Who’s Who in Australia, 2002

Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia, Aboriginal Studies Press, 1994

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In the referendum of May 1967 over 90% of the valid votes were in favour of two amendments to the Constitution, one of which gave the Australian Government the power to legislate for Aborigines in the States concurrently with the State Governments. Following the referendum, the Prime Minister, The Rt. Hon. Harold Holt, established a three-member Council for Aboriginal Affairs to advise the Government on policies in this new area of responsibility. The Council was to be assisted by a small Office of Aboriginal Affairs (OAA) set up within the Prime Minister’s Department.

The Council members were H.C. Coombs (Chairman), Barrie Dexter (appointed Executive Member concurrently with being appointed Director of the Office of Aboriginal Affairs), and W.E.H. Stanner (then Professor of Anthropology and Sociology in the Institute of Advanced Studies at the Australian National University). The Council was influenced by recommendations made in a major survey of the Aboriginal condition sponsored by the (then) Social Science Research Council of Australia. The central recommendations were: the incorporation of Aboriginal groups within the decision making processes, assistance with negotiation, and transfer of lands to property corporations to be used by Aboriginal communities.

From the outset the Council was a focus of political controversy. Among the early issues it investigated was the Gurindji land claim and the land claim on the Gove Peninsula by the Yolngu. Such cases lay behind the Council’s proposal for setting up a land fund to purchase properties for Aboriginal communities.

Prime Minister Holt assured Coombs that high priority was to be given to the advancement of Aboriginal Australians and that the Council for Aboriginal Affairs would be set up either by statute or by charter from the Prime Minister himself, with executive powers to investigate, to consult, and to make recommendations to the Prime Minister and Government. However, following Holt’s death in December 1967, Stanner later commented that this ‘particular conception of the Council…died with him….There was never any basic document that covered the Council’s existence and task’ and the Council remained a ‘defacto’ rather than ‘formal’ body (Stanner in a talk to Foreign Affairs officers, 16 July 1969. See Series 7 Item 19. Appendix II).

The Council remained in existence, with its membership unchanged, until dissolved on its own recommendation on 30 November 1976. For the history of the Council see Series 7.

This series mainly includes agenda, minutes of meetings and associated reports and correspondence of the Council during the Liberal-Country Party Coalition Government under Prime Ministers John Gorton and William McMahon. The files indicate that meetings were held at least once a month, often twice and very occasionally three times, mostly in Canberra but also in Sydney. The meetings mainly included Council members Coombs, Dexter, and Stanner, and Frank Moy from the OAA. Other OAA officers sometimes attended part of the meetings. The series also includes agenda, minutes and/or reports of meetings between OAA and the Commonwealth Department of Interior, and between the Council and the Minister-in-Charge and/or the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. Papers are mainly typescript carbons or photocopies, with some handwritten notes.

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This series includes public addresses, records of meetings between the Council and the Prime Minister and the Council and the Department of the Interior, notes for file (especially regarding conversations with Ministers and Departmental heads), correspondence, reports of visits by the Council to the Northern Territory and Western Australia, draft speeches for the Prime Minister, Cabinet submissions, material for the Inter-departmental Committee on Aboriginal Affairs, and various notes by Dexter, H.C. Coombs, and W.E.H. Stanner.

The recommendations relate to such matters as the Woodward Royal Commission, encouraging the arts among Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal sports, Aboriginal health, Arnhem Land Reserve, the situation at Gove and Yirrkala, mining in Aboriginal areas, legislation relating to Aboriginal reserves, a Commonwealth Capital Fund for Aboriginal Enterprises, Commonwealth relations with the States, Yirrkala land claim, human values in education, and the Aboriginal Embassy. In particular, the series includes papers on the Council itself, its role and background.

The items below reflect the original arrangement of the material into four large files documenting important recommendations by the Council to the Gorton (10 January 1968-10 March 1971) and the McMahon (10 March 1971-5 December 1972) Liberal-Country Party Coalition Governments. For continuation of important recommendations see also Series 3.

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This series includes papers that document the meetings between the Chairman and the Council with the Prime Minister, in particular Gough Whitlam. Interwoven with these papers are others that document the Council’s record of important recommendations for the same period. Also included are two separate files containing articles on, or relating to H.C. Coombs, compiled by Senator James (Jim) Cavanagh and Dexter. The original files were arranged in chronological order divided by the various ministries for ‘Aboriginal Affairs’.

