By Neena Bhandari
Sydney, 25.06.2006 (Women’s Feature Service): Faith Bandler (born 1918) showed the many qualities that blossomed in her later life. The abuse and exclusion she experienced as an indigenous schoolgirl in white Australia left a lasting impression on her, but she still exudes a serenity that belies her extraordinary energy for the cause of justice for indigenous peoples, for women, and for the peace movement.
Faith is best known for her leading role in the long campaign to win full citizenship rights for Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders in Australia. She has spent a lifetime campaigning for racial equality and women’s rights. Her work for abolition of war and elimination of poverty has been of national and international significance – the Order of Australia in 1984; an honorary doctorate from Macquarie University in 1994; the Human Rights Medal presented by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission in 1997; an award presented by Nelson Mandela on behalf of the Sydney Peace Foundation in 2000.
