a bit gone - mad; silly; insane.

a bad trot - (from horse racing) a series of misfortunes; a spate of bad luck.

a big ask - a large request or requirement: e.g., It's a big ask, son, but I need you to donate one of your kidneys to me.

a bit gone - mad; silly; insane.

a bit hot - 1. unjustifiably, unfairly expensive. 2. rather excessive, unfair.

a bit more choke and you would have started - (joc.) statement to someone who has farted loudly in company.

a bit of a lad - a high-spirited fellow; a rogue.

a bit rough/rugged - 1. unfair; unjust. 2. unseemly; risqué; lewd; indecent.

a bit solid - harsh; unreasonable.

a bit thick - 1. too much to tolerate; unreasonable: e.g., Being expected to work late without pay is a bit thick. 2. (of a person) rather dumb.

a bite of the cherry - a share of the proceeds, goods, etc.

a bite short of a bikkie - not all there; scatter-brained; mentally deficient.

a brick short of a load - a bit short on brainpower.

a change is as good as a holiday - a break in one's usual routine (or look, etc) is enough to revive the spirit.

a coldie - a beer, generally a bottle of beer, cold of course: e.g., Mate, let's stop at the pub after work and crack a coldie.

a crock - a falsehood: e.g., Don't listen to him, it's all a crock!

a cuppa - a cup of tea: e.g., Come on over this arvo and we'll have a nice sit-down and a cuppa.

a feed - a meal: e.g., I could really go for a feed of steak n' kidney pie.

a freckle past a hair - the stock answer when someone asks the time of someone not wearing a watch, or when someone gives annoyance by asking repetitively.

a good few - quite a large amount: e.g., We didn't expect a large crowd, but a good few turned up.

a green one - a bottle of Victoria Bitter (ale).

a lie down - a short rest or nap: e.g., Me nan used to have a lie down every arvo - till she finally carked it.

a loaf short of a picnic - a wee bit short on brains.

a nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse - under the prevailing circumstances, the difference is inconsequential.

a nonsense - absurd or meaningless: e.g., It is just a nonsense to say that!

A over T - arse over tit; upside down; fall over heavily: e.g., I broke my leg when my horse went A over T.

a packet of broken biscuits - a description of someone whose crumbling life is concealed by attractive packaging.

a quart into a pint pot - 1. the placement of, or the attempt to place, a large amount into a small space 2. an impossible task: e.g., Give it away, son, you're trying to fit a quart into a pint pot!

a serve - a rebuke; a reprimand; a scolding: e.g., He copped a serve from Mum for what he said.

a set-to - a quarrel, argument or fight.

a spot of - a small amount; e.g., I'll have a spot of tea now, if you don't mind.

a stubby short of a slab - intellectually challenged.

a toss - (see: a throw).

a throw - each; each time, e.g., Those things cost me ten dollars a throw. A term originating from dicing games.

A'asia - Australasia.

AAL - (see: Aboriginal Advancement League).

AAPA Act - (see: Aboriginal Affairs Planning Authority Act, 1972 (WA)).

AAV - (see: Aboriginal Affairs Victoria).

ABA - (see: Aboriginal Benefits Account).

abattoir - animal slaughterhouse.

ABC - Australian Broadcasting Commission is Australia's national public broadcaster. Originally created in 1932 as a radio network, the Corporation has gradually expanded and diversified into all forms of mainstream media, providing television, radio and online services throughout metropolitan and regional Australia, and overseas via its Asia-Pacific Television service and Radio Australia. The Corporation also runs a chain of ABC Shops selling books and audio/video recordings related to its programs, and publishes its own magazines. The ABC is non-commercial, and is funded almost entirely by direct annual grants from the federal budget. This is in contrast with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and public broadcasting in New Zealand, which receive substantial revenue from advertising, and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), which receives the bulk of its revenue from licence fees (these were abolished in Australia in 1974). ABC is affectionately known as 'Aunty'.

Abercrombie Caves - the most accessible cave system in New South Wales. Located 289km west of Sydney and 72km south of Bathurst. It is one of the most spectacular limestone cave systems in Australia. The Abercrombie Caves consist of a large arch, claimed to be the largest natural limestone tunnel in the Southern Hemisphere, and which has a number of smaller passages leading from it. While the cave system is small as a whole, the Abercrombie Archway is of enormous dimensions, surpassing the size of the Grand Arch at Jenolan by two and a half times. In 1854 gold was discovered in the area. Mount Gray, just above the caves, was established as a gold mining community covering over 20ha. Miners from many of the surrounding communities would often visit the caves. In the early 1860s the miners constructed a small platform for dancing. The first white visitors to the caves appear to have been bushrangers. In 1830 armed settlers, mounted police and an army regiment fought it out with the Ribbon Gang near the caves. Convict leg irons have been found in Bushranger Cave. A severe flood hit the archway in April 1950; water was reported to be 7ms up the walls and many of the tracks were washed away. In 1979 the new electrical installations were officially switched on and a time capsule was placed near the dance platform to be opened in 2079.

