Faith Bandler

Faith Bandler (1918–2015) was an Aboriginal and South Sea Islander Australian activist and writer who campaigned for constitutional reform and Indigenous rights.

Jessie Street: Jessie Street was an Australian feminist and political activist who advocated for Aboriginal rights and constitutional reform. Street helped establish the Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement, which Bandler later led.
1967 Australian referendum: A national vote that approved constitutional amendments concerning Aboriginal Australians. It was the campaign’s central objective, winning an overwhelming majority in 1967.
Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement: An Australian organization formed in 1958 to campaign for Aboriginal rights and national policy change. Bandler served as its executive secretary and helped coordinate its referendum campaign.
South Sea Islander Australians: Australians descended from Pacific Islanders brought to the country, many through nineteenth-century indentured labor. Bandler’s father was a South Sea Islander brought from Ambrym in Vanuatu to work in Queensland.
Joe McGinness: Joe McGinness was an Aboriginal Australian political activist and president of the Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement. As a fellow campaign leader, McGinness worked with Bandler to build support for constitutional change.
Section 51(xxvi) of the Australian Constitution: A constitutional provision giving the Commonwealth Parliament power to make laws for people of any race. The referendum removed the exclusion of Aboriginal people from the provision’s reach.
Aboriginal-Australian Fellowship: A New South Wales organization that brought Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians together to pursue equal rights. Bandler helped found it, creating a practical base for public education and organizing.
Blackbirding: The coercive recruitment and transportation of Pacific Islanders for labor, especially in nineteenth-century Queensland. Her father’s removal from Vanuatu connected her family history to this labor system.
Harold Holt: Harold Holt was prime minister of Australia from 1966 to 1967. His government secured parliamentary passage of the referendum proposals Bandler had long campaigned for.
Section 127 of the Australian Constitution: A repealed constitutional provision that excluded Aboriginal people from population counts used for constitutional purposes. The referendum campaign sought its deletion, a change enacted in 1967.

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