Faith Bandler played an important role in promoting the civil rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders people. The struggles and discrimination of the ATSI peoples was made evident to her during her childhood and she went on to co-found an organisation which supported their rights, making many public and private speeches. Bandler played a vital part in the 1967 referendum and has been acknowledged for her contribution with many awards. Bandler is in no doubt one of the most important civil rights activists of ATSI rights in Australia.
Even from a young age Bandler was aware of the discrimination that ATSI peoples faced. Her father would recount to her and her siblings stories of how he had been taken from Ambryn and brought to Australia …show more content…
Because of her the Quota Club of Goulburn established a district scholarship saying ‘It is to be hoped that an Aboriginal girl may be chosen to take up this scholarship’ . Her book Turning the Tide won the Pandora Women’s Writing Award in 1989. In 1997 Bandler was awarded the Human Rights Medal from the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission was presented a 'Meritorious Award in Honour and Gratitude for a Life of Courageous Advocacy for Justice and for Indigenous People, for Human Rights, for Love and Reconciliation ' in 2000 by Nelson Mandela. In Faith: Faith Bandler, gentle activist, Lake says ‘Through her teaching in Australia, Faith’s message about the importance of human dignity for all regardless of the colour of people’s skin was carried around the world’ . Governor General Quentin Bryce made Bandler a Companion of the Order of Australia, Australia’s highest honour, in 2009. After Faith Bandler’s death on the 13th of February 2015, the former Prime Minister Tony Abbott offers her family a state funeral saying ‘Our country has lost a champion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians’ . Opposition Indigenous Affairs spokesman Shanye Neumann and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said in a joint statement, ‘Her legacy lives on in our journey toward the constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ . From all the praise that Bandler has received it is clear that she had an instrumental role in promoting the civil rights of ATSI
Even from a young age Bandler was aware of the discrimination that ATSI peoples faced. Her father would recount to her and her siblings stories of how he had been taken from Ambryn and brought to Australia …show more content…
Because of her the Quota Club of Goulburn established a district scholarship saying ‘It is to be hoped that an Aboriginal girl may be chosen to take up this scholarship’ . Her book Turning the Tide won the Pandora Women’s Writing Award in 1989. In 1997 Bandler was awarded the Human Rights Medal from the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission was presented a 'Meritorious Award in Honour and Gratitude for a Life of Courageous Advocacy for Justice and for Indigenous People, for Human Rights, for Love and Reconciliation ' in 2000 by Nelson Mandela. In Faith: Faith Bandler, gentle activist, Lake says ‘Through her teaching in Australia, Faith’s message about the importance of human dignity for all regardless of the colour of people’s skin was carried around the world’ . Governor General Quentin Bryce made Bandler a Companion of the Order of Australia, Australia’s highest honour, in 2009. After Faith Bandler’s death on the 13th of February 2015, the former Prime Minister Tony Abbott offers her family a state funeral saying ‘Our country has lost a champion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians’ . Opposition Indigenous Affairs spokesman Shanye Neumann and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said in a joint statement, ‘Her legacy lives on in our journey toward the constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ . From all the praise that Bandler has received it is clear that she had an instrumental role in promoting the civil rights of ATSI