The Reverend Alf Clint, an Anglican Bush Brother and activist for human rights, was looking for somewhere to establish a training centre for the development of co-operative practices for Aboriginal people. Reverend John Hope of Christchurch St Laurence said, ‘Tell Alf he can have Tranby’. The Co-operative for Aborigines (now known as Tranby) was established, and the first students were enrolled the following year. Clint was the founder and first Director of the Co-operative.

Tranby distributed ‘Vote Yes’ leaflets for the 1967 referendum, in which Australians voted overwhelmingly – over 90 per cent – to amend the Australian Constitution to allow the Commonwealth to make laws for Aboriginal people and include them in the census.

The Mili Mili publication was launched. Since its inception, Tranby has produced a range of publications, including newsletters, the Aborigines Welfare Bulletin (1959-1965), Mili Mili, Gooorialla (1979-1981) and student yearbooks. Mili Mili ran for 12 issues from 1972 to 1977 and covered Tranby-specific events and local Aboriginal initiatives. It also provided international reports and essays on co-operative endeavours.

Tranby board member and former student Kevin ‘Cookie’ Cook, a Wandandian and Yuin​ man, first became involved with Tranby in 1975. In 1976 he represented Tranby in discussions on the Northern Territory Aboriginal Land Rights Bill and the Aboriginal and Associations Bill. Tranby was becoming more and more involved in Indigenous affairs.

The Trade Union Committee on Aboriginal Rights (TUCAR) was established to foster better relationships and communications between Aboriginal people and the trade unions. Cook was committed to working with the trade unions and Tranby was heavily engaged and supported by these groups, including for fundraising and on-the job training programs.

Tranby stood in solidarity with them, speaking out against the multinational mining companies who, in their words, “completely disregard peoples cultural and historical heritage in their chase for profits. If they want to mine land that happens to be Aboriginal land, they’ll go ahead and do it, unless they’re stopped”. Kevin ‘Cookie’ told Tribune “A win for the miners is a win for all oppressed people”. The parallels between the trade union and Aboriginal Land Rights movements were a strong pillar for Tranby’s social and political activism throughout the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s.

A protest named ‘Operation Aborigine’ was held in Martin Place, Sydney. The Gooriala (Rainbow Serpent) badge was designed by artist Dick Roughsey for the protest and was also used as a creative fundraising strategy for the Tranby Aboriginal Co-operative.

The Reverend Alf Clint passed away and Kevin Cook became the first Indigenous secretary of Tranby. Since then, all Tranby secretaries have been Indigenous. Cook built Tranby into a centre for adult learning and cultural revival, a base for land rights activists, and a hub where visitors from around Australia and from across the world could connect with Indigenous communities.

The centre for Blackbooks opened – the first specialist bookshop and reference library for Indigenous-related literature.

Tranby hosted the first National Conference on Aboriginal Controlled Community-based Education and Institutions at the Tranby campus in Glebe. Tranby had established itself as an important meeting place, supporting other organisations and sparking ideas for social change.

Tranby was involved in the Black Deaths in Custody protest march. Throughout the 1980s, following the death of Eddie Murray, John Pat and so many others, the Aboriginal community fought for change, which led to the 1988 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADC). During this time, Tranby was heavily involved in the protests. After the RCIADC concluded and produced its recommendations, Tranby’s involvement continued, with the Aboriginal Development Unit conducting workshops in regional NSW to inform Aboriginal communities. In response to the recommendations, Tranby developed a course to provide vital legal knowledge for Aboriginal people, empowering them and strengthening their engagement with the criminal justice system. Tranby continues to offer this course, and today it has evolved into the 10861NAT Diploma of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Advocacy.

The Rona Tranby Trust was launched at Tranby on 2 September, to support the recording and preservation of Indigenous Australian oral history. The Rona Tranby Award and Collection were also established. Each award plants a seed that continues to grow over the years and helps to preserve stories important to all Australians, strengthening identity and community.

‘The Buildings out the Back’ were constructed at the Tranby campus – a collaboration between Tranby and architects Cracknell and Lonergan. The design is in sympathy with the Victorian character of the suburb, with circular rooms reflecting Indigenous learning circle practices.

Tranby celebrated 50 years of providing adult Indigenous education, with 100 students enrolled that year in an expanded number of courses.

Ten students from Tranby undertook a seven-day cultural and research tour of China and Vietnam, funded by the Federal Government’s AsiaBound program. This was the first tour ever undertaken by Tranby students, and since then, students have travelled overseas visiting foreign communities for the first time.

Kevin Cook passed away and the Community lost a long-term leader, friend and mentor. Also in 2015, Tranby was re-named to encompass and capture the essence of what we do, which is to provide quality education and training to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults, nationally in Australia. We became Tranby National Indigenous Adult Education and Training.

The Rona Tranby Trust funded descendants of Indigenous members of the Australian Light Horse to travel to Israel to take part in the Australian National Service to Commemorate the Centenary of the Battle of Beersheba and the Sinai-Palestine Campaign at Beersheba. For the first time in 100 years, in the presence of the Prime Ministers of Australia and Israel, many other dignitaries, international visitors and the local community, a wreath was laid by an Indigenous representative at the formal ceremony in honour of Indigenous servicemen who fought in the campaign.

Tranby celebrated its first 60 years with dance, music, good food and friendship. Since its inception, Tranby students and staff have worked together for the right to pursue independence and self-determination on our terms, according to community needs and aspirations. To paraphrase Kevin Cook, we have paved the way for courses to be developed by Elders, according to criteria that remain culturally and educationally Aboriginal. We will continue in the same vein.

Tranby’s courses were first provided online. To remain responsive to communities’ education needs during the COVID-19 pandemic, Tranby dramatically changed the way it operated, moving classes from the iconic Glebe Indigenous campus to an online ‘yarning circle’ format. This enabled students from around Australia to continue their cultural learning and to stay connected with Mob during the pandemic.

Tranby launched the ‘Yanalangami: Strong Women, Strong Communities Program’ – a new era of culturally meaningful leadership training programs for Tranby. Yanalangami consists of a national social media campaign and a community-led online leadership and empowerment program, which connects our women from around the country.