Anniversary of the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service’s Opening

Date: 18 August 1973

Opening a community service

The Victorian Aboriginal Health Service officially opened on 18 August 1973 at 229 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy. The organisation’s own fiftieth-anniversary account identifies this date and the role of community members in establishing the service.

The opening belongs to the history of Aboriginal organising in Melbourne as well as the wider movement for community-controlled health. It represents people building a service to respond to their own community’s needs.

Health and self-determination

VAHS has described its work in terms of holistic care and community control. This approach recognises that health involves more than an isolated appointment or the treatment of a single illness: family, culture, relationships and community circumstances matter.

The anniversary is therefore also a rights milestone. Community leadership in the design and direction of a service challenges the assumption that governments and outside institutions should always decide what Aboriginal people need and how support should be delivered.

Why include this date

A calendar should recognise the institutions Aboriginal people have built, alongside the barriers they have faced. VAHS offers a strong Victorian example of practical self-determination, enduring community work and care across generations.

For schools and workplaces, explore what makes an Aboriginal community-controlled health organisation different from a general service with an Aboriginal program. Begin with VAHS’s own account and information from the wider community-controlled health sector. Consider who makes decisions, how community priorities are heard, and why culturally safe care depends on relationships and accountability. This date can be marked by learning about local services and respecting their expertise, without assuming that a historical anniversary is a public open day or asking staff to provide unpaid cultural education.

Sources and further reading

• VAHS celebrates five decades of making a difference and saving lives — Victorian Aboriginal Health Service
• VAHS Annual Report 2022–23 — Victorian Aboriginal Health Service
• Aboriginal community-controlled health — NACCHO

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.