[1][2] He was also the first—and as of 2025 the only[3]—Indigenous Australian to be appointed to vice-regal office, serving as Governor of South Australia from 1 December 1976 until his resignation on 30 April 1977 due to poor health.

Nevertheless, he became a popular player among spectators; and, upon joining Fitzroy, when he was initially sitting by himself in the change rooms (due to this ostracism), he was befriended by Haydn Bunton, Sr. who ensured he was made welcome within the team.

During World War II, Nicholls was an adept boomerang thrower, teaching that skill to some members of the United States military.

[18] He also organised and captained Aboriginal teams in football matches used for patriotic fundraisers during the war, many of which were played against Northcote.

[19] William Cooper, an uncle to Nicholls, mentored him in leadership, eventually placing him as the secretary of the Australian Aborigines' League.

[20] It was a founding principle of the League that Aboriginal Affairs was made a Federal matter, which would require a change in the Constitution of Australia, which could only be effected by a referendum.

As early as February 1935 Cooper, Nicholls and others were lobbying Members of Parliament, such as Thomas Paterson, the Commonwealth minister for the interior on this issue.

The proposed resolution was: WE, representing THE ABORIGINES OF AUSTRALIA, assembled in conference at the Australian Hall, Sydney, on the 26th day of January, 1938, this being the 150th Anniversary of the Whiteman's seizure of our country, HEREBY MAKE PROTEST against the callous treatment of our people by the whitemen during the past 150 years, AND WE APPEAL to the Australian nation of today to make new laws for the education and care of Aborigines, we ask for a new policy which will raise our people TO FULL CITIZEN STATUS and EQUALITY WITHIN THE COMMUNITY.

[22]The movement took 30 years to coalesce and achieve anything like its stated goal, but it soon made its focus the Constitution of Australia which, in its original form, prevented the Commonwealth from making any law that would benefit the Aboriginal people.

In 1949, a letter written by Nicholls prompted a Labor MP, Kim Beazley Sr., to write to the prime minister, Ben Chifley, asking him to explore how the Constitution could be amended.

[25] The movement supporting a change to the constitution, which removed the block on the federal government making laws regarding Aboriginal people, soon became known as the "yes" campaign.

Nicholls' daughter, Pam, recalls her father winning support from white Australians at football games: “With his friend Alick Jackomos, they used to have a card table and go and sit outside the football giving out papers, giving speeches, beckoning people to come sign the petitions for the ‘yes’ vote.

Following the successful outcome of the referendum, Pastor Doug argued that much more than a legal change had been made, rather, it was:… evidence that Australians recognise Aborigines are part of the nation.

Indigenous people gathered to him and eventually the group was so large that he became the pastor of the first Aboriginal Church of Christ in Australia.

[citation needed] In a letter to the editor, in 1953, it was noted that Opposition Leader, H. V. Evatt, had asked the Prime Minister Robert Menzies, on 26 February, in Federal Parliament, 'for an invitation to be extended to Capt.

Reg Saunders or some other outstanding representative of the aborigines' to be included in the official Australian contingent to the coronation of Elizabeth II.

He edited their magazine, Smoke Signals, and helped draw Aboriginal issues to the attention of Government officials and the general public.

[33] Nicholls became Governor of South Australia on 1 December 1976, after being announced on 25 May[34] on the nomination of Premier Don Dunstan.

[38] Nicholls' predecessor as governor, nuclear physicist Mark Oliphant, confidentially wrote to the state government expressing concerns about the appointment.

He said there were "grave dangers" involved, as "there is something inherent in the personality of the Aborigine which makes it difficult for him to adapt fully to the ways of the white man".

[41] Nicholls attended only one further official engagement after his stroke, hosting Queen Elizabeth II at Government House on 20 March.

Douglas Nicholls and Gladys were married for 39 years and raised their combined six children: two sons, Bevan and Ralph, and four daughters, Beryl, Nora, Lilian and Pamela.