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McLeod family and Chief Secretary, Mr C A Kelly at opening of Housing for Aborigines scheme, Green Valley, 5 July 1963

From the collections of the
State Library of New South Wales
[d2_21630 / GPO2 21630]
(Mitchell Library)

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Appears in
Aboriginal People on Sydney's Georges River from 1820 Aboriginal migration to Sydney since World War II
Subjects
Aboriginal Housing Residential building
Organisation
Aborigines Welfare Board Housing Commission of New South Wales Housing for Aborigines scheme
People
McLeod, Isabelle
Places
Green Valley

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State Library of New South Wales

Aboriginal migration to Sydney since World War II

Aboriginal people who moved to Sydney over the second half of the twentieth century, particularly those who moved into public housing in western Sydney, had to develop strategies to maintain communal bonds and cultural identities in response to pressures to assimilate. Urban relocation had different implications for Aboriginal women and men. The design of urban spaces and houses and the moral regulation that many experienced, especially those who were suburban tenants of the New South Wales Housing Commission, worked against the fulfilment of obligations to country and family.

Aboriginal People on Sydney's Georges River from 1820

The Dharug and Dharawal Aboriginal people along the Georges River had a range of strategies for keeping in touch with their country once Europeans arrived, such as moving around country to avoid danger and travelling to visit important places. Some held onto their country through purchase, providing areas of refuge for their people. Under the pressure of loss of land, removal to hostels and separation within new suburbs, Aboriginal people remained outspoken and strong, maintaining connections to the river and to each other.

Aboriginal

Housing

Residential building

Aborigines Welfare Board

Board reconstituted under the Aborigines Protection (Amendment) Act of 1940, from the previous Aborigines Protection Board. It exercised general supervision and care over all Aboriginal people and over all matters affecting their interests and welfare. It was replaced with the Aboriginal Welfare Directorate in 1969.

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Housing Commission of New South Wales

Established in 1941 as a developer of public housing to overcome the urgent housing shortages of the post war period.

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Housing for Aborigines scheme

State government scheme under which the Housing Commission of New South Wales provided a separate pool of accommodation for Aboriginal people.

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McLeod, Isabelle

Aboriginal woman whose family was relocated in the 1960s by the Aborigines Protection Board, from the south coast to Green Valley, near Liverpool.

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Green Valley

South-western residential suburb. Originally dairy farmland, the site was subdivided in the 1960s and developed by the New South Wales Housing Commission.

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