knights of the southern cross

The Australian Hall on Elizabeth Street is a heritage building built in the Federation Romanesque architectural style. It was erected between 1910 and 1913 as a club for German migrants, known as the Concordia. The Knights of the Southern Cross, a right-wing Catholic fraternal lay group, purchased it in 1920 and constructed the Australian Hall in the building. They sold it in 1979 to the Hellenic Club and Greek Cypriots used it as the Cyprus Hellene Club. This is the site of the first national Aboriginal civil rights gathering convened by the Aborigines Progressive Association and held in 1938, known as the “Day of Mourning”. The building was purchased in 1999 by the Metropolitan Aboriginal Association Incorporated and refurbished, with the hall restored to its 1938 state. It is the first non-Aboriginal structure to be recognised in Australia as an Aboriginal heritage site. NAIDOC week, which this year runs from 3rd July to 11th July, is a celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and an opportunity to recognise the contributions of Indigenous Australians in various fields.