Faith Ida Lessing Bandler
second generation South Sea Islander
Faith was greatly affected by the experiences of her own father, kidnapped in 1883 at the age of thirteen from the island of Ambrym, Vanuatu, and transported to Mackay, Queensland, where he was forced to work alongside other 'kanakas' on the sugar cane fields.
Faith Bandler is best known for her ongoing advocacy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights.
Born in 1918 on a banana farm at Tumbulgum (northern New South Wales) to Scottish-Indian and South Sea Islander parents, her passion for equality and social justice developed early. Faith was greatly affected by the experiences of her own father, kidnapped in 1883 at the age of thirteen from the island of Ambrym, Vanuatu, and transported to Mackay, Queensland, where he was forced to work alongside other 'kanakas' on the sugar cane fields. With others, he challenged the 1901 legislation which resulted in the deportation of thousands of Islanders, and began preaching at the local church. He died when Faith was five years old.
The second youngest of eight children, Faith left school early in the face of racial prejudice to take up a milliner's apprenticeship. In 1942, following the outbreak of World War Two, she and her sister joined the Women's Land Army, working on farms throughout New South Wales. Here she became acutely aware of unequal pay for Aboriginal women. A move to Kings Cross (Sydney) after the war allowed her to re-commence her education and become politically involved, travelling to Europe in 1951 to attend a celebrated cultural youth festival. By 1952 she had married Hans Bandler, an Austrian Jewish engineer from Vienna who had survived the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp. The couple had a daughter, Lilon.
In 1956, inspired by Jessie Street and Pearl Gibbs to pursue the fight for equality, and supported by her husband, Faith set about co-founding the Aboriginal Australian Fellowship (AAF). She later served as General secretary for the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aboriginals and Torres Straight Islanders (FCAATSI). A ten year campaign for the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as citizens culminated in the overwhelmingly successful 1967 referendum, by which time Faith Bandler had become an active public speaker and well-known public personality.
Sadly, her efforts were somewhat frustrated in the 1970s when she found herself sidelined by some Black Power activists for the simple reason that she herself was not of Aboriginal origin. She continued to express her activism in print, publishing four books, and commenced a new campaign for the legal recognition of South Sea Islanders, founding the National Commission of Australian South Sea Islanders. In the year 2000, the Queensland government conducted a 'recognition ceremony' at Parliament House in Brisbane, during which Premier Peter Beattie offered an official apology for decades of maltreatment of the South Sea Islander people, and announced an Action Plan which would ensure their inclusion in all aspects of future public planning.
Faith Bandler was offered a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to the community in 1976, but declined the honour in protest against the dismissal of Gough Whitlam by the then Governor-General, Sir John Kerr. She was later nominated for a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for services to Aboriginal welfare, and accepted in June 1984. She received the Human Rights Medal in 1997, and in June 2002 was presented with the Honoured Life Membership award of the Australian Republican Movement.
Source of Image: http://www.vibe.com.au/vibe/corporate/celebrity_vibe/showceleb.asp?id=366
Select Resources
Marilyn Lake, Faith: Faith Bandler, Gentle Activist, Sydney, Allen and Unwin, 2002.
Justin Doyle, Grahame Fatnowna, Teleai Ketchell, 3 among many: a collection of life stories from Mackay's Aboriginal, Torres Strait and Australian South Sea Islander elders, Mackay, Info Pub., 2000
Michael Berry, Refined white: the story of how South Sea Islanders came to cut sugar cane in Queensland and made history refining the White Australia policy, Innisfail, Australian Sugar Industry Museum, 2000.
Joskeleigh South Sea Islander Museum Collection, Joskeleigh Community Association (Qld)
Collection of materials on South Sea Islanders and other people from local communities. Includes: black and white and colour photographs, slides, studio portraits, oral history tapes, video tapes and the South Sea Islander school at Joskeleigh. Located at the Joskeleigh South Sea Islander Museum (Qld).
