It is possible to conceive of this thesis as a work on two major levels, one conceptual and the other in terms of process. It is thought that some populations, because of personal or structural impediments, are unable to exercise their civil and political rights and may even be denied certain of these rights. There is a widespread belief that those populations will never be able to exercise effectively their rights. In contrast to this, the writer suggests that methods of social intervention could be developed which will facilitate access by those populations to the exercising of their rights. The Aboriginal people of Australia is one population which is being characterised as unable or unlikely to be able to exercise its social and political rights. In order to test the aptness of this perception of Aborigines and to see if methods of intervention could be developed to enhance Aborigines' use of social and political mechanisms in their own interests, the writer has based his investigation on the following propositions. It is suggested that, in ways similar to any other group of people, Aborigines: (1) can participate in community work programmes in ways which provide them with satisfaction; (2) are willing to work on problems which confront them; (3) are capable of thinking through difficulties and actively working towards solutions to those difficulties; (4) do not wish to be recipients in the sense of always having things done for them but can and do participate if programmes are offered which are acceptable to them. In order to test the above propositions, an actual case study of the Aboriginal people of South Brisbane is undertaken. In this study it is suggested that: (1) the Aboriginal community in South Brisbane is not so disorganised, anomic or depressed, that community work programmes cannot be designed for this community; (2) the Blacks in South Brisbane are capable of confronting issues which affect them without elaborate outside assistance; (3) Aboriginal people will participate in programmes if they are designed to take account of the people's wishes; and (4) that there are issues in South Brisbane about which the Aboriginal people feel strongly and in relation to which they want change and are interested in being actively involved in that change. It is further postulated that it is necessary to design community work programmes based on institutions which the target community uses frequently and sees as central to its concerns (in this case, hotels). In order to establish such a thesis a number of apparently disparate features have been examined. The relationship between these aspects will be explained as will the relationship of each to the work as a whole. The discussion begins with a description of Black-white relations, particularly as they affect city dwelling Aborigines. Cultural explanations have formed the fulcrum of many if not the majority of works which have sought to account for Aboriginal behaviour from the pre-contact situation up until the present time. The writer feels that this method of elaboration might not result in an accurate understanding of Aboriginal behaviour. For this reason cultural explanations are considered here and an alternative way of conceiving the reasons for Aboriginal patterns of behaviour is advanced. The preferred method of viewing Aboriginal adaptations involves looking closely at the totality of power relationships and situational pressures impinging on the indigenous people of this suburb. When ever the writer refers to situational pressures or power forces he sees them as only having real explanatory power when they are considered in terms of specific situations, for example, while white indifference about Aboriginal health may be widespread, such a factor and the special form it takes needs to be considered in terms of a particular Aboriginal community if one hopes to understand anything of the effect it has on Aborigines in that community. The culture of poverty is examined because it has become in recent years a very popular construct amongst social scientists in their attempts to understand Aboriginal and other poor people's reactions to the environment in which they find themselves. It too is thought to offer very limited explanatory power vis a vis the suggested alternative method of analysis. The importance of finding analytical tools which can provide adequate insights into the behaviour of a target community should be obvious. The more the worker understands what makes a community (and the individual people who make up that body) decide on priorities the better he is equipped to understand the problems and aims of that community. Because the project was undertaken in South Brisbane and hotels are very important meeting places for Aboriginals in that area, Aboriginal drinking was examined. The stereo-type of the "drunken abo whose only interest is booze", who is incapable of doing anything for himself beyond cadging the next drink, was taken as the starting point. It was felt that if such a stereo-type had wide validity, then there would be little point in focusing the project around the hotels in South Brisbane. Connected with the abovementioned stereo-type is a complementary one which has considerable currency - that is, Aborigines and poor people generally cannot defer gratification and that it is this which is preventing them from advancing. The importance of examining this proposition is that, were it found to be accurate, initial community work goals in the area would need to be of a very short term nature. Participation, leadership and the selection of issues are also considered as they are the essence of the community work method. The writer's analysis of those aspects depended heavily on his observation of situational pressures and power configurations as they affected the community's reactions. Community work is discussed at length, consideration is given to both traditional and more radical methods of operating and this leads into a consideration of pertinent areas of the writer's style of working. Following the above discussion the writer elaborates the case study in South Brisbane. The project is described and, finally, evaluated.