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Bandler, Faith Ida Lessing (c. 1918 - )

AM

Born
c. 1918
Tumbulgum, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
Author and Campaigner

Summary

Faith Bandler has campaigned for Aboriginal and Islander rights throughout her life, firstly through the Aboriginal-Australian Fellowship and later through the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI). She has written novels and children's literature as well as many non-fiction works relating to Aboriginal rights. Her biography, Faith: Faith Bandler, gentle activist, written by Marilyn Lake, was published in 2002.

Details

Faith Bandler and her sister enlisted in the Australian Women's Land Army during World War II. She was employed at Young, picking cherries and also the farming districts of Bathurst and Griffith. She was discharged on the 11 October 1945.

Bandler was offered an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for her services to the community in 1976, but declined it in protest against the dismissal of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam by the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr. She later accepted a nomination as Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and received the honour on 11 June 1984. This was for service to Aboriginal welfare.

Sources used to compile this entry: Herd, Margaret (ed.), Who's who in Australia 2002, 38 edn, Crown Content, Melbourne, 2002, 2020 pp; Horton, David (ed.), The Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia : Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, society and culture, Aboriginal Studies Press for AIATSIS, Canberra, 1994, 2 v. (xxxiii, 1340 p.) pp; Lake, Marilyn, Faith : Faith Bandler, gentle activist, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, N.S.W., 2002, 238 pp.

Related entries

Founded

Secretary

Archival resources

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS)

  • Aboriginal women farm workers during World War II - three archival film interviews, 1987, MASLIN_FILM/VIDEO_001; Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS). Details
  • Annual report by N.S.W. State Secretary; FCAATSI; Faith Bandler, 1965, RS 24/1; Bandler, Faith Ida Lessing (c. 1918 - ); Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS). Details

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

  • Aboriginal National Theatre Trust Limited - files, 1902-1991, 1902 - 1991, MLMSS 6254/4-24; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
  • Faith Bandler - further papers, 1875, 1945-1997, MLMSS 6243 ADD-ON 2196; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
  • Faith Bandler - interviews by Carolyn Craig, 1997, MLOH 307/1-15; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
  • Faith Bandler - papers, 1968 - 1992, MLMSS 6243; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
  • Ros Bowden - interviews conducted for radio programmes and documentaries, ca.1975 - 1989, c. 1975 - 1989, Z MLOH 304; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
  • Women's Redress Press - book files, 1976-1996, including correspondence, contracts, readers' reports, reviews and photographs, 1976 - 1996, MLMSS 6308/7-10; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection

  • Papers of Jack Horner, 1974 - 1980, MS 9503; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

Published resources

Books

  • Bandler, Faith, Wacvie, Rigby, Adelaide, 1977, Rigby pp. Details
  • Bandler, Faith, Welou, my brother, Wild & Woolley,, Glebe, N.S.W., 1984c, 125 pp. Details
  • Bandler, Faith, Turning the tide : a personal history of the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, Aboriginal Studies Press for AIATSIS, Canberra, 1989, 173 pp. Details
  • Bandler, Faith; Fox, Len, Marani in Australia, Rigby, Adelaide, 1980, 112 pp. Details
  • Bandler, Faith; Fox, Len, The Time was ripe : a history of the Aboriginal-Australian Fellowship (1956-69), Alternative Publishing Co-operative, Chippendale [N.S.W.], 1983, 203 pp. Details
  • Heimans, Frank, Faith Bandler [videorecording] : born 1920 : civil rights activist, Film Australia, Lindfield, N.S.W, 1993c. Details
  • Lake, Marilyn, Faith : Faith Bandler, gentle activist, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, N.S.W., 2002, 238 pp. Details

Book Sections

  • Bandler, Faith, 'Australian land rights policy', in J.C.R. Camm, John McQuilton (ed.), Australians, Fairfax, Syme & Weldon Associates, Broadway, N.S.W., 1987, pp. 23-[30]. Details

Edited Books

  • Scutt, Jocelynne A. (ed.), As a woman: writing women's lives, Artemis, Melbourne, Vic., 1992, 253 pp. Details

Journal Articles

  • Bandler, Faith, 'Paving the way : a tribute to black Australian writers. [Keynote speech given at the presentation of the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards (1993)]', Writers on Writing, 1999, pp. (105)-108. Details
  • Lake, Marilyn, 'Citizenship as Non-discrimination: Acceptance or Assimilation? Political Logic and Emotional Investment in Campaigns for Indigenous Rights in Australia, 1940 TO 1970', Gender and History, vol. 13, no. 3, 2001, pp. 566-592. Details

