The most interesting thing about The Block is that it exists – or at least, existed. And no, by the Block I don’t mean the mindless renovation show where couples race to exploit the property market. I mean the oldest Indigenous urban settlement in the country, The Block, Redfern.

For almost a century the Block was synonymous with urban Aboriginal culture. A place of physical shelter, cultural identity and guaranteed refuge, it was a vibrant community hub, a centre of the civil rights movement and a magnet for Indigenous people across Australia. It was where the song-lines converged. Now, with not a dwelling upon it and yet another student-residential tower under construction, it’s hard to know if the present tense is even warranted.

The Block in 2002. The neighbourhood has deep connections to Indigenous culture. Credit:Penny Bradfield

Redfern may be the only Sydney neighbourhood with an international reputation. Originally a 100-acre (40-hectare) land grant by Lachlan Macquarie to surgeon William Redfern, it sits immediately south of Central Station. Twenty years ago, when we moved there, Redfern was regarded as dangerous. “Are you seriously proposing to bring up children there?” they’d say. Now it’s hipster central.

But Redfern’s fame derives not from gentrification but from its intense identification with black culture. Technically the Block isn’t actually Redfern but Darlington, part of a 95-acre land grant to William Chippendale in 1819. Nevertheless, Paul Keating’s famous 1992 apology – “the problem starts with us non-Indigenous Australians” – is known simply as the Redfern speech. Redfern and Aboriginality are one, so Redfern it is.