Abercrombie River National Park - the 19,000ha park is the largest extant patch of low open forest in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales. It is an important area of remnant bushland within the south-western central tablelands, helping to preserve the pristine quality of the river environment. Located 40km south of Oberon and 60km north of Goulburn, this park conserves communities of flora and fauna that are typical of mountain and tableland areas. Fauna include wallaroos, red-necked wallabies, swamp wallabies, eastern grey kangaroos, wombats, echidnas, greater gliders, sugar gliders, brush-tailed possums, ring-tailed possums, platypus, Gippsland water dragons and over 60 different species of birds.

Aberdeen - a small, rural service town situated beside the Hunter River, amidst pastoral and agricultural lands. The name is a reminder of the preponderance of Scottish landowners who took up the early land grants. The area in which Aberdeen is centred was once occupied by the Wanaruah tribe. Located 273km north of Sydney.

Abo - (derog.) an Aboriginal Australian.

Aboriginal - 1. of the Australian Aborigines. 2. Aboriginal English.

AAV - Aboriginal Affairs Victoria.

Aboriginal Advancement League - (AAL) aims to establish and administer programs that improve the social, economic and cultural circumstances of Aboriginal people. These include family support, food assistance, home visits, advocacy, counselling and educational programs, drug and alcohol awareness and funeral services. The AAL was formed following the Victorian government’s appointment, in 1955, of a retired magistrate, Charles McLean, to inquire into the circumstances of Aboriginal Victorians. McLean was critical of conditions at the two remaining Aboriginal reserves, Lake Tyers and Framlingham and suggested that Indigenous Victorians of mixed descent should be removed and assimilated, thereby reducing the populations of the reserves. The people at Lake Tyers resisted all attempts to close their community; one result of their campaign being the formation of the Aboriginal Advancement League. The first person to become the fulltime officer was Doug Nicholls, who in 1976, became the first Aboriginal person to be appointed a state governor, in South Australia.

Aboriginal Affairs Act 1967 (VIC) - enabled a newly appointed Minister for Aboriginal Affairs to review existing laws and policies on Indigenous people living in Victoria. Within the first year, the minister expressed concern about 'unauthorised fostering arrangements of Aboriginal children'. However, real change only came with the establishment of Indigenous-operated community services. These included: Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service Cooperative (appearing for Indigenous children in court); Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (opened in 1976). In 1969 the Aboriginal Affairs Act was amended to provide that the Victorian police were to notify the Ministry whenever an Aboriginal child was brought before a Children's Court. Thereafter the Aborigines Advancement League would be notified, enabling the children to be legally represented. The efforts of these Indigenous-operated organisations within 10 years resulted in a 40 per cent reduction in the number of Indigenous children in homes. The Act was amended three years later, by the Aboriginal Lands Act 1970 (VIC), to allow for Aboriginal ownership of the land on which they lived.

Aboriginal Affairs Planning Authority - a statutory body established pursuant to the Aboriginal Affairs Planning Authority Act 1972 (WA). The purpose of the Act, as defined in Section 13, requires that Authority to provide: consultative, planning and advisory services in relation to the economic, social and cultural activities of persons of Aboriginal descent, and advise on the adequacy, implementation and co-ordination of services provided, or to be provided from other sources. Section 14 of the Act sets out the powers of the Authority, which include: power to confer and collaborate with departments of the Commonwealth or states, and other bodies or agencies having to do with Aboriginal affairs, for the purposes of the Act; power to establish committees to investigate and report on any aspect of the Authority's functions; power to invite any person, subject to approval of the Minister, to act in an advisory capacity to the Authority in relation to any of its functions.

Aboriginal Affairs Planning Authority Act 1972 (WA) - (AAPA Act) establishes the Aboriginal Lands Trust, which is empowered to acquire and hold land. It must use and manage that land for the benefit of people of Aboriginal descent and, as far as practicable, in accordance with the wishes of the Aboriginal inhabitants of the area. The Trust is authorised to consult, negotiate and enter into financial arrangements with other persons or bodies as may be necessary or desirable for the development of the land for which it is responsible. The Trust is also empowered to take, instigate or support any action that may be required to ensure the most beneficial use of the land. The minerals and petroleum on or under land vested or held by the Aboriginal Lands Trust remain the property of the Crown. Explorers and miners seeking to enter these reserves, if not themselves Aboriginal people, are required to obtain a permit from the Aboriginal Affairs Planning Authority. Some former Aboriginal reserves have been transferred to Aboriginal Land Trusts, but most Aboriginal reserve land in Western Australia remains under direct government ownership and control.

