William Townsend Onus Jnr (15 November 1906 – 10 January 1968) was an Aboriginal Australian political activist, designer, and showman, also known for his boomerang-throwing skills.

In 1916, in a time when many people were leaving Cummeragunja owing to land being taken and children being forcibly removed, Maude also left, moving to nearby Echuca, in Victoria.

During the Great Depression Onus took a number of jobs, including prospecting[2] down the coast at Bega,[1] and truck-driving upon his return to Sydney in 1934.

[1] In 1936, Onus appeared in Charles Chauvel's feature film Uncivilised, then in 1937 had an acting role in Ken G.Hall's romantic melodrama Lovers and Luggers (retitled Vengeance of the Deep in the US and UK[5]).

The funds were used for legal aid for Aboriginal war veterans, as well as the Redfern All Blacks rugby league team, co-founded in 1938 with Wesley Simms.

The AAL was also involved in the push to retain Lake Tyers Mission, an Aboriginal reserve, and in 1963 he and his brother Eric Onus organised a march in Melbourne.

[1] Activists started utilising Aboriginal culture as a form of activism, and Onus played a big part in many types of performance.

[9] During the 1940s and 1950s Onus became famous for his skill at boomerang-throwing, performing at various tourist sites in Victoria and NSW, and also toured New Zealand.

[8] An excerpt from the play, which featured Eric Onus and his wife Wynne, Reg Saunders, Doug Nicholls, and many then-residents of Fitzroy,[6] was captured on 35mm film by Bill Onus, making him possibly the first Aboriginal filmmaker[11][8] (an accolade formerly assumed to belong to his nephew Bruce McGuinness for his 1972 film Blackfire[12][13][14]).

The revue was called Corroboree 1949 and was performed in Melbourne at Wirth's Olympia (the present site of the Victorian Arts Centre[1]).

The acts included Margaret Tucker, Edgar Bux, Miss Georgie Lee, May Lovett, Joyce McKinnon, Ted "Chook" Mullett and his Gum Street Band.

[15][16] In February 1951, Onus shamed the Victorian Government for excluding Aboriginal people from jubilee celebrations planned that year, causing them to allocate £2000 plus the services of non-Indigenous professionals, including theatre director Irene Mitchell, scriptwriter Jean Campbell, and set designer Dres Hardingham.

An Aboriginal Moomba: Out of the Dark was staged with great success over five nights and a matinee performance in June 1951 at the Princess Theatre, Melbourne, with actors paid out of AAL funds.

Onus also presented artist Albert Namatjira and actor Robert Tudawali to showcase Aboriginal culture.

This included footage of Jamaican singer Harry Belafonte learning how to throw a boomerang at Aboriginal Enterprises.

[1] Onus married Bella Elizabeth Patten on 12 May 1928 at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church in West Wyalong, in the Riverina region.