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Goulburn Riverbank

Main Goulburn Riverbank Goulburn Riverbank is a flood-prone home where the family’s humpy, water runs and everyday work reveal material hardship. Yet its “dirt” floors do not erase its warmth: Dolly calls it “my place”, so the riverbank becomes a contested symbol of kinship, survival and belonging. Read more

Rumbalara Housing

Main Rumbalara Housing Rumbalara Housing begins as a hopeful “new deal”: a planned estate at Daish’s Paddock, promising running water after life beside the flood-prone river. Yet its small, white, “featureless” concrete houses reveal how official improvement can also limit dignity, privacy and choice. Read more

Council Chamber

Main Council Chamber The Council Chamber is a hostile civic arena where rules and official voices attempt to control who may speak. As Gladys is labelled an “interloper” despite declaring “I belong here,” the setting exposes how public institutions can exclude Aboriginal people from decisions about their homes. Read more

Shepparton Hall

Major Shepparton Hall Shepparton Hall is a bright public dance venue where big-band music and the Miss Mooroopna-Shepparton Ball offer Dolly a thrilling vision of belonging. Yet the promise that “everyone’s going to be there” makes the hall a tense test of who is welcomed, watched and judged. Sign in to unlock

Bank Office

Major Bank Office The bank office is a formal, unequal space: Gladys sits opposite the manager’s desk while he pours tea only for himself. Her admission that she has never entered “a bank” makes the room expose both aspiration and the barriers shaping access to work, security and respect. Sign in to unlock

Cork-Tree Track

Major Cork-Tree Track Cork-Tree Track is a bush shortcut marked by cork trees, linking everyday movement with watchful family care. It becomes Dolly’s “special spot”, yet Nan’s repeated command to “keep away” makes this familiar place feel guarded, private and uneasy for both adults and young people. Sign in to unlock

Park

Minor Park The park is a quiet public space where Gladys and Errol sit beside the Inspector’s report, turning an ordinary “park bench” into a place of learning and uneasy honesty. Its calmness contrasts with the report’s discrimination, letting Gladys’s determination emerge. Sign in to unlock

Melbourne Meeting

Minor Melbourne Meeting The Melbourne meeting turns a “draughty hall” into a tense public space where Aboriginal housing and rights can be heard. Its rows of seats, microphone, and waiting assembly contrast formal civic ritual with the community’s patient, hard-won determination for change. Sign in to unlock