City of Darebin Heritage Study Volume 1 Draft Thematic

DAREBIN HERITAGE STUDY STAGE 224Nicholls became involved in the growing Aboriginal social justice movement, firstly in theAustralian Aborigines League, and later with the Aborigines Advancement League (Lemon,1983:270-1), and was thus influential in Northcote becoming a centre of Aboriginal activismin the 1950s (see section Aboriginal Self Determination, in Chapter 6 for the story of the AAL).By then Aboriginal people had begun moving out from Fitzroy, some to the new HousingCommission estates in Preston and Reservoir (Broome, 2005:299) and Darebin became hometo one of the largest Aboriginal communities in Victoria. In 2007, one in 25 Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander Victorians lives in Darebin. (www.darebin.vic.gov.au).Nicholls was knighted in 1972 and appointed Governor of South Australia in 1976-77. Ontheir retirement, Sir Doug and Lady Nicholls returned to live in Northcote.A number of community initiatives have been established by and for Aboriginal people,including the Aboriginal Health Service in High Street Northcote. They providedBrother/sister service for issues of mental health and family health, in Nicholson St, Fitzroy.Ngala, a sobering up service in Separation Street, was also an off-shoot of the AboriginalHealth Service. Maya Healing Centre in Rossmoyne Street Thornbury was initiated by RegBlow around 2002. The Centre’s functions include a drop-in centre, facilities, lunches,women’s centre. This is a stand-alone initiative for those who need to reconnect with theircommunity.Another expression of local Aboriginal community is the Aboriginal Catholic Ministry in StGeorge's Road Thornbury. The Ministry was inspired by Pope Paul VI's visit to Australia in1970. Indigenous Radio Station 3KND was established in Plenty Road Preston, later movedto Merri Street.Post Second World War immigrantsAt the end of the Second World War, the population of Darebin was, apart from the smallgroups noted above, almost entirely of British or Irish origin. This was to change dramaticallyas Australia embarked on its massive post-war immigration program. In 2007, over 35% ofDarebin’s residents were born overseas (www.darebin.vic.gov.au) and together with theirAustralian-born children they have made Darebin a suburb of rich cultural diversity.From 1952 to 1971, the Department of Immigration ran a migrant hostel in Nissen huts onthe present site of Northland Shopping Centre. Many of the residents moved out to settle inthe study area. Northcote’s factories and cheap housing attracted immigrants first. Preston,being further out and less developed, took a little longer to attract immigrants, however thepublic housing provided by the Housing Commission of Victoria became a major drawcardfor newly arrived immigrants.By 1981, more than one quarter of Preston’s population and almost one third of Northcote’spopulation were born overseas in places other than Britain and Ireland. The largest ethnicgroups represented were the Italians followed by the Greeks, many of whom moved out fromthe inner suburbs, where they stayed after arriving in Australia. Achille and Rosa DiGuglielmo purchased their first house in Abbotsford in 1956. Rosa found work at EnsignDrycleaners in Croxton. In 1959, they moved into a newly built brick veneer house inMerrilands. It was the second house in their street (www.decc.org.au). Reservoir now has oneof the largest Italian communities in Australia.They changed the landscape of the Merrilands estate with concrete, brick veneer homes and minifarms in their backyards with chooks, fruit and vegetable gardens, homemade vino, salsa, pasta esalsicce. They recycled everything before it was fashionable. The agrarian foods they ate and stillprepare today are now part of our gourmet food culture (www.decc.org.au).The changes these groups brought to Darebin were also manifested in the area’s shops,restaurants, churches and other community institutions. The Little Sisters of the Poorbuildings in St George’s Road became a Greek Orthodox monastery. The Northcote Theatrebecame the Italia Hall reception centre in the 1960s and the Westgarth Theatre beganshowing Greek films in the 1970s.