Activist Bandler 'changed her country'

Those who filled Sydney University's Great Hall for Faith Bandler's state funeral were typical of the people the determined fighter for social justice touched during her life.

There were activists who had fought alongside Ms Bandler for the rights of Aboriginal people. There were artists, journalists and everyday people who had come to pay their respects.

There was also a chief justice, the current and former NSW governors, a former premier and numerous politicians from state and federal parliament.

All came to pay tribute to Ms Bandler and the remarkable life she dedicated to fighting for social justice - always with determination but never without grace.

Former Labor senator John Faulkner, who led the proceedings, said Ms Bandler's life was an example of how much of a difference one person can make.

"Her life stands as a testament to how much one person can do to change the country they live in and the world they leave behind," he said.

Ms Bandler, who died on February 13 aged 96, is best known for her pivotal work in gaining support for the 1967 referendum that gave constitutional recognition to Australia's indigenous people.

But her fight against wrongdoing began much earlier.

Ms Bandler's daughter, Lilon Bandler, told the 600-strong crowd of mourners her mother lived through the Great Depression of the 1930s and World War II.

During the war she joined the Women's Land Army, which took on farm labouring jobs in the absence of men sent to war.

Dr Bandler said it was during the war, when her mother noticed the women of the land army were paid less than men, and that Aboriginal labourers were paid less again, that her mother's awareness of discrimination began.

"That war instilled in her a sense of outrage at injustice," she said.

Faith Bandler went on to become a peace activist, gaining a five-volume file with ASIO.

She became a passionate campaigner for the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, South Sea Islanders like her own father, who was taken from his home and made to work in Queensland cane plantations, and fought for the rights of women,

Professor Paul Torzillo, a medical researcher and friend of Ms Bandler, said every generation had its torch carriers for social justice.

"When you meet them, you feel better about humanity, you feel better about yourself," he said.

"Faith was one of those people and we're all much better for it."

NSW Labor deputy leader Linda Burney said she learned three things from the small, gentle woman: that you can't wait for the times to suit you if you want to make a change; that you have to play "the long game" and need stamina to survive; and that an argument for change delivered with honesty and integrity will win the long game.

Ms Burney was joined at the service by federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion, NSW Governor David Hurley along with his predecessor Dame Marie Bashir and former NSW premier Barry O'Farrell, who represented Premier Mike Baird.