AustLit
Latest Issues
AbstractHistoryArchive Description
A documentary that uses historical footage and interviews with people who were part of the generation of Indigenous Australians forced into unpaid servitude by the Australian government. The title refers to the amount of pocket money the indentured workers were supposed to be given, but never received, while their wages were managed by their 'employers' on behalf of the Aborigines Protection Board.
Production Details
-
Narrator: Chicka Dixon
Cast: Geraldine Briggs, Flo Caldwell, Bill Reid, Violet Shaw, and Margaret Tucker
Lousy Little Sixpence took three years to research and produce
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Related Works
-
form
y
Stolen Generations
Darlene Johnson
(director),
Australia
:
2000
8978296
2000
single work
film/TV
Stolen Generations, directed and narrated by Aboriginal filmm-maker Darlene Johnson, continues the examination of the impact of the removal of Aboriginal children from their families during the 1950s and 1960s. Using the particular stories of Bobby Randall, Cleonie Quayle and Daisy Howard, the fi lm expands upon the themes of Lousy Little Sixpence, showing the wide range of ways in which Aboriginal children were removed and the variety of destinations for the children.
The stories are combined with interviews with two well-known Australian historians Marcia Langton and Henry Reynolds who describe the racist assumptions behind these policies. Removing children was a deliberate government policy and the end aimed for was the eventual disappearance of Aborigines as a people. Illustrated with striking archive footage and a first person narration by Aboriginal director Darlene Johnson.(Source: Ronin Films website)
Works about this Work
-
A Historical Review of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Storytelling, Resistance, Reclamation and Education through Film
2023
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Journal of Australian Indigenous Issues , December vol. 26 no. 3-4 2023; -
The Aboriginal Voice in Baz Luhrmann's Left-Leaning Australia (2008)
2012
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Continuum : Journal of Media & Cultural Studies , vol. 26 no. 4 2012; (p. 625-636) 'Arguing that Baz Luhrmann's Australia (2008) is a big-budget, non-independent film espousing a left-leaning political ideology in its non-racist representations of Aborigines on film, this paper suggests the addition of a 'fourth formation' to the 1984 Moore and Muecke model is warranted. According to their theorizing, racist 'first formation' films promote policies of assimilation whereas 'second formation' films avoid overt political statements in favour of more acceptable multicultural liberalism. Moore and Muecke's seemingly ultimate 'third formation films', however, blatantly foreground the director's leftist political dogma in a necessarily low budget, independent production. Australia, on the other hand, is an advance on the third formation because its left-leaning feminized Aboriginal voice is safely backed by a colossal production budget and indicates a transformation in public perceptions of Aboriginal issues. Furthermore, this paper argues that the use of low-cost post-production techniques such as voice-over narration by racially appropriate individuals and the use of diegetic song in Australia work to ensure the positive reception of the left-leaning message regarding the Stolen Generations. With these devices Luhrmann effectively counters the claims of right-wing denialists such as Andrew Bolt and Keith Windschuttle.' (Author's abstract, 625)
-
The Making of Lousy Little Sixpence
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Making Film and Television Histories : Australia and New Zealand 2011; (p. 11-16) -
25 Years On, Classic Film Still Shocks
2008
single work
column
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 22 October no. 437 2008; (p. 34) 'The classic Aboriginal film Lousy Little Sixpence has just turned 25-years-old, but it still shocks viewers with its stories of stolen children, stolen wages and systemic discrimination.' (Koori Mail 22/10/2008) -
The Black Communist: The Contested Memory of Margaret Tucker
2000
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Hecate , vol. 26 no. 2 2000; (p. 135-145)
-
The Black Communist: The Contested Memory of Margaret Tucker
2000
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Hecate , vol. 26 no. 2 2000; (p. 135-145) -
25 Years On, Classic Film Still Shocks
2008
single work
column
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 22 October no. 437 2008; (p. 34) 'The classic Aboriginal film Lousy Little Sixpence has just turned 25-years-old, but it still shocks viewers with its stories of stolen children, stolen wages and systemic discrimination.' (Koori Mail 22/10/2008) -
The Aboriginal Voice in Baz Luhrmann's Left-Leaning Australia (2008)
2012
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Continuum : Journal of Media & Cultural Studies , vol. 26 no. 4 2012; (p. 625-636) 'Arguing that Baz Luhrmann's Australia (2008) is a big-budget, non-independent film espousing a left-leaning political ideology in its non-racist representations of Aborigines on film, this paper suggests the addition of a 'fourth formation' to the 1984 Moore and Muecke model is warranted. According to their theorizing, racist 'first formation' films promote policies of assimilation whereas 'second formation' films avoid overt political statements in favour of more acceptable multicultural liberalism. Moore and Muecke's seemingly ultimate 'third formation films', however, blatantly foreground the director's leftist political dogma in a necessarily low budget, independent production. Australia, on the other hand, is an advance on the third formation because its left-leaning feminized Aboriginal voice is safely backed by a colossal production budget and indicates a transformation in public perceptions of Aboriginal issues. Furthermore, this paper argues that the use of low-cost post-production techniques such as voice-over narration by racially appropriate individuals and the use of diegetic song in Australia work to ensure the positive reception of the left-leaning message regarding the Stolen Generations. With these devices Luhrmann effectively counters the claims of right-wing denialists such as Andrew Bolt and Keith Windschuttle.' (Author's abstract, 625)
-
The Making of Lousy Little Sixpence
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Making Film and Television Histories : Australia and New Zealand 2011; (p. 11-16) -
A Historical Review of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Storytelling, Resistance, Reclamation and Education through Film
2023
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Journal of Australian Indigenous Issues , December vol. 26 no. 3-4 2023;
- New South Wales,