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From 22 March to 2 December 1972 members of the Council for Aboriginal Affairs and the Office of Aboriginal Affairs held discussions with the Australian Labor Party Opposition led by Gough Whitlam. Anticipating that they might be elected to form government later that year, the Opposition sought the advice of the Council members when preparing their policy documents on Indigenous issues.

This series includes ‘Aboriginal Affairs and the Northern Territory’; ‘Statement for policy speech’, by H.C. Coombs; ‘The Council and Office under a Labour Government’, by W.E.H. Stanner; ‘Note on discussion with Mr Whitlam on 15^th September 1972 in Sydney’; draft contingency Cabinet submissions, Australian Labor Party policy speech 1972 and speaking notes; and ‘Creation of Department’, by B.G. Dexter; with notes and correspondence.

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In February 1972 H.C. Coombs, Chairman of the Council for Aboriginal Affairs approached the Myer Foundation for assistance with funds for the purpose of bringing professional help to Aboriginal communities seeking leases over land. The fund, established in July 1972, was used inter alia to cover the cost of the travel expenses for Frank Purcell, the lawyer representing the Yirrkala Land Council. The account was closed in August 1973.

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This series comprises the writings of the three Council Members after the termination of the Council on 30 November 1976. During this period Dexter was Australian Ambassador in Yugoslavia, Romania and Bulgaria (1977-80) and High Commissioner in Canada and Bermuda (1980-83). He corresponded with former Council Members, W.E.H. Stanner and H.C. Coombs, and began the process of organising his own papers on ‘Aboriginal Affairs’ and writing a book on the Council, which he continued as Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University (1984-87).

Included are papers by Coombs published by the Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies (CRES), Australian National University, and related correspondence between Coombs and Dexter; ‘The Outstation Movement in Aboriginal Australia’, by Coombs, Dexter and L.R. Hiatt, with related correspondence between Hiatt and Dexter; reference papers on Aboriginal customary laws; and personal correspondence with Stanner and later with Patricia Stanner and her sons (following Stanner's death in October 1981). Other correspondents include Michael Heppell, The Hon. Fred Chaney, Jeremy Long and Judith Wright McKinney. Interspersed are the occasional newsletter and newspaper article.

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From 1984 to 1987 Dexter was a Visiting Fellow in the Department of Political Science, Research School of Social Sciences, the Australian National University. During that time he wrote a book entitled ‘Pandora’s Box’ which was an account of the work of the Council for Aboriginal Affairs that existed from 1967 to 1976.

This series comprises the 48 chapter unpublished book manuscript ‘Pandora’s Box’. The manuscript was originally donated by Dexter to the Australian National University Library in 1988. This photocopy typescript, quarto, double-spaced, manuscript is labelled ‘Third copy’ and numbered within each chapter. It includes a list of ‘Ministers – Aboriginal Affairs, 1967-88’, ‘Public Service Heads – Aboriginal Affairs, 1967-87’, a detailed ‘Contents’ listing arranged by chapter, six appendices, and a letter from Dexter to Dermott McGrath, Australian National University Library, 20 October 1988. The manuscript, as received by AIATSIS Library, was organised into six large folders (Parts I-VI) and these were divided into chapters. The items listed below reflect this arrangement.

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The Office of Aboriginal Affairs was created on an interim basis at the end of 1967 and formally established in early 1968 when it became part of the Prime Minister’s Department. In March 1971 it became part of a short-lived Department of the Vice-President of the Executive Council, and from May 1971 to December 1972, part of the Department of the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts.

The Office, under the guidance of the three-man Council for Aboriginal Affairs, was responsible for drafting policy papers for the government’s consideration, developing national programs and projects and securing Ministerial approval for them. In the Northern Territory, however, the Department of Territories and subsequently the Department of the Interior retained prime responsibility for 'Aboriginal welfare and advancement'.

In December 1972 the new Labor Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, created a separate Department of Aboriginal Affairs with a full-time Minister. The Department was comprised of four units, one of which was the Office of Aboriginal Affairs. The Department retained and developed the principles of the Council.

This series includes papers that formed part of the personal files of Dexter relating to his period as Director of the Office of Aboriginal Affairs. The papers comprise personal and semi-personal correspondence, ministerial statements, copies of official correspondence, published articles and newspaper clippings.

Correspondents include H.C. Coombs, W.E.H. Stanner and D.W. McLeod. [See also Series 19 and 20].

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Following his time as Director of the Office of Aboriginal Affairs, Dexter was appointed Secretary of the newly created Department of Aboriginal Affairs on 9 January 1973, a position he held until December 1976.

