Biographical Report

Kath Walker, born 3 November 1920, was an Indigenous political activist, poet, artist and public speaker. She later changed her name to Oodgeroo Noonuccal in honor of her tribe (the Noonuccal tribe). She grew up on North Stadbroke Island and lived there with her family, she dropped out of School at age 13 to work as a domestic maid, at this time in her life Kath Walker aspired to be a nurse but knew that her lack of schooling would impose problems in completing a course for this profession. She then Joined the Australian Women’s Army Service (RWAS) in 1941 where she served without discrimination or prejudice and learned new skills. Kath and her husband joined the communist party as they believed they were the only form of government without racist views but then resigned when they discovered the lack of effort towards ending racial discrimination. Kath Walker was an active campaigner for civil rights and during the 1960s her work was flourishing, speaking and promoting equality and writing many poes about her experiences and the circumstances they were in. She passed away in 1993 at age 73 due to cancer.

·         Which Indigenous leaders have led the struggle for rights and freedoms?

The civil rights movement in Australia would not have been the same without some extremely brave, fearless characters of different Aboriginal descent pulling together to fight for a cause that affected all Indigenous Australians. Leaders that led these movements and struggles include government officials, public speakers, educators, artists and writers. Indigenous leaders included Vincent Lingiari who was the leader for the Gurindji strike, Jack Patten and William Ferguson helped by writing up a document outlining the Aboriginal peoples protests and demands that were then passed on to the government. It might have been the leaders who organized all the events but for anyone to participate was an act of bravery and defiance, they may not be ‘leaders’ but they demonstrate that if you strongly believe you can change history.

·         What rights and freedoms have Indigenous Australians fought for since 1945?

Mistreatment of Indigenous Australians has been a matter since the settlement of White European people. With the arrival of promising settlers after World War 2, so came the policies and governmental movements in the hope of keeping Australia white. Although WWII was a devastating period of history, it also, for those years of war, eradicated the difference of skin colour and people were much less discriminative, although after the war, Australia took a step backwards and now not only were they segregating people, they were segregating those who had fought for the country. Problems facing the Aborigines included the assimilation policy, removal of Aboriginal children from their families, inequality between races and unrecognized land rights by the government. Majority of these issues were inflicted by the Australian government, working against the traditional land owners and in favour of the White Australian immigrants/descendants. The Aboriginal community fought for several rights and freedoms, in hope of making life better for future generations. They fought against the policies set in place by the government and pushed the idea of equal rights between races. These protests were majorly successful and have been a great advance into multiculturalism and the indiscriminative nation we are today. Kath Walker participated in the movement by participating in marches and through her work as a poet and journalist.

·         What challenges do Australia’s Indigenous people face today?

Although the gap between the Indigenous Australians and White Australians has been minimized significantly, there are still challenges facing the Aboriginal community today. These include remoteness, health, education and employment. Majority of people of Aboriginal descent do live in suburban/country towns and cities yet there are still a percentage of those living in remote areas, this is the main reason for the challenges the Aboriginals face today. With living in a remote, central Australian town also comes with lack of/uneasy access to health care such as hospitals; this contributes to the fact that Aboriginals have the highest rate of poor health amongst Australians. Since the referendum, education has been a targeted issue on the agenda and since then education standards have been improved dramatically but there is still a margin between the standards of inner-city/suburban schools and inland schools mainly due to the lack of qualified teachers in the area. This has also led to a greater percentage of lower rated jobs and unemployment, as employers generally have a negative view on the standards and level of education in Aboriginal communities. The most significant challenges the Indigenous Australians face are unfortunately the remoteness of Central Australia and the negative view of education and work ethic in the industry.

Oodgeroo Noonuccal contributed to the Aboriginal Rights and Freedoms act by writing from her perspective in her poems and by being an active speaker against racial discrimination. She was one of many who contributed to the improvements of policies, education, employment, health, land rights and equality between races.