Aboriginal Heritage
in the 20th Century
The Day of Mourning protesters wanted full citizenship rights, a right to own land and self-determination for their people. Those gathered outside the Australian Hall include (left to right) William Ferguson, Jack Kinchela, Helen Grosvenor, Selma Patten, John Patten and the Patten children. Photograph by Phil Ward. Courtesy of the Jack Horner collection, AIATSIS
In 1996 the Minister for Urban Affairs and Planning, Hon. Craig Knowles MP
highlighted the fact that there had been a lack of consideration of items
of Aboriginal heritage for protection under the Heritage Act. While other
legislation existed which protected major aspects of this heritage, the
Heritage Council was specifically expanded to allow for the inclusion of an
Aboriginal representative. Evelyn Crawford was appointed to the Council and
now chairs the Aboriginal Heritage Committee which consists of Aboriginal
community representatives and members from relevant Government departments.
It advises the Heritage Council on all matters related to Aboriginal
heritage issues. Jeanette Crew has been appointed as the alternative member
for Evelyn Crawford.
The Heritage Council's definition of Aboriginal heritage includes two
distinct types:
- Aboriginal sites, those places with evidence of Aboriginal occupation; and
- Aboriginal places, those places which are of contemporary, spiritual or
mythological importance according to Aboriginal culture or custom, but
which have no physical remains.
This definition allows for places like the Elizabeth Street building to be
protected for their Aboriginal heritage values for everyone to enjoy and
understand. The story of the protection of this building demonstrates how
the concept of Aboriginal heritage has developed in the 1990s to encompass
20th century items, spiritual sites and places of social significance.
The Australian Hall, within the building, was the site of the first
organised Aboriginal civil liberties protest in Australia. In the late
1930s a group of Aboriginal people decided that being outsiders in their
own country was no cause for celebration. Their families were sick, they
survived on mediocre food rations, and most importantly they were taken
from their home land and moved to outback missions or forced to work for
rich settlers.
The group sought support from Aboriginal activists all over Australia and
decided to hold a protest to get the message across to the nation. The
protest was organised for Australia Day 1938. After participating in the
Australia Day March, the group held their own meeting in the Australian
Hall. They formulated a ten-point list of demands which was later carried
by a deputation to Prime Minister Joseph Lyons. The Day of Mourning protest
has subsequently been recognised as the formal foundation of the struggle
for indigenous rights in Australia.
It wasn't until 1993 that it was confirmed that the old Australian Hall was
now the Mandolin Cinema. A small dedicated group of Aboriginal and
interested people was formed to start the process of ensuring the 20th
century building was recognised and protected for its contemporary
Aboriginal heritage value.
This was a major step in heritage protection. Until then, Aboriginal
heritage items were typically seen as those which showed evidence of
Aboriginal occupation such as middens, engraving sites and scarred trees.
In November 1996 a Permanent Conservation
Order was gazetted for the Cyprus Hellene Club.
After considerable controversy, the building has now been purchased by the
Indigenous Land Fund for the Eora
Trust. The trust, which was established by the Metropolitan Local
Aboriginal Land
Council (MLALC) and named after the original descendants
of the Sydney Basin area, proposes to open the facility as a museum of
Aboriginal heroes in January 2000.
