Anniversary of the Aboriginal Medical Service Redfern’s Opening

20 July 1971

A service built by the community

The Aboriginal Medical Service Cooperative opened at 171 Regent Street, Redfern, on 20 July 1971. The City of Sydney’s Barani history records the day; AMS Redfern’s own history describes the organising that led to its establishment that July.

The anniversary recognises a major achievement in Aboriginal community-controlled health. It centres the people who identified a need, organised a response and created a service accountable to their community.

Leadership and practical action

AMS Redfern describes a health system in which cost and racism discouraged Aboriginal people from seeking treatment. Workers at the Aboriginal Legal Service saw the consequences and helped bring people together to discuss a different approach.

A June 1971 meeting included Shirley Smith, Gordon Briscoe, Dulcie Flower, Paul Coe, Fred Hollows and others. They decided to establish a free shopfront service using a community-controlled structure. Initially, volunteer doctors and nurses worked alongside Shirley Smith as a field officer.

Demand quickly showed that a small volunteer service could not meet the scale of need. The organisation sought resources to expand and developed practical responses beyond the consulting room, including food and nutrition initiatives.

Health and self-determination

This history is about more than improving access to individual appointments. It recognises Aboriginal authority in deciding how services should operate, which needs should be prioritised and how care should relate to community life.

The service’s account identifies community control, self-reliance and independence as guiding principles. Its establishment helped shape a wider movement of Aboriginal community-controlled health services across Australia.

For a school or workplace activity, read the organisation’s history alongside accounts of Redfern’s legal, housing and children’s services. Ask how these initiatives supported one another and what community control means in practice.

Credit the Aboriginal organisers as well as the clinicians who supported them. The anniversary should recognise enduring leadership and institution-building, without reducing the story to outside assistance or presenting contemporary communities only through health disadvantage.

Sources and further reading

• Opening date and historical overview — City of Sydney, Barani
• Our history and future — Aboriginal Medical Service Redfern
• Community-controlled health — National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation

Our related products and resources

We do not currently offer products or learning resources specifically for this date. The reading links above are provided for background and further learning. Suitable items from our range will be added here as they become available.