The Coolbaroo club

A study of what life was like for many Aboriginal Australians in post World War 11 Western Australia. For 14 years, between 1946 and 1960, the Coolbaroo Club in Perth, Western Australia, was a meeting place and a community focus for the local Aboriginal community. The Coolbaroo Club was unique in that it was the only Aboriginal-run dance club in a city that was notorious for its unofficial apartheid, police harassment, identity cards for Aboriginals, curfews and bureaucratic obstruction. The club attracted interest from Black musicians both in Australia and overseas. Nat ‘King’ Cole, Harold Blair and the Harlem Globetrotters being among the international celebrities. As well as providing a place where the Aboriginal community could safely gather, the club was also known for its political activities. It issued a newspaper and later became an effective political organisation, speaking out on issues of the day which were affecting Aboriginal people. The exceptional achievement of the Coolbaroo League in finding an affirmative response to white oppression can be seen today as an important step forward in the development of Aboriginal self determination. The film is a powerful record of this achievement.