The term fringe dwellers has been used in Australia to describe groups of

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait I ...

s who camp on the outskirts of

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

s and cities, from which they have become excluded, generally through law or land alienation as a result of

colonisation Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...

. In

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, South Australia, the term was applied particularly in the early days of settlement to those who camped in the

Adelaide park lands The Adelaide Park Lands are the figure-eight of land spanning both banks of the River Torrens between Hackney and Thebarton and separating the City of Adelaide area (which includes both Adelaide city centre and North Adelaide) from the sur ...

around the

city centre A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...

. 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. The term was used for the 1961 novel ''

The Fringe Dwellers ''The Fringe Dwellers'' is a 1986 film directed by Bruce Beresford, based on the 1961 novel '' The Fringe Dwellers'' by Western Australian author Nene Gare.Nene Gare, The Fringe Dwellers, Sun Books, Melbourne, 1966 (first published by Heinemann, ...

'' by

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

n author

Nene Gare Nene Gare (9 May 191929 May 1994) was an Australian writer and artist, best known as the author of the novel ''The Fringe Dwellers'' (1961), which was made into the 1986 Australian film of the same name directed by Bruce Beresford. Personal li ...

.Nene Gare, The Fringe Dwellers, Sun Books, Melbourne, 1966 (first published by Heinemann, London, 1961) That book was adapted as the 1986 Australian film ''

'', directed by

Bruce Beresford Bruce Beresford (; born 16 August 1940) is an Australian film director who has made more than 30 feature films over a 50-year career, both locally and internationally in the United States. Beresford's notable films he has directed include '' B ...

References

{{reflist Indigenous Australian culture Homelessness in Australia

See also

References