Wave Hill Station is located approximately 600km south of Darwin in the Northern Territory. From the late 19th century it was run by the British pastoral company, Vesteys. Vesteys employed the local Indigenous people, the Gurindji, to work on Wave Hill. But working conditions were intolerable and wages were inadequate when compared to those of non-Indigenous employees.
In 1966, Vincent Lingiari, a member of the Gurindji who had worked at Wave Hill, and recently returned from a period of hospitalisation in Darwin, led a walk-off of Indigenous employees of Wave Hill as a protest against the work and pay conditions.
While there had been complaints from Indigenous employees about conditions on Wave Hill over many years, including an inquiry during the 1930s that was critical of Vesteys employment practices, the walk-off had a focus that was aimed at a wider target than Vesteys. Before 1968 it was illegal to pay an Indigenous worker more than a specified amount in goods and money. In many cases, the government benefits for which Indigenous employees were eligible were paid into pastoral companies’ accounts, rather than to the individuals.
The protesters established the Wattie Creek Camp and demanded the return of some of their traditional lands. So began the seven-year fight by the Gurindji people to obtain title to their land. The protest eventually led to the Commonwealth Land Rights Act (Northern Territory), 1976. This Act gave Indigenous Australians freehold title to traditional lands in the Northern Territory and, significantly, the power of veto over mining and development on those lands.
The National Archives holds many records relating to the Wave Hill ‘walk-off’. Most of these records are held in Canberra or Darwin. You can identify many of these records by conducting searches for items using the RecordSearch database, available in all reading rooms and on our website (www.naa.gov.au). Samples of the types of records held are listed below.
 | Wave Hill – return of Aboriginals licences | 1939–53 | F1, 1952/481 | ||
 | Census reports – Wave Hill | 1963–81 | E944, Wave Hill 1* | ||
| Payment of wages to Aboriginals – Wave Hill | 1964–69 | F1, 1968/773 | ||
| Maintenance of governments dependants – Wave Hill Station | 1965–73 | F1, 1971/1920 | ||
| Admissions and discharges – Wave Hill | 1966 | E242, K12/2/1 | ||
| Internal Audit Report Number 1967/32 – Wave Hill Ration Depot – Welfare Branch | 1967–68 | F1, 1967/4529 | ||
| Cattle mustering venture – Aboriginal Co – Wave Hill /Wattie Creek – Muramulla Gurindji Co | 1970–73 | F1, 1971/4091 | ||
| Accommodation and facilities – ex Wave Hill – employees and families (Wattie Creek) | 1971–72 | F1, 1971/4492 | ||
* Refer also to the following items in series E944 ranging from: Wave Hill 2 - Wave Hill 6, Wave Hill 8 – Wave Hill 12
The Archives also holds many photographic images of people involved in the protest at the time taken by the former Australian News and Information Bureau (later the Australian Overseas Information Service). These can be identified on the Archives PhotoSearch database using keyword search terms such as ‘wave hill’, ‘lingiari’, or ‘wattie creek’. PhotoSearch is also available in all reading rooms and on our website. A selection of photographs has been digitised and can be viewed on PhotoSearch. Some examples of the photographs held are listed below.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that records in the Archives collection may include the names and images of Indigenous Australians, some of whom are now deceased.
Further information on Commonwealth records relating to the Wave Hill ‘walk-off’ can be found in the Archives guide, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People in Commonwealth Records: A Guide to Records in the Australian Archives ACT Regional Office (compiled by Ros Fraser, AGPS, Canberra, 1993), which may be consulted in all National Archives reading rooms.
