Dr Evelyn Scott, 1967 Referendum Campaigner, Social Justice and Reconciliation Champion
Evelyn Scott's political activism on behalf of her people began in the Townsville Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advancement League in the 1960s. It culminated in her chairmanship of the National Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation in the late 1990s.
Evelyn Scott was actively involved in campaigning for a YES vote at the 1967 Referendum. After the referendum, at the Townsville seminar organised to pressure the federal government to use its new power, Evelyn met Faith Bandler and other southern activists. She later recalled that her experiences in the Federal Council for the Advancememt of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI) gave her a confidence in herself as a political activist. In 1971, she joined FCAATSI's executive as a vice-president. When FCAATSI became an Indigenous-controlled organisation in 1973 and moved its headquarters to Townsville, Evelyn Scott was General Secretary and, with the support of Josie Briggs, played an integral role in re-establishing the organisation as an essentially Indigenous body.
Evelyn Scott worked closely with Joe McGinness who she described as her inspiration as an Indigenous activist. Throughout his presidency of FCAATSI she was a loyal supporter.
Evelyn Scott took on the difficult position as Chair of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation at a time when the federal government was narrowing the definition of reconciliation and cutting funding for the movement.
Biography sourced from http://www.nma.gov.au/indigenousrights/personf3ae.html?pID=984