This series includes semi-official correspondence to Dexter and copies of his letters sent in reply. The file labelled ‘Department of Aboriginal Affairs. Personal to Secretary’ includes congratulatory letters and semi-personal correspondence from December 1972 to December 1976.

Other files include papers relating to the former Department of the Interior, and to Dexter’s return from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs to the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Correspondents include L. Waller, D.J.(John) Mulvaney, Sir Douglas Nichols, Peter Ucko, R.J. (Bob) Hawke, Charles Duguid and Frank Purcell. [See also Series 21]

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The Department of Aboriginal Affairs (DAA) was formally established on 19 December 1972. It was to comprise four units that included the Office of Aboriginal Affairs of the former Department of the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts; the Welfare Division of the former Northern Territory Administration, Department of the Interior; the Welfare and Social Welfare Branch of the central office of the former Department of the Interior; and the Establishment and Finance Branch of the Department of the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts.

By the time Dexter was appointed Secretary on 9 January 1973, the new Department did not include the Establishment and Finance Branch. From its inception, therefore, the Department of Aboriginal Affairs commenced operations with no staff of its own to handle its management and financial functions. In addition central office staff (as opposed to those staff in the various states) operated from six separate buildings in the Civic and Woden areas of Canberra. By December 1973 this had been reduced to two buildings in Woden. In July 1973 the Department assumed responsibility for its own financial services from the Department of Media

Secretary of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, Barrie Dexter, and his Assistant Secretary, Charles Perkins at a meeting in Parliament House, 23 August 1974.  Dexter holds ‘daragu’or message stone sent by Aborigines in the Kimberleys, later deposited in the Map Collection of the National Library of Australia

Image courtesy of The Canberra Times.  For  reference purposes only, not to be reproduced without prior permission

The Department steadily increased with the transfer of authority for ‘Aboriginal Affairs’ in South Australia and Western Australia and the establishment of Regional Offices in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania. ‘The Department, like the Office before it, had sought to persuade functional departments and agencies, whether Commonwealth or State, as well as voluntary organisations, to assume functional responsibilities; but where the Department had to take them on initially, it had sought as soon as practicable to pass them over to the appropriate functional agencies’ (Note for file by Dexter 26/3/76).

This series includes copies of official correspondence, notes for file by Dexter, the DAA Submission to the Royal Commission on Australian Government Administration 1974, Government reports, telegrams, miscellaneous handwritten notes, media transcripts and newspaper clippings documenting the proposals and re-organisation of ‘Aboriginal Affairs’ from December 1972 to Dexter’s departure from the portfolio in December 1976.

The papers refer to staffing and the creation of a broad policy committee structure in the new Department; communications with, and about, Charles Perkins; confrontation between Aborigines and police at Laverton; town camping at Alice Springs; the movement of Aborigines back to a more ‘traditional’ way of life and the concept of ‘self-determination’ generally; Labor and Liberal-Country Party policies on ‘Aboriginal Affairs’; the impact of staff ceilings; and the National Aboriginal Affairs Consultative Committee.

Reference:

Australia. Department of Aboriginal Affairs. Annual report for period 19 December 1972 (to) 30 June 1974

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Gordon Munro Bryant was appointed by Prime Minister Whitlam to become the first Minister of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs from 19 December 1972. He held this position until 9 October 1973. This series comprises correspondence, minutes of meetings, a personal note from the Minister to the Secretary, notes for file by Dexter, submissions, reports, and newspaper clippings for the period. Included is a copy of ‘If I were a Minister, Aboriginal Affairs’, paper by G.M. Bryant dated 9 April 1973, correspondence from the Head, Public Service Board, and occasional notes to the Secretary by W.E.H. Stanner. All papers were collected as part of the personal papers of Secretary Dexter. The original arrangement, within which various issues have been identified, has been maintained by the Library.

The papers refer to Minister Bryant’s proposals for the organisation of the new Department, proposal to form a National Consultative Committee, the Australia/Papua New Guinea border issue, the appointment of ‘Aborigines’ to positions within the Department and as field officers, the employment of consultants by the Minister, the purchase of trawlers for the Thursday Island Co-operative, the Whitlam Labor Government reshuffle of October 1973 and the move of Bryant from the portfolio, the ‘Turtle Project’, and the National Aboriginal Consultative Committee elections.

