Previous December Find of the Month

December 2023

Living in the 1970s: The Royal Commission on Human Relationships

Fig 1. Royal Commissioners Anne Deveson, Elizabeth Evatt and Felix Arnott, 1975

An initiative of the Whitlam government, the Royal Commission on Human Relationships was a ground-breaking inquiry into domestic and private matters. Justice Elizabeth Evatt, journalist Anne Deveson and the Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane, Felix Arnott, were appointed as the Commissioners in 1974. An inquiry into the good, the bad, and the ugly of human relationships may be apt as we head into the Christmas season, with its emphasis on spending time with family and friends.

Over three years the Commissioners heard submissions from Australians about their experiences and opinions on a wide range of issues relating to human relationships including sexuality, gender roles, contraception, domestic violence and child abuse.

Whitlam’s dismissal slowed the work of the Commission and the tabling of its report in parliament. In 1977, the Royal Commission made 511 recommendations, which you can read online.[i]

The report was seen as radical, especially when some of the more controversial recommendations were leaked ahead of the report’s official release. However, it was also covered extensively and favourably in mainstream media such as the Australian Women’s Weekly.[ii]

There are numerous archival and secondary sources about the Royal Commission. Historian Michelle Arrow made an award-winning radio program about it in 2013.[iii] And the National Archives of Australia has digitised numerous files of the Commission, including many submissions from the public.

Being ArchivesACT, we are, of course, attentive to the local connections with the Royal Commission. There is in fact a strong ACT link to the initiation of the Royal Commission. In April 1973, two Victorian backbenchers introduced a private members bill to liberalise abortion law in the ACT and the Northern Territory.[iv] The bill prompted passionate debate, and ultimately failed to pass.

Because of this failure, in September 1973 Race Mathews introduced a private members bill, proposing a Royal Commission on sex and abortion. As a political compromise, the subject was expanded to all aspects of (heterosexual) human relationships when the Royal Commission was established on 21 August 1974.[v] Gay rights groups successfully campaigned for a change in the terms of reference for the commission, to also accept submissions about homosexual relationships.[vi]

Can archival sources tell us what then happened in the ACT – both in terms of submissions, and legislative responses to the Royal Commission’s recommendations?

Fig 2. Parkroyal Motor Inn, circa 1970

In May 1975 two days of open sessions were held at the Parkroyal Motor Inn in Braddon. Around 120 people attended. At the time, the Canberra Times reported that here ‘…there seemed to be a greater problem of loneliness, especially among women who did not work, than in the State capitals’.[i]

The records of the Commission held at the National Archives includes a list of witnesses and the subjects they raised.[ii] The themes of the in-person evidence include childcare, domestic violence, family planning, homosexuality, mental health, Aboriginal issues, education, gender roles, disability, and single parenthood. Loneliness is not specifically mentioned, but further research on the substance of the submissions from Canberrans might reveal whether this was indeed more remarked upon here.

In April 1978 Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser gave Bob Ellicott responsibility for coordinating the Government’s response to the Royal Commission’s report.[iii] At the time, Ellicott held the dual ministries of Home Affairs and Capital Territory. The Inter-departmental Working Group noted that just over half of the recommendations were within the purview of states and territories.

It is interesting to see how certain recommendations are approached. In some cases, for example the decriminalisation of sex work, they show early receptiveness to law reform on controversial issues. Some issues, such as abortion, are designated as too difficult or divisive, necessitating extensive consultation and debate.

Fig 3. Draft Department of the Capital Territory responses to Royal Commission recommendations, 1978

Fig 4. Draft Department of the Capital Territory responses to Royal Commission recommendations, 1978

The process of reviewing and implementing at least some of the recommendations continued over the following years. In February 1981, Bob Ellicott, still Minister for Home Affairs, wrote to Michael Hodgman, who had succeeded him as Minister for the Capital Territory. Ellicott advocated for progress on numerous recommendations in the Royal Commission’s report, attaching an 11-page list, Recommendations for Implementation in the ACT.[i] Several pages of these recommendations are reproduced below.

Fig 5. Minister Ellicott’s recommendations to the Department of the Capital Territory, 1981

Fig 6. Minister Ellicott’s recommendations to the Department of Education (p. 1 of 2), 1981

Fig 7. Minister Ellicott’s recommendations to the Department of Education (p. 2 of 2), 1981

Fig 8. Minister Ellicott’s recommendations to the Australian Federal Police, 1981

Many recommendations still seem highly relevant today. The ACT closely considered many of them, including greater education for police on dealing with domestic conflict and child abuse, teaching young people to deal with their emotions without resorting to violence, care for the mental health of rape victims, recognising and catering for the sexual needs of the disabled and integrating disabled children into mainstream schools, providing better public housing options for single parents, and assisting women to advance to senior positions in schools and other education institutions. That these ideas remain matters of debate almost 50 years later perhaps illustrates how long it can take to achieve substantial social change.

Images

Fig. 1. Courtesy National Archives of Australia A6180 21-5-75

Fig. 2. Tooth and Company yellow card, http://hdl.handle.net/1885/113361, Courtesy Australian National University Archives

Fig. 3. Territory Records Office (TRO) file 78/3091, Government Branch – Royal Commission on Human Relations, folio 5

Fig. 4. TRO 78/3091, folio 5

Fig. 5. Territory Records Office file 80/2032, Legislation Branch – Royal Commission on Human Relationships, folio 53

Fig. 6. TRO 80/2032 folio 52

Fig. 7. TRO 80/2032 folio 51

Fig. 8. TRO 80/2032 folio 43

References

i Royal Commission on Human Relationships & Evatt, Elizabeth. (1977). Final report. http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2477837085 - see part 5 of volume 1

ii See, for example, Rosemary Munday, ‘The Human Relationships Commission: We should be permissive about knowledge’ (Dec 1977), https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/45656799;  and Bunty Turner, ‘The many concerns of Anne Deveson’ (Dec 1980), https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/51184676

iii Public Intimacies: The Royal Commission on Human Relationships (Radio program broadcast Sun 28 Apr 2013). Hindsight, Radio National. https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/hindsight/public-intimacies3a-the-royal-commission-on-human-relationships/4646926

iv ‘Abortion bill to be amended’, Canberra Times (28 April 1973) https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/136972369

v Public Intimacies: The Royal Commission on Human Relationships (Radio program)

vi ‘Gay-rights group ‘wins victory’’, Canberra Times (11 November 1974), https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110787492

vii Neil Lade. ‘Report on human relationships to be detailed’, Canberra Times (9 May 1975), https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110637054

viii National Archives of Australia. Series A1209, 1974/6400, item ID 8301833. Royal Commission into Human Relationships

ix Territory Records Office. 80/2032, Legislation Branch – Royal Commission on Human Relationships, folio 55

x 80/2032, folios 54-55

Ready to start your own research?

Contact us through our Request a record - ArchivesACT and we will be happy to help.

File Readers/Viewers

If you do not already have compatible software on your computer, free file readers/viewers can be downloaded from the following links.