Aborigines Advancement League

The Aborigines Advancement League (also known as the Aboriginal Advancement League) claims to be the oldest Aboriginal organisation in Australia.^[1] It is primarily concerned with Aboriginal welfare issues and the preservation of Aboriginal culture and heritage, and is based in Melbourne.

History

The League was established in 1957 as a response to an enquiry by retired magistrate, Charles McLean, into the circumstances of Aboriginal Victorians. McLean was critical of conditions in the Lake Tyers and Framlingham Aboriginal Reserves. McLean recommended that persons of mixed Aboriginal and European descent be removed from the reserves. The people of Lake Tyers objected to this, and the League was formed out of their campaign.^[2]

The new League drew from two already existing organisations, the Australian Aborigines League, established 1934^[3] and the Save the Aborigines Committee, which had been established in 1955 as a response to the Warburton Ranges crisis.^[1] Founding President of the League was Gordon Bryant, with Doris Blackburn as Deputy President, Stan Davey as Secretary and Douglas Nicholls as Field Officer.^[1]

Early activities included lobbying for a referendum to change the Australian constitution to allow the Federal government to legislate on Aboriginal affairs, and an establishing a legal defence fund for Albert Namatjira, after he was charged with supplying liquor to an Aboriginal ward.^[1] By 1967 it had moved to being fully controlled by Aboriginal people with Bill Onus as the first Aboriginal President.^[4]

Current activities

The League provides a number of services to Koorie people, including family support, food assistance, home visits, advocacy, counselling and educational programs, drug and alcohol awareness and funeral services. It also has a Cultural Unit that provides information and speakers for schools.^[5]

Smoke Signals. ISSN 0049-0776. OCLC 220165347. CS1 maint: Untitled periodical (link) is the official magazine of the AAL. Commencing publication in April 1960, it continues to the present day (as of 2011).^[6]

Headquarters and keeping place

In 1999 the Victorian government completed a $2,790,000 renovation of the Leagues headquarters in Watt St., Thornbury. As well as providing a community facility, the building houses a museum and "keeping place" for items of historical, cultural and spiritual importance to Aboriginal people.^[7]

References

Indigenous Australians

Peoples	Aboriginal Australians Australoids Blackfellas Communities Groups Half-castes Tasmanians Torres Strait Islanders Victorians Western Australians

Individuals	Activists Musicians People from politics and public service Performing artists Sportspeople Visual artists Writers

Culture	Astronomy Avoidance Bora Corroboree Deadly Awards Deities Dreaming Dreamtime Enumeration Flag Kinship Kurdaitcha Marn Grook Message stick Mythology NAIDOC National Indigenous Human Rights Awards Outstation movement Riji Seasons Sacred sites Smoking ceremony Songlines Tjurunga Torres Strait Islands Woggabaliri

Languages	Avoidance speech Australian Aboriginal English Macro-Gunwinyguan languages Australian Creole Language groups Loanwords into English Palawa Pama–Nyungan languages Placenames Sign languages Torres Strait Island languages

Organisations	ATSIC Aboriginal Medical Service Aborigines Advancement League Aborigines Progressive Association AIATSIS Australian Aboriginal Progress Association Australian Aborigines' League Central Land Council Media National Congress of Australia's First Peoples National Indigenous Council Northern Land Council Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations Politics TSRA Reconciliation Australia Sorry Day

Bushcraft	Boomerang Buka Bush bread Bushfood Bush medicine Coolamon Dugout canoe Fibrecraft Fire-stick farming Food groups Humpy Possum-skin cloak Scarred tree Soaks Spinifex resin Sweet foods Waddy Woomera

Arts	Artifacts Bark painting Contemporary visual art Dance Didgeridoo Music Music groups Rock NATSIA Award Papunya Tula Sandpainting Vibe Visual art Yininmadyemi

History	Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976 Caledon Bay crisis Cummeragunja walk-off Day of Mourning Gurindji Strike Historical figures History Prehistory History wars King plates Massacres Black War Missions Native police Pilbara strike Pintupi Nine Tent embassy Western Australia

Issues	Crime Health Land rights Native title Protected Area Media portrayal Northern Territory National Emergency Response Self-determination Stolen Generations Half-Caste Act Voting rights 1967 Referendum

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