national scene were Kath Walker (PDF 42 KB) - later known as Oodgeroo Noonuccal - and Faith Bandler (PDF 33 KB).

In the early 1960s, a parliamentary select committee sought to determine whether the vote should be extended to Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. It received many submissions from church groups and Indigenous rights campaign organisations. In November 1964, its report was tabled calling for the vote to be extended "as a matter of principle".

In August 1965, an amendment to the Elections Act 1915-1962 was introduced extending voting rights for state and local authority elections to Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. The Elections Act Amendment Act 1965 (Queensland) passed on 17 December 1965 and came into force on 1 February 1966.

Indigenous Queenslanders were able to vote at their first state election on 28 May 1966 - well ahead of the federal 1967 referendum which marked the ultimate turning point in Indigenous rights, granting citizenship.