The Australian Natives Associations Hall

ANA Hall 360 Hannan St built 1901

The ANA hall in Kalgoorlie was located at 360 Hannan Street, Kalgoorlie which is now where the rear of Woolworths faces Hannan Street. It is not know when it was demolished but it fails to appear in the Post Office Directories by 1910.

The ANA provided sickness, medical and funeral cover. Membership in the ANA was restricted to men born in Australia, at a time when Australian-born people of European descent (not including Indidgenous Australians) were rising to power in place of an older generation born in Britain. In the 1890s, for the first time, they became the majority of the population. The ANA consisted mainly of energetic middle-class men aged under 50 – a perfect base for a forward-looking, idealistic movement such as federation. In 1880 the ANA committed itself to the federation of the Australian colonies, and provided much of the organisational and financial support for the Federation Leagues which led the campaign, particularly in Victoria.

With the RSL (The Returned Services League, it was one of the last Australian pressure groups to support the White Australia Policy. A few members maintained this support until the 1970s. The ANA continued to prosper, operating a private health fund, a building society, general insurance company and small-scale life insurance and fund management activities. In 1993, it merged these operations with the Manchester Unity of Victoria to create ‘Australian Unity’, then the largest friendly society in Australia by number of members. As of 2007, only the WA branch exists, and this is winding down.

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Moya Sharp

Owner at Outback Family History

My name is Moya Sharp, I live in Kalgoorlie Western Australia and have worked most of my adult life in the history/museum industry. I have been passionate about history for as long as I can remember and in particular the history of my adopted home the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. Through my website I am committed to providing as many records and photographs free to any one who is interested in the family and local history of the region.

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