Fringe dwellers
The term fringe dwellers has been used in Australia to describe groups of Aboriginal Australians who camp on the outskirts of towns and cities, from which they have become excluded, generally through law or land alienation as a result of colonisation. In Adelaide, South Australia, the term was applied particularly in the early days of settlement to those who camped in the Adelaide park lands around the city centre.
Fringe dwellers are also referred to as "Long Grassers" in contemporary times, especially in Northern Australia where year-long warm weather conditions allow itinerant Aborigines to live indefinitely on the outskirts of towns without official places of residence.Book and film
The Fringe Dwellers is the title of a 1986 Australian film, based on the 1961 novel of the same name by Western Australian author Nene Gare, directed by Bruce Beresford. Indigenous activist, poet, and educator Oodgeroo Noonuccal was an actor in and script adviser for the film.