Aboriginal Affairs Victoria - (AAV) the Victorian government's central point of advice on all aspects of Aboriginal affairs in Victoria. This policy advice may relate to services provided by other state government agencies, Commonwealth departments, and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), or to services delivered within the Aboriginal community. An important aspect of the work of AAV is to promote knowledge and understanding about Victoria's Aboriginal people within the wider community. AAV also administers legislation that protects Aboriginal cultural heritage in Victoria.

Aboriginal Ancestral Being - around the beginning the Ancestral Beings rose from the folds of the earth and stretching up to the scorching sun. They called out, "I am!" As each Ancestor sang out their name, "I am Snake", "I am Honey Ant", they created the most sacred of their songs. Slowly, they began to move across the barren land naming all things and thus bringing them into being. Their words forming verses as the Ancestors walked about, they sang mountains, rivers and deserts into existence. Wherever they went, their songs remained, creating a web of songlines over the country. As they travelled the Ancestors hunted, ate, made love, sang and danced, leaving a trail of Dreaming along the songlines. Finally at the end of their journey the Ancestral Beings sang 'back into' the earth, where they can be seen as land formations, sleeping.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Act 1965 (Qld) - an attempt to effect assimilation through education and housing. The Act established the position of Director of Aboriginal and Island Affairs in place of Director of Native Welfare and the director was no longer the legal guardian of Indigenous children. However, the director could still order the compulsory removal of people, including children, between reserves. The new law introduced the classification of 'assisted person', and every Indigenous person living in a community or mission was an assisted person. All ‘assisted Aborigines’ were required to hold a 'certificate of entitlement' in order to remain on the mission or settlement that provided the subsistence-level assistance. The director could order any 'assisted' Aborigine or Islander who was not residing on a reserve to be transferred to one; and could order an assisted Aborigine to be transferred from one reserve to another, upon the recommendation of an Aboriginal Court of a reserve on which the assisted Aborigine was residing. Similar provisions were made in relation to Islanders. The dormitory system was maintained under the Act. Repealed by the Aborigines Act 1971 (Qld) and the Torres Strait Islander Act 1971 (Qld).

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission - (ATSIC) Australia's national policy-making and service delivery agency for Indigenous people. It is an independent statutory authority established by the Australian (federal) government ten years ago under the ATSIC Act. The ATSIC board assists the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs in administering the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 and other Commonwealth land rights legislation. ATSIC is also required to keep accounts and prepare financial statements for the Land Fund. On 27 May 2004 the federal government introduced legislation to abolish the ATSIC board. The government intends to support the continued operation of regional councils until 30 June 2005 to advise on new arrangements for providing Indigenous representation at the local and regional level.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) Act 1989 (Cth) - established ATSIC, which replaced the Aboriginal Development Corporation (ADC). on 5 March 1990, the ADC handed its functions over to ATSIC. The functions of the new body were expanded to include providing loans and grants to Aboriginal communities for housing and business enterprises. The ATSIC Act has since been amended on a number of occasions, and was the subject of a major Government review.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 (Cth) - the principal Commonwealth legislation protecting Indigenous heritage. The act complements state/territory legislation and is intended fore use only where such laws and processes prove to be ineffective. Under the act the responsible minister can make temporary or long-term declarations to protect areas and objects of significance under threat of injury or desecration. It was the first recognition of the right of Indigenous people to preserve, protect, access and manage their own cultural material. This recognition formed part of a general move away from policies of assimilation and towards self-determination. Since the passage of this legislation around 200 applications have been lodged with the result that eight declarations have been made protecting objects of significance to Indigenous people. Emergency (i.e. temporary) declarations have protected five significant places, and two long-term declarations remain in place, one protecting women’s sites under threat from a dam near Alice Springs and the other (with effect from July 2000) protecting Boobera Lagoon in northern New South Wales. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 was amended on 1 July 2004, effectively excising country generally understood to form a substantial part of the Bunurong’s traditional tribal land.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Land Acts 1991 (Qld) - the Aboriginal Land Act 1991 and the Torres Strait Land Act 1991. Together, these two acts provide a scheme under which Indigenous people can obtain secure title to certain categories of land, that is, existing Indigenous reserves or Deeds of Grant in Trust. The acts have two mechanisms to achieve this purpose, land transfers and land claims.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Land Fund - (the Land Fund) part two of the Commonwealth government's response to the High Court's historic native title decision in the Mabo case in 1992. (Part one was the introduction of native title legislation in 1993.) The Land Fund is a self-sustaining capital fund established in 1995 in conjunction with the Indigenous Land Corporation (ILC). The Land Fund was established by the Land Fund and Indigenous Land Corporation (ATSIC Amendment) Act 1995, inserted into the ATSIC Act 1989 to recognise the fact that mostIindigenous people will not benefit from the High Court’s Mabo (No. 2) decision and the Native Title Act 1993, because they were dispossessed of their land and cannot therefore demonstrate the continuous association necessary to prove native title. The Land Fund is a public trust account, providing an ongoing source of funds to the ILC. Government allocations to the Land Fund ended in 2004, however funding to the ILC continued from investment income earned by the Land Fund. Since June 2004, the corporation has continued to assist Indigenous people in land acquisition and management by operating off the interest earned by the Land Fund. The Land Fund itself remains the property of the Commonwealth.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services - (ATSIS) an executive agency of the Commonwealth, which operated in 2003-04 and continues to operate in considerably reduced form. It was established on 1 July 2003 to provide services to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) and administer programs that were previously the responsibility of ATSIC. From the point of view of ATSIC's clients and the organisations it funded, ATSIC and ATSIS operated as one agency. On 15 April 2004, the Australian government announced its intention to abolish both ATSIC and ATSIS and distribute the programs and services ATSIS administered to mainstream Australian government agencies. The transfer of the vast majority of programs occurred on 1 July 2004; however, the abolition of both agencies has now been delayed by the Senate's referral of the ATSIC Amendment Bill to a committee.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner - a position created by the Federal Parliament in December 1992 in response to the findings of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and the National Inquiry into Racist Violence. The role of the commissioner is to keep Indigenous issues before the federal government and the Australian community, to promote understanding and respect for the rights of Indigenous Australians. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner is a member of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.

