The North Australian Workers' Union (NAWU) was a trade union in the Northern Territory between 1927 and 1972. It was a publisher of a newsletter in

Darwin Darwin may refer to: Common meanings * Charles Darwin (1809–1882), English naturalist and writer, best known as the originator of the theory of biological evolution by natural selection * Darwin, Northern Territory, a territorial capital city i ...

, the '' Northern Standard''. The union was involved in Aboriginal Australians' working conditions on cattle stations in the 1960s. In 1965 the Union applied to the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission to amend the Northern Territory’s

pastoral award A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...

to remove sections discriminating against Aboriginal workers. The pastoralists resisted strongly; the Commission eventually agreed, but in consideration of the pastoralists' concerns of what it would cost them, delayed implementation by three years. This delay helped lead towards the Gurindji strike (Wave Hill walk-off). The union was deregistered in 1972.

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