The Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI), founded in Adelaide, South Australia, as the Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement (FCAA) on 16 February 1958, was a civil rights organisation which campaigned for the welfare of Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders, and the first national body representing Aboriginal interests. It was influential in lobbying in favour of the 1967 Referendum on Aboriginal Australians. It was renamed to National Aboriginal and Islander Liberation Movement (NAILM) in the early to mid 1970s, before disbanding in 1978.
Background
The idea of uniting Aboriginal rights groups in order to form a united lobbying forces had existed for some time, fuelled by periodic concern for the plight of Indigenous Australians; however two occurrences in the mid-1950s encouraged renewed discussion of the issue. The Anti-Slavery and Aborigines' Protection Society, based in London, began planning to approach the United Nations on behalf of Australian Aboriginal people, accompanied by an information gathering visit of Australia by Lady Jessie Street. At the same time, public concern was raised over living conditions among nomadic Aboriginal peoples (specifically the Wongi peoples) living on the Warburton Ranges following the publication of a report and a subsequent film shot by Bill Grayden and Douglas Nicholls, called Manslaughter. The series of events which became known as the Warburton Ranges controversy ignited public concern and outrage, leading to lobbying of parliamentarians and other activism by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.
These events motivated activist Shirley Andrews to begin planning a meeting of concerned parties in 1957.
History
Foundation (1958) From 14 February to 16 February 1958, a meeting was held in Willard Hall, in Wakefield Street, Adelaide, attended by 12 delegates from nine Aboriginal rights and welfare leagues and 12 observers. The meeting culminated in the foundation of the Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement, designed to unite existing lobby groups, with a goal to help "the Aboriginal people of Australia to become self-reliant, self-supporting members of the community". This was the first national body representing Aboriginal interests. Longtime campaigner for Aboriginal rights and one of the oldest delegates and then president of the Aborigines Advancement League of South Australia, Charles Duguid, was elected as the first president. Only groups which had "earned themselves the right to be considered seriously as organisations fighting on behalf of Aborigines" and some newer groups which had proven worthy were invited. Different lobby groups focussed on different aspects of Aboriginal welfare or rights and members varied in composition, but they all desired to effect change. It was hard to measure success, but all contributed to changing public opinion to an acceptance that Aboriginal people deserved rights.
To this aim, five key principles were established: Equal citizenship rights with other Australian citizens An adequate standard of living equivalent to that expected by other Australians Equal pay for equal work and the same industrial protection as for other Australians Free and compulsory education for detribalised Aborigines The absolute retention of all remaining native reserves, with native communal or individual ownership
It was a significant milestone to bring together the disparate groups under an umbrella organisation. The Aborigines Advancement League sought to disaffiliate from the FCAA from about 1959 onwards, achieving this in 1966, because it thought the federal organisation too focussed on the state of Victoria.
Expansion (1958–1966) The Cairns-based Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders Advancement League was established in January 1960, and affiliated with the FCAA shortly afterwards.
The Northern Territory Council for Aboriginal Rights (NTCAR) was founded in 1961, with their constitution based on sister organisation Council for Aboriginal Rights (CAR) in Victoria, only with an extra requirement that 75 per cent of executive members had to be of Aboriginal descent. The first president was Jacob Roberts, succeeded by Phillip Roberts in 1962. It became an affiliate of FCAA during that year, tipping the voting balance in favour of the left-wing Aboriginal affiliates, the others being CAR (Victoria), the Aboriginal-Australian Fellowship (New South Wales) and the Queensland Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (QCAATSI) based in Brisbane.