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From the latter part of 1970 the Commonwealth government through the Council for Aboriginal Affairs, then the Office of Aboriginal Affairs, and the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, funded a project under the direction of Dr H.R. (Bob) Bustard, a population ecologist, to investigate the feasibility of farming turtles commercially.

The aim of the ‘Turtle Project’ was to produce turtles in a farming situation and market the products (meat, shell, oil, leather, etc.) which would provide an economic basis for Torres Strait Islander peoples on their own islands with minimum effect on their culture and way of life. A secondary aim was to conserve the Australian green sea turtle resource.

The company responsible for carriage of the project was Applied Ecology Pty Ltd. Starting operations in June 1973, it had responsibility for various other projects such as crocodile farming at Edward River, Queensland, oyster farming at Palm Island, Queensland, emu farming at Wiluna, Western Australia, and arising from these schemes, boat building and brick-making projects.

In the latter half of 1973 the Department of Aboriginal Affairs came under continuous criticism from inside and outside Parliament about various aspects of the ‘Turtle Project’. Critics of the project were concerned that it was environmentally harmful and that it was being mismanaged. At the request of the Prime Minister two studies were undertaken and these were done by Professors Carr and Main, the results of which were endorsed by Cabinet in December 1973. Arising out of queries by the Auditor-General, the Department seconded a Senior Finance Officer to examine aspects of the financial administration of the project. The Department then reported these findings to the Auditor-General in December 1974. After a period of reorganisation of the project, it continued for a number of years until Senator Fred Chaney, then Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, announced on 23 August 1979 that the project would be phased out (DAA Press release 79/57).

This series includes correspondence, Ministerial briefing notes, press statements, handwritten notes, confidential notes for file, copies of Hansard relating to Senator George Georges, newspaper clippings, budget papers, a draft environmental impact statement, and ‘Notes on the T.S.I. Turtle Project’, by W.E.H. Stanner, 1973. The bulk of the papers cover the project for the period 1973-76 with later miscellaneous papers. There is also a report and associated correspondence on the crocodile farm at Edward River.

The correspondents include Barrie Dexter, Bob Bustard, H.C. Coombs, Les Smart, and Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.

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On 24 March 1977 the Joint Committee of Public Accounts presented its report relating to an inquiry into the financial administration of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs. The inquiry was originally undertaken by the Committee following the tabling of a special report by the Auditor-General on 5 March 1974, which dealt specifically with deficiencies in the financial and administrative control over the receipts and expenditure of public moneys by the Department of Aboriginal Affairs. Dexter had originally raised his concerns over the financial administration of the Department with the Auditor-General in September 1973 (Note for file, 10 September 1973).

Submissions were requested from the Department on all matters raised by the Auditor-General in his report, while specific matters were also requested from the Treasury, the Public Service Board, The Australian National University, Captain S.J. Benson, Applied Ecology Pty Ltd and the Department of Transport. Evidence was also heard from witnesses in relation to most of the submissions. On 6 December 1974 the former Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, Gordon Bryant, tended a submission and later made a statement in relation to that submission. Dexter then, on his own volition, submitted a further statement of 24 December 1974 commenting on matters raised by Bryant. Bryant, at the invitation of the Committee then responded to Dexter’s statement. The Committee’s conclusions were contained in chapters 14 and 15 of the report with conclusions on specific matters appearing at the end of chapters 2 and 13.

This was the first time that the relationship between a Minister of State and his permanent head had been aired in public before a committee of the Parliament. It was also the first time that a Minister of State had appeared before the Public Accounts Committee.

The series includes copies of the Auditor-General’s report of the Inquiry, minutes of evidence from the Inquiry, submissions to the Inquiry, notes for file by Dexter, newspaper clippings, correspondence and miscellaneous notes.

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This series comprises numbered schedules of discussions between the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and the Secretary of the Department. They list the action taken on a number of documents presented to the Minister and the essentials of discussions on issues of concern across the portfolio. They cover matters under discussion between Dexter, Secretary of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs with his Ministers Gordon Bryant, Jim Cavanagh, Les Johnson and Ian Viner (bulk Cavanagh and Johnson). The papers also include copies of related Minutes from Dexter to the Minister, correspondence and the occasional note for file by Dexter.

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In a press release of 21 December 1975 Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser announced that a committee, under the chairmanship of Sir Henry Bland, had been appointed to review Government expenditure and recommend ways to eliminate waste and duplication within and between government departments and between Commonwealth and State departments. As part of this review Departmental Heads were required to report to their Ministers by 15 February 1976. The Bland Committee was to report by May 1976.