Aboriginal art - rock pictures are widespread throughout Australia, being found from the far north - with notable concentrations in the Kimberley, Victoria River, Arnhem Land and Cape York Peninsula - through the Pilbara, Flinders Ranges, and Sydney Sandstone, to the Grampians in western Victoria and the Ice-Age caves of south-western Tasmania. Engraved walls excavated from beneath archaeological deposits in the Cape York area have been dated to more than 13,000 years ago. Pigments used in pictographs made on sandstone shelters in the far north of Australia have yielded a date of about twenty thousand years ago. 'Rock varnish' in petroglyphs in South Australia has been dated to greater than thirty thousand years ago. Red and yellow ochres have been recovered from contexts dated to 60,000 years ago.

Aboriginal artefact sites - (see: Aboriginal Heritage Sites).

Aboriginal Australian - the earliest known human inhabitant of the Australian mainland. The falling sea levels and narrower seaways of about 60,000 years ago would have facilitated navigation of the oceans. Aboriginals are credited with being the world's earliest seafarers, although their ultimate origins are still being researched. Fossil records indicate the co-existence of two genetically distinct groups living on the Australian continent, from between 10,000 and 30,000 years ago. It appears that these two ancestral groups merged, producing the modern Aboriginal. One of these ancestral groups is believed to have been Java Man, the widespread forerunner of modern man. Recent findings of two skulls, one from Victoria in Australia and one from southern China, have given rise to the theory that China's Liu Kiang Man is the second ancestral group. A post-Ice Age descendant of Peking Man, the recently identified skull is virtually identical to that of the second ancestral group. By the time of European contact, they had formed into different communities, spreading across the whole continent into distinct and separate peoples. The debate rages as theories are pitted against newer evidence and newer techniques for DNA dating.

Aboriginal Benefits Account - (ABA) a trust account held by the Northern Territory office of ATSIC that is administered by an ABA Secretariat and with the advice of the ABA Advisory Committee. The Federal government pays into the ABA an amount of money equal to the royalties paid to the Northern Territory and Federal Governments from mining on Aboriginal land. These "statutory royalty equivalents" are distributed by the ABA as follows: 40% among the four Northern Territory Land Councils to fund operations required to carry out their statutory responsibilities of looking after the land interests of all Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory; 30% to Aboriginal groups and people in areas affected by mining on Aboriginal land via their royalty.

Aboriginal burials - burials can be found in mounds, middens, as single grave sites or mass burial grounds (cemeteries). Burial and cremation were the two most customary forms of disposal of the deceased. Sand dunes or large sandhills were frequently used for burials in areas where regular flooding occurred (e.g., the Murray Valley floodplain), because they presented easy digging and provided higher ground during flood.

