The Aborigines' Advancement League of South Australia was established in 1938 by Charles Duguid. The establishment of a hostel in Adelaide for young Aboriginal people from the country was one of many activities carried out by the League, which also advocated widely for Aboriginal equality via legislative and policy reform. From 1956 to 1978, the AAL provided accommodation at the Wiltja Hostel for Aboriginal girls attending school in Adelaide. Based on the records now held by the State Library of South Australia, it appears the League was dissolved in around 2008.
Dr Charles Duguid was a lifelong campaigner for Aboriginal rights. The Aborigines' Advancement League of South Australia became an influential model in the development of other Aboriginal advancement organisations at the state and federal levels from the 1950s
Sources used to compile this entry: Broome, Richard, At the grass roots of white support: Victorian Aboriginal Advancement League Branches 1957-1972, La Trobe Journal, 2010, http://latrobejournal.slv.vic.gov.au/latrobejournal/issue/latrobe-85/t1-g-t11.html; George, Karen, Finding your own way, Nunkuwarrin Yunti of South Australia Inc., 2005, http://nunku.org.au/resources/; 'SRG250 Series List: Aborigines Advancement League', State Library of South Australia, http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/archivaldocs/srg/SRG250_AboriginesAdvancementLeague_serieslist.pdf.
Prepared by: Ann McCarthy
Created: 16 February 2011, Last modified: 20 February 2015
Last updated: 7 August 2023
Cite this: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/sa/biogs/SE00179b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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