Locally from the 1960's, when the were very few Aboriginal people living in Wagga Wagga (5), the 1970's saw a steady increase in as people moved here for employment, housing and education opportunities often lacking in small country towns. This was greatly enhanced by the selection of Wagga Wagga as an Aboriginal Resettlement Scheme location (which ran from 1974 to 1986) by the Department of Aboriginal Affairs (6). Many families came to Wagga Wagga in this period from a range of Indigenous language/social groups - particularly from NSW west of the great divide. Although most stayed, some returned to their Country or moved elsewhere. Policy changes at the Federal and State level (Self-determination for Indigenous people, multiculturalism, the end of the White Australia Immigration Policy, Commonwealth Racial Discrimination Act, NSW Anti-Discrimination Act) through the 1970's contributed to improved conditions for Indigenous people in many areas. This continued into the 1980's with establishment of Linkup, the Royal Commission into Maralinga atomic tests and the NSW Land Rights Act. Locally, the establishment of services and organisations including the Aboriginal Legal Service, Long Day Care Centre, Aboriginal Church, Local and Regional Aboriginal Land Councils and Aboriginal Home Care greatly assisted the increasing Indigenous population officially recorded as 860 people in 1986. (7) The late 1980's saw a rise in activism associated with the Bicentennial of British Colonisation. (8) High levels of Indigenous unemployment and poor health status were major issues at this time (9). An Aboriginal Health Service was successfully established and initiatives like the Lake Albert Aboriginal Management Program helped address these issues. (10, 11) In the 1990's government enquiries, legislation and popular public movements further recognised and lent support to the Indigenous community and its pressing issues. The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, the Mabo and Wik Native Title cases and the subsequent Native Title Act, the Stolen Generation Enquiry, the Reconciliation Movement and changes to the preamble to the constitution which acknowledged Indigenous people with due respect, all occurred in this period. The NSW Premier's apology to the Stolen Generation and the Federal parliament commitment to reconciliation added to this general movement. In Wagga Wagga those identifying as Indigenous people increased from 966 in 1991 by 52% to 1425 in 1996. Much of this increase is considered to be in the
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