Australian South Sea Islander Research Association
Postal address
PO Box 493
Cannon Hill Qld 4170
Location
120 Main Street
Kangaroo Point Qld 4169
Chair: Mr Alton Budd (07) 3899 5990 (07) 3899 0779 albudd@bigpond.com
Vice-chair: Ms Christine Barney Email: boarneyc@dpi.qld.gov.au
Activities: Conduct cultural, historical, economic and social, social research. Produce papers.
The Onlooker
Postal address
PO Box 493
Cannon Hill Qld 4170
Chair: Mr Alton Budd (07) 3899 5990 (07) 3899 0779
Email: albudd@bigpond.com
Activities: Australian South Sea Islander Research Association Newsletter
National Library of Australia Manuscript Section
Lists of arrivals of South Sea Islanders into Queensland ports, 1863-1903 and related material.
Carol Gistitin Oral History Collection - See: Australia's Oral History Collections
Private collection recording memories of South Sea Islanders in Queensland, located in Rockhampton.
North Queensland Oral History Collection
Department of History and Politics, James Cook University, Townsville Qld 4811
Community Support Groups
Each Australian South Sea Islander organisation has grown out of community interest and commitment. Many of them are interconnected, although Islanders themselves acknowledge that some groups don't always see 'eye to eye'.
The following is a list of key Islander groups who remain the primary contacts for government departments and agencies:
The Mackay and District Australian South Sea Islander Association Inc.
PO Box 6800
Mackay Queensland 4740
Tel: 07 49530788
'Nuis Blong Yumi' - Australian South Sea Islander United Council Inc - Independent Rockhampton and District Inc
Postal address
PO Box 788
Rockhampton Qld 4700
Editor: Ms Nicole Lee (07) 4934 8133 (07) 4934 8133
Australian South Sea Islander United Council Inc - Ayr/Home Hill Branch
Postal address
18 Albert Cres
Ayr Qld 4807
Contact: Mrs Marlene Henaway (07) 4783 3090 (07) 4783 3090
Australian South Sea Islander United Council Inc - Mackay Branch
Postal address
MS 60 Homebush Road
VIA Mackay Qld 4746
President: Mr Colin Andrews (07) 4952 1555
Secretary: Ms Christine Andrews (07) 4959 7218
Australian South Sea Islander Independent - Rockhampton
Postal address
PO Box 788
Rockhampton Qld 4700
Location
61 Emu Park Road
North Rockhampton QLD
President: Mr Joe Leo OAM (07) 4934 8230 (07) 4934 8133
Secretary: Ms Kerri Dorman (07) 4936 2868 (07) 4934 8133
Activities: Cultural, historical and community service
Whitsunday Australian South Sea Islander United Council Inc - Bowen/Proserpine Branch
Postal address
PO Box 456
Bowen Qld 4805
President: Mr Kelvin Power (07) 4785 1887 Email: wassiuc@hotmail.com.au
Secretary: Ms Vera Bezgovsek
Activities: Housing, education and health
Bundaberg and District South Sea Islanders Action Group
Postal address
9 Bloomfield Drive
Bundaberg East Qld 4670
President: Mr Danial Tanner (07) 4151 5370
Secretary: Ms Diana Forester (07) 4151 7946
Committee Member: Mr Matthew Nagas (07) 4153 2319
Activities: Cultural and social.
Australian South Sea Islander Cairns Community
Postal address
C/- 16 Suhl Street
Edmonton Qld 4869
Coordinator: Ms Virginia Kruger (07) 4055 5139
Coordinator: Ms Maria Backo (07) 4045 1204
Activities: Dissemination of information and educational.
Descendants of the Australian South Sea Islander Association Inc
Postal address
Unit 3, 361 Primary School Court
Maroochydore Qld 4558
Contact: Mr Louis Parter (07) 5443 2566
Activities: Housing, education, employment, cultural and health
Joskeleigh South Sea Islander Community Development Association Inc
Postal address
PO Box 1031
Keppel Sands Qld 4702
Location
MS 76 Joskeleigh Road
Central Queensland MC Qld
President: Mr Lester Warcon (07) 4934 4992
Secretary: Ms Trudi Warcon (07) 4934 4992
Activities: Social and historical.
