May Day procession in Sydney in c1965. From left to right (holding the banner) are Charles 'Chicka' Dixon, Gilbert Jackson and Roy Carroll; the smiling man at left holding the 'Aborigines Full Rights' sign may be Ray Walker (photograph courtesy Noel Butlin Collection, Australian National University – hdl:1885/8925)
magari – to fish / binnie bow – I will make / wulunadarang – hunt / yarrabuni – mind your work! / banga or bangawarra – make or do
Sydney’s inner suburbs have long been a magnet for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people seeking work opportunities, shelter and connections with community and family. Many worked in private industry in Sydney’s southern suburbs but the biggest employer of Aboriginal people in the city was the Eveleigh Railway Yards. Aboriginal people were also involved in the trade union movement, seeking better pay and conditions for working people.
Aboriginal labour in Sydney
Author: Anita Heiss Because mainstream histories of Australia often render Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as invisible or describe them in negative terms, these histories often fail to recognise that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have been involved Read More
Federal Match Factory
Sydney has long been a magnet for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people seeking work opportunities, shelter and connections with community and family. Many worked in private industry in Sydney’s southern suburbs. Local industries where Aboriginal people worked were the Read More
Australian Glass Manufacturers
Sydney has long been a magnet for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people seeking work opportunities, shelter and connections with community and family. Many worked in private industry in Sydney’s southern suburbs. Local industries where Aboriginal people worked were the Read More
Francis Chocolates
Sydney has long been a magnet for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people seeking work opportunities, shelter and connections with community and family. Many worked in private industry in Sydney’s southern suburbs. Local industries where Aboriginal people worked were the Read More
Eveleigh Railway Yards
Eveleigh Railway Yards was Sydney’s largest employer from the time it opened in 1886. It was also one of the biggest employers of Aboriginal people living in Sydney. Many Aboriginal men also worked in the Alexandria goods yard loading trains Read More
Trades Hall
When Aboriginal people began to organise politically, there were often sympathetic non-Aboriginal people to help in the struggle, some of them unionists. From the 1950s, unions and Aboriginal organisations worked closely to build momentum towards the 1967 Referendum on Citizenship Read More
Henry Jones IXL jam factory
Sydney has long been a magnet for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people seeking work opportunities, shelter and connections with community and family. Many worked in private industry in Sydney’s southern suburbs. Local industries where Aboriginal people worked were the Read More
