campaigns for human rights and self

determination for the unemployed

How it operates ....

the Embassy is a non-profit organisat-

ion totally independent non -govern-

ment organisation, registered in 1981.

It survives on donations and very small

project grants usually from local gov-

ernment, as the Australian government

gives little funding to non religious hum-

an rights organisations.

The Embassy was established at 41 Phillip St, Sydney, starting with renting the basement in 1975. The building, in a row of historic terraces near Circular Quay - is part of the First Government House Precinct. In 1978, the rest of the building started to become available so the Embassy could be fully set up

Meanwhile we were involved in a struggle to save the NSW Government owned Phillip St terraces from a Sydney City Council road widening plan. They now have a permanent Conservation Order on them. Some in the original row of  terraces were the sites of the earliest Government offices in Australia - as well as for other institutions like the Womens Temperance Union 

Then in 1983 we fought in the Supreme Court to stop a NSW Government plan to lease off the adjacent site to the terraces on the corner of Bridge St for high rise development. The Embassy's Odd Job Centre project first emerged in 1978, followed by the Learning Co-op - which came out of various arts based work- shops.

This developed into producing regular radio programs such as Freek Out on every Blue Mountains test broadcasts since 1988 as well as weekly on Radio Manly Warringah where we developed our Alternative Television project that produced programs for community TV test broadcasts as well as an annual Poetry Picnic that became the Alternative Arts Festival.  From 1982 we set up group housing projects.