Newspaper Articles

  • Hope, Deborah, 'Keeping the faith [Although she has faith in youth and the future, Faith Bandler grieves for the life she has lost in the battle for rights]', Australian, 19-20 Sept, pp. Review 2-3. Details
  • Secord, Walt, 'A lifetimes accomplishment [Faith Bandler]', Aust. Jewish Times, 4 Aug, p. 17. Details

Online Resources

See also

  • 'FAITH BANDLER', in Australians, Behind the News, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2002, http://www.abc.net.au/btn/australians/f.bandler.htm. Details
  • Adelaide, Debra, Australian women writers : a bibliographic guide, Pandora Press, London ; Sydney, 1988, 208 pp. Details
  • Conference on Aboriginal Affairs (8th : 1965 : Canberra, A.C.T.) (ed.), Reports and resolutions, Canberra, 1965, 51 pp. Details
  • Darling, Elaine, 'They spoke out pretty good: the leadership of women in the Brisbane Aboriginal rights movement, 1958/ 1962', Melbourne Historical Journal, vol. 24, 1996, pp. (87)-103. Details
  • Hall, Robert A., The black Diggers : Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders in the Second World War, Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra, 1997, 228 pp. Details
  • Herd, Margaret (ed.), Who's who in Australia 2002, 38 edn, Crown Content, Melbourne, 2002, 2020 pp. Details
  • Horner, Jack, 'Details of pioneers in Aboriginal movement.', Identity, 01 Jan, pp. 10-11. Details
  • Horton, David (ed.), The Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia : Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, society and culture, Aboriginal Studies Press for AIATSIS, Canberra, 1994, 2 v. (xxxiii, 1340 p.) pp. Details
  • Lake, Marilyn, '2001 Eldershaw Memorial Lecture : founding fathers, dutiful wives and rebellious daughters.[Lecture presented to a Tasmanian Historical Research Association meeting on 10 Apr 2001.]', Papers and Proceedings (Tasmanian Historical Research Association), vol. 48, no. 4, 2001, pp. 268-279. Details
  • Marr, David, 'Betrayal [White attitudes to Indigenous people]', Sydney Morning Herald, 20 May, pp. Spectrum (1), 4-5.. Details
  • McLaren, John, Australian literature : an historical introduction, Longman Cheshire, Melbourne, 1989, 272 pp. Details
  • Moreton-Robinson, Aileen, Talkin' up to the white woman : Aboriginal women and feminism, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, 2000, xxv, 234 pp. Details
  • Richards, Michaela, 'Aboriginal women', in The Australian people, Angus & Robertson, North Ryde, N.S.W., 1988, pp. 255-259. Details
  • Stephens, Tony, 'Faith -Bandler-, a vision splendid', Sydney Morning Herald, 10 Aug, p. 35. Details

Clare Land

Created: 26 August 2002, Last modified: 4 May 2009

Comments

i have had two websites say three different years faith bandler was born when is she actually born.

Sarah weston - 4 August 2010, 3:07 PM EST

Sarah, it's a fair question and a good example of how inaccuracies can be perpetuated through the web.

I would go with 1918. The person who wrote this entry did so through reference to the biography written by Marilyn Lake. Other reviews of Lake's book also post the birthdate as 1918. Given that Lake had the opportunity to interview Bandler when she wrote this book, I can only assume that she asked Faith herself what her birthdate was.

AWAP Administrator - 5 August 2010, 3:31 PM EST

Would it be possible to find out the significance of the name of Lessing listed in Faith Bandler's name -Faith Ida Lessing Bandler?

Deirdre Schappi - 22 March 2011, 9:58 PM EST

Can anybody help? Maybe contact AIATSIS?

AWAP Administrator - 23 March 2011, 11:26 AM EST

Perhaps I can help Deidre: Marilyn Lake writes that Faith was born on 27th Sept 1918 (Faith: Faith Bandler, Gentle Acitivist p 8).
Deirdre, please email me re our 50 year school reunion in November! Mary Clarke is organising it. xx Adrienne Sallay (nee Down).

adrienne Sallay - 29 July 2011, 3:48 PM EST

Marilyn Lake's book will answer the Lessing question as well.
Dr Adrienne Sallay (nee Down)

adrienne Sallay - 29 July 2011, 3:51 PM EST

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