South Sea Islander Lagoons Coordinating Committee
Postal address
PO Box 82
Mirani Qld 4754
Chairperson: Ms Jeanette Morgan (07) 4952 5186 (07) 4967 1798
Mackay and District Australian South Sea Islander Association Inc
Postal address
PO Box 6800
Mackay MC Qld 4741
Location
2 Wellington Street
Mackay Qld
Secretary: Mrs Merle Mann (07) 4953 0788 (07) 4953 0788
President: Mrs Rowena Trieve (07) 4953 0788 (07) 4953 0788
Mackay South Sea Islanders Community Inc
Postal address
76 Beaconsfield Road
Mackay Qld 4740
President: Mr Noah Sabbo (07) 4942 2983
Activities: Social and cultural.
Pioneer and District South Sea Island United Community Inc
Postal address
4 Jarrah Street
Beaconsfield Qld 4740
Secretary: Ms F McBride (07) 4942 2474
Rockhampton Australian South Sea Islander Community
Postal address
285 Creek Street
Rockhampton North Qld 4701
Administrator: Mr Lloyd Willie (07) 4928 8317
South Sea Island Housing Collective Ltd
Postal address
PO Box 1718
Mackay Qld 4740
Location
3/1 Ungerer Street
North Mackay Qld 4740
Chairperson: Mr Curtis Bobongie (07) 4944 1564 (07) 4944 1564
Activities: Provide and manage housing for South Sea Island families on low to middle incomes.
Joskeleigh News
Postal address
PO Box 1031
Keppel Sands Qld 4702
Editor: Ms Trudi Warcon (07) 4934 4992 (07) 4934 4922
Activities: Joskeleigh South Sea Islander Community Development Association Inc - Newsletter
Kanaka Town Collective Housing Ltd
Postal address
PO Box 5752
CQ Mail Centre Qld 4702
President: Ms Jenny Bickey (07) 4926 5166 (07) 4926 7114
Ms Bernice Cora
Australian South Sea Islander United Council Inc.
Postal address
PO Box 2465
Bundaberg Qld 4670
Location
5 Olive Tree Dr
Bundaberg Qld 4670
National Secretary: Ms Lori Salam (07) 4159 7281 (07) 4159 7740
Email: sal-yowyeh@interworx.com.au
President: Mr Jacob Ryan Email: yowris@bigpond.com
Frangipani Australian South Sea Islander Association
Postal address
4B Trojan Street
Hudson Qld 4862
President: Mr Robert Tanner (07) 4061 3538
Joskeleigh Community Association Inc
Postal address
PO Box 5237
Rockhampton Mail Centre Qld 4701
President: Mrs Doris Leo (07) 4934 4854 (07) 4934 4854
Secretary: Ms Katherine Waron
Activities: Social and historical.
Australian South Sea Islander United Council Inc - Rockhampton Branch
Postal address
RMS 76
Central Queensland Mail Centre Qld 4702
Location
The Sand Hills
Keppel Sands Qld 4702
Contact: Mr Mark Warcon (07) 4934 4949 (07) 4934 4929
Email: pamelac@rocknet.net.au
Australian South Sea Islander United Council Inc - Bundaberg Branch
Postal address
6 Keys Street
Bundaberg Qld 4670
Contact: Mr and Mrs Forester
Mount Isa South Sea Islander Community
Postal address
PO Box 1834
Mt Isa Qld 4825
President: Mr Terence Eggmolesse
Kanaka Community Cultural Development Association Inc
Postal address
2 Warbler Street
Inala Qld 4077
Contact: Ms Leonie West (07) 3278 8777
See also
Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia
PO Box 344 Curtin, ACT 2605
Phone:02 6282 5755
Fax: 02 6282 5734
fecca@coombs.anu.edu.au