Jim Downing (1926-2009) was a social worker and Congregational minister and a pioneer in the study of aboriginal culture.
Born in the tough western suburbs of Melbourne, Jim became a fighter for justice for the disenfranchised and the fractured, the aborigines of Australia. His passion for aborigines grew in his time as a Congregational minister in Redfern.
He was instrumental in establishing the Institute for Aboriginal Development in Alice Springs and became its director. Aiming to see the institute under aboriginal conrol, he relinquished his position to Yami Lester, moved to Darwin and joined the workforce of the Aboriginal Resource Development Services. Jim spoke Pitjantjatjara, acquired an aboriginal name and became a legend. Offered aboriginal initiation, he quietly refused the honour.
Jim Downing was a man of larrikan wit. One participant remembers him at CYF camp playing a gypsy fortune-teller, wearing a borrowed skirt and with a towel for a scarf, cuddling up to embarrassed campers at dinner and offering to "tell your fortune for nothing, spit in your palm for sixpence."
Another participant stated:
Jim Downing was at Seddon before he was ordained. He used to hitch-hike to Alice Springs every 2 or 3 months. He was one of the first to learn an aboriginal language. He became a political activist. I've got a lot of time for Jim.
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