Aboriginal burning practices - (see: Aboriginal fire management regimes.)

Aboriginal Child Placement Principle - the premise that Aboriginal children are better off cared for in their Aboriginal families and communities, rather than being placed in a family of different cultural and ethnic background. This principle arises from the recognition of Aboriginal people as a distinct, albeit varied, cultural group: and as such, have a moral right to retain their own heritage, customs, languages and institutions. The principle is also an acknowledgement by the government that previous policies directed at Aboriginal children have caused suffering to Aboriginal people. The movement in policy from “assimilation” to this principle reflects a change in approach to the “best interests” of Aboriginal children. This change is also evident in the area of child custody. The principle essentially outlines a preference for the placement of Aboriginal children with Aboriginal people when they are placed outside their families. The order of preference is generally that an Aboriginal child be placed: within the child’s extended family; within the child’s Aboriginal community; and, failing that, with other Aboriginal people. The form of the principle varies across the various jurisdictions in Australia; however, the principle is stated policy, in one form or another, in all states and territories.

Aboriginal clan groups - there were over 500 different clan groups or 'nations' around the continent, many with distinctive cultures and beliefs. Hundreds of languages and dialects existed (although many are now extinct), as well as a variety of different customs and rituals, art forms, styles of painting, forms of food and hunting habits.

Aboriginal Communities Act 1979 (WA) - proclaims that any Aboriginal community may make by-laws relating to their community lands. These may be lands of any tenure, which the Governor proclaims to be community lands. These by-laws may prohibit and regulate entry onto those lands and may regulate the behaviour of people on those lands, in a manner and scope similar to local government by-laws. Offenders are normally dealt with by community courts convened by the Aboriginal community concerned. The provisions of this legislation apply to all people on proclaimed community lands - whether they are community members or not.

Aboriginal community - a group of Aboriginal people who are related by means of shared language or culture and land usage. Sometimes several different language groups belong to one community. Aboriginal communities are diverse, ranging from urban to rural and remote, and from modern to traditional in their beliefs and practices. Although many Aboriginal communities are now located on self-governing reserves, the original concept of a fixed-location community was imposed upon the traditionally nomadic tribes by State government.

Aboriginal community council - a local government composed entirely of members of an Aboriginal community, and Community councils represent the interests of, and which makes decisions on behalf of that community. It is a term that can be used to describe either a council or an association. Many community councils are legally incorporated under the Aboriginal Councils and Associations Act 1976 (Cth). In that legislation, the term 'Council' could refer to either an incorporated Aboriginal 'Council' or an incorporated 'Association'. Other councils could be incorporated under one of the legislative regimes in each state or territory. This was made possible in Queensland under the DOGIT system of community-level land trusts, established in 1984. This deed enables traditional owners to legally possess and administer their former reserves. Incorporated Aboriginal councils elect representatives every three years, to manage the community's affairs.

Aboriginal Community Liaison Officer - (ACLO) liaises with the Aboriginal community and ACT policing in order to establish and maintain positive relationships and foster mutual understanding. Since 1998, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) has employed Aboriginal Community Liaison Officers, recognising the importance of this role in co-ordinating and monitoring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community activities within ACT. A secondary function of the ACLO is to assist the AFP Recruitment Unit in the development and implementation of Indigenous recruitment, retention, career management and development strategies.

Aboriginal Community Police Officer - (ACPO) an arrangement between police and the Aboriginal communities of the Northern Territory. The majority of ACPOs perform two roles – acting as law enforcement officers helping Aboriginal communities understand their obligations under Territory law, and as intermediaries or liaison officers between police and Aboriginal communities. Jointly funded, police provide training, salaries and uniforms to Aboriginal members of the community, while the community is responsible for providing appropriate infrastructure, vehicles, dinghies, office accommodation and housing. All ACPOs are members of the Northern Territory Police Force and the Northern Territory Police Association.

Aboriginal Community Services Acts - the Community Services (Aborigines) Act, 1984 (Qld) and Community Services (Torres Strait) Act, 1984 (Qld). Together, these two pieces of legislation established a system of community-level councils to own and administer former reserves or missions under a Deed of Grant in Trust (DOGIT). The Community Services Act became law in April of 1985, and the first deeds were issued in October. Initially these were granted to all 15 of the Torres Strait Islands where people lived, save for Murray Island, the subject of the case being fought by Eddie Mabo and others before the High Court.

Aboriginal Coordinating Council - (ACC) a secretariat body and local government to the fifteen Deed of Grant in Trust (DOGIT) communities across Queensland.

Aboriginal Corporation - an