The Foundation

Producer: Penelope McDonald
Associate Producer: Melissa Abraham
Director: Troy Russell
Genre: Documentary
Year: 2002
Run time: 26 mins
Distributor: Ronin Films
Broadcaster: SBS
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During the 1960s a celebrated entity ‘The Foundation of Aboriginal Affairs’ emerged. Set during a time when change for urban Kooris was on the increase, the Foundation helped the mob to help themselves.

Imagine you are Black in the 1960s. You’ve come from the bush to find work in Sydney. You don’t know anyone and you’ve got nowhere to stay.

Sydney is an overwhelming white place. That’s when The Foundation for Aboriginal Affairs emerged and it became a pivotal place for Kooris.

Featuring interviews with Gary Foley, Chicka Dixon, Roy Carroll, Joyce Clague, Esther Carroll and Eileen Perkins, this documentary traces The Foundation as it supported Kooris in helping themselves. Some extraordinary people pulled together in saying that the conditions for Blacks weren’t good enough and acted on their convictions.

The Foundation became a springboard for Kooris’ social and political activities of the 1960s and 1970s that brought Black issues to the attention of all Australians.

This is a powerful and affirming documentation of Indigenous history.

  • Flickerfest (2003)
  • Australian Teachers of Media Inc (2003)