Separate from the Bland Committee, a second review of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs was announced on 30 January 1976 by the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Ian Viner. In a press release Viner stated that David O. Hay was to ‘conduct an inquiry into the delivery of services financed by the Department of Aboriginal Affairs’ (DAA 76/4).

The Hay Report was presented to the Government in July 1976. It was initially not released to the public but was widely reported in the press.

This series includes the correspondence of Barrie Dexter, Ian Viner and David Hay, press releases, minutes to the Minister, draft minutes from Dexter to Hay, notes for file, a questionaire, report by the Department to the Bland Committee, submissions, Hay’s report into the Department, handwritten notes by Dexter, and newspaper clippings. References are made to ‘Aboriginal housing’ and the ‘Aboriginal Advancement Trust Account’ and there are confidential notes and a sketch by W.E.H. Stanner.

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During the 1960’s and early 1970’s there was growing public and particularly, ‘Aboriginal’ pressure for Government action to recognise Aboriginal land rights. Progressively most of the states with the exception of Queensland and the Northern Territory legislated for Aboriginal Land Trusts or similar bodies to hold title for Aboriginal reserves.

In February 1973 the Whitlam Labor Government appointed A.E. (Edward) Woodward as Royal Commissioner to examine matters relating to Aboriginal land, particularly in the Northern Territory. Woodward presented two reports, the first in July 1973 and the second in April 1974 both of which made recommendations. The second report made a recommendation that included a proposal to set up an Aboriginal Land Commission to consider claims for land and presented drafting instructions for proposed legislation. The ‘Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Bill 1975’ was introduced by Minister Les Johnson in October 1975. Progress of the ‘Bill’ through Parliament was halted in November 1975 when, only hours after the second reading, there was a change from the Whitlam to the Fraser Liberal Government. An altered ‘Bill’ was reintroduced in June 1976 and The Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 was proclaimed on 26 January 1977.

This series includes correspondence, notes covering a discussion with Justice Woodward, issues of concern to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, statements and/or papers of Silas Roberts, F.G. (Gerard) Brennan, Nicolas Peterson, Rod Hagan and Geoff Eames, Departmental press releases and leaflets on the Aboriginal Land Rights Commission. Also Second report April 1974, an annotated Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976, and associated notes for file and newspaper clippings.

Post January 1976 material includes ‘Aide memoire for meeting with the Government Parties’ Committee on National Resources and Trade’, by the Australian Mining Industry Council, 1976; ‘Aboriginal Land Rights: an opportunity to contribute’, by David Hay, in Mining Review, April 1978; ‘Willowra: an overview’, by Elspeth Young [c.1978]; and related Minister for Aboriginal Affairs News release, to 1986.

Correspondents include A.E. Woodward, Roy Marika and G.A. Letts (Majority Leader, Northern Territory Legislative Assembly).

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This series includes correspondence, briefing papers, Commonwealth Government media releases, newspaper clippings on the debate between the Federal Government and the Queensland State Government under Joh Bjelke-Peterson, on issues relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Queensland. In particular, the papers highlight the Indigenous housing situation, the Queensland government’s handling of the proposal for a major bauxite mining and refining operation on the Aurukun Aboriginal Reserve near Weipa, and purchase of land through the Aboriginal Land Fund Commission. Also highlighted is proposed legislation by the Commonwealth Government for Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities ‘to enable them to manage their own affairs’ and ‘free them from the provisions of the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Acts which gave the State officials overriding powers over reserve management’ (DAA Press Release IV 78/18).

With the exception of some early correspondence with Bob Bustard, Director of Applied Ecology Pty Ltd the papers do not cover the ‘Turtle Project’ or the Torres Strait-PNG border issue. [For the ‘Turtle Project’ see Series 12 and for the Torres Strait-PNG border issue see Series 18]

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By the early 1970s several members of the Australian Parliament and New Guinea Parliament began to talk about the necessity to redress the grievance of the peoples of Papua New Guinea over the border between Australia and Papua New Guinea. A case for redress was mounted which involved moving the border between Australia and Papua New Guinea further south, to the 10^th parallel, halfway between the two countries. Although both the Whitlam and Fraser Federal Governments were anxious to reach an accommodation the Queensland State Government, which needed to be consulted for constitutional reasons, refused to entertain any change. The Torres Strait Islanders also appeared to be unanimous in opposing any such changes. A formal agreement on the border and other related matters was finally reached on 18 December 1978 when the Australian and Papua New Guinea Governments signed the Torres Strait Treaty.

