The Redfern Aboriginal Housing Company (AHC) was set up as the first Australian urban Aboriginal community housing provider, using grant money to purchase the houses on the "Block" at Redfern, an inner suburb of Sydney.

History

In the early 1970s in Redfern, New South Wales a serious overcrowding and homelessness crisis developed, with indefinite numbers of Aboriginal people without permanent or adequate housing following a series of evictions and general racial discrimination in the private housing market. The lack of affordable housing for Redfern's increasing Aboriginal population resulted in a group of Aboriginal people squatting in empty terraces in Louis Street, Redfern, in the latter months of 1972. In November that year, police arrested 15 (goomies) alcoholics who where squatting in the empty houses. They were released in the care of Father Ted Kennedy at St Vincent’s Church in Redfern. Fr Kennedy housed the goomies in the church hall, but when the number of homeless people living in the church grew to over 50 South Sydney Council exerted great pressure on Fr Kennedy to evict them.

On 2 December 1972, the new |ALP Gough Whitlam federal government was elected. Whitlam's team had been toying with the idea of Aboriginal land rights, especially since 26 January 1972, when Aboriginal activists opened the "tent embassy" outside Canberra's old parliament building. Whitlam's Aboriginal Affairs minister Gordon Bryant was keen to help the Redfern Aboriginal people.

Fr Ted Kennedy teamed up with Aboriginal leaders including judge Bob Bellear and his brother Sol. The Builders Labourers Federation imposed a green ban on the Louis Street site prohibiting the owner from demolishing and redeveloping the houses. Fr Kennedy and Co. leased some of the vacant houses in Louis St. These dilapidated terrace houses were 80-100 years old and were largely shabby and ramped, tiny 12 feet wide double story properties.

Under a 'blind-eye' agreement with the owner-developer, the squatters organised themselves and formed a company. The Aboriginal Housing Company, the first housing collective in Australia, was incorporated on 25 July 1973 under the New South Wales Companies Act 1961 (now the Corporations Act.) as a company limited by guarantee. Subject to the legal constitution of the Company, an initial grant of $530,000 from the Whitlam government allowed the AHC to purchase and restore the first six terrace houses. This initial acquisition in Redfern was the first urban land-rights claim in Australia. Wattie Creek preceded the Redfern project as the first rural land-rights claim.

The Aboriginal population of Redfern tripled between 1976 and 1981 primarily as a result of this housing project.

Mr. Dick Blair (now a Pastor), one of the 11 original directors of the AHC, said on behalf of the Aboriginal Housing Company:

<blockquote>"The whole aim of the project is to bring Aboriginal people together so that we can live in the way we want to live and share what we have with one another. Many of us are now living in slums and pigsties because we cannot afford the high rents. It is difficult to get jobs because we have no skills and because white people don’t want to employ us. We can’t be proud to live in these conditions. But when we are living together we will be able to help each other to learn skills and to get jobs and, most importantly, we will be proud of our houses and proud of our community. Our children will be able to grow up with more opportunities than we had and they too will be proud of their community and proud of themselves. All we ask is that we be given a chance to prove that it can work".</blockquote>

In the early years the company generated much needed local employment through its extensive building works programs, but suffered many financially crippling delays due to an uncooperative South Sydney Council. When the Coalition government under Malcolm Fraser was elected in 1975, a year later it terminated capital works funding to the project. Without financial assistance the Block descended into disrepair and disorder. By the early 1980s the Aboriginal Housing Company had acquired almost half the properties on the Block and with another change of federal government (Bob Hawke / Paul Keating) came renewed support for Redfern’s Aboriginal community. In 1994 the last house on the Block was finally owned by the Aboriginal Housing Company.

External links

The Aboriginal Housing Company website