Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Housing in Queensland

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12 Mar 2022

3 pm – 4:30 pm (AEST)

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The dwellings and houses of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Queensland are extremely diverse through time and by region throughout Queensland. Differences in styles, technologies and procurement methods have varied dependent on local tradition, regional resources and climates, and the political contexts of government and church policies in the remote institutionalized settlements and towns. 

However two threading themes are evident within this diversity: on the one hand, the autonomous and persistent agency of families in organizing their own lifestyles and environments to suit their customary and changing values, and on the other, the imposition on communities by government of a limited number of house designs to shape protection and assimilation processes. 

This virtual presentation is a “summary snapshot” across places and times in Queensland to illustrate these diversities and tensions in the way Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander housing has evolved over the last 150 years since colonization commenced.