This series, documenting the dispute over the border/boundary line, includes correspondence, memoranda, schedule of consultation with Torres Strait Islanders 1972-March 1973; copies of applications for DAA funding, schedules of DAA applications and grants made 1974; record of meeting between the Minister and Torres Strait Islander representatives, June 1976; DAA press releases, and newspaper clippings; and six maps [located in folio folder]. Also included are the reference papers ‘Past and future developments in the Torres Strait Islands’, by Jeremy Beckett, 1973, The Torres Strait border issue, by the Foreign Affairs Group, Parliamentary Library, January 1976, and ‘The Torres Strait Treaty’, by P.S.B. Stanford, AFAR, December 1978.

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The term ‘Public aspects’ is the original title given to two large files compiled by Dexter to highlight the achievements and policies of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and its predecessor, the Office of Aboriginal Affairs.

The files, since incorporated into this series comprise papers on funding for Aboriginal Affairs, land rights (especially relating to the Gurindji people of Wattie Creek), the Aboriginal Embassy, the Aboriginal flag, the Dexter/Perkins relationship, the Bryant and Cavanagh Ministries, and other ‘aspects of Aboriginal Affairs’ in which the public ‘might interest themselves (as opposed to the hysterical sort of fare which is so often served up to them)’, (letter to newspaper editor from Dexter, 11 March 1975).

This series comprises correspondence (including letters of support from family, friends and the public following Dexter’s appearance on ‘The David Frost Show’), public addresses, an unsigned poem, journal articles, copies of Hansard debates, and numerous newspaper clippings, especially articles by the Canberra Times journalist, Bruce Juddery. There are a few additional papers post 1976.

The two original files were dated (I) 1967-23 October 1973, and (II) 24 October 1973-24 December 1976. The items listed below reflect this arrangement.

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The series includes addresses by Barrie Dexter, H.C. Coombs and W.E.H. Stanner, ministerial press statements of Peter Howsen, Ralph Hunt (Minister for the Interior), W.C. Wentworth, Gordon Bryant, Jim Cavanagh, Les Johnson, Ian Viner and Prime Ministerial press statements and/or addresses by Harold Holt, William McMahan, and Gough Whitlam, articles and typescript notes, leaflets, DAA newsletters and copies of Hansard debates.

The papers were originally arranged in four large files based on the dates (I) 1967-25 January 1972 (II) 26 January-1 December 1972 (III) 2 December 1972-28 February 1975 (IV) 1 March 1975-24 December 1976. The items listed below reflect this arrangement.

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Following his return from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs to the Department of Foreign Affairs, Dexter became Australian Ambassador to Yugoslavia, Romania and Bulgaria (1977-80) and High Commissioner in Canada and Bermuda (1980-83). From 1984-87 Dexter was a Visiting Fellow at The Australian National University. He also held a number of other positions that are listed in his Biographical Note.

The series includes an original file of personal correspondence relating to ‘Aboriginal Affairs’. Included are his correspondence with Aboriginal leaders, politicians, bureaucrats, and others, and the occasional handwritten note for file, draft manuscript and newspaper clippings. Originally in three large files, the correspondence was listed under the heading ‘Office and Department of Aboriginal Affairs’. The original chronological arrangement within the files has been maintained by the Library.

The correspondents include Fred Chaney, Jeremy Long, Ian Viner, L.A.J. Malone, Charles Perkins, Gough Whitlam, Lance Barnard, Peter Ucko, K.C. Martin, Gerard Brennan, Bob Hawke, Galarrwuy Yunupingu and Jack Waterford.

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This series includes correspondence, addresses, newsletters, journal articles and reports on Indigenous issues donated to the Library by Dexter in June 2003. For books and government publications that were donated by Dexter and transferred to the general Library collections see Item 4.

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SELECTED IMAGES ONLINE

Barry Dexter, ca. 1974

Members of the Council of Aboriginal Affairs, B.G. Dexter, H.C. Coombs, W.E.H. Stanner, November 1968

Secretary of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, Barrie Dexter and Assistant Secretary, Charles Perkins, 23 August 1974

Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Hon Ian Viner and Secretary, Barrie Dexter, 12 December 1975

Presentation by DAA of 3rd copy of the Aboriginal Land Right (Northern Territory) Act 1976 to B.G. Dexter, farewell lunch. 10 December 1976

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