The 1965 Freedom Ride. The students that made up SAFA came from many different existing societies including the Australian Labor Party (ALP), the Newman society, the Jewish Students Union and the Civil Liberties Association.
Led by Charles Perkins there were around 35 students that took part in the Freedom Ride. Note: Ages are sometimes approximate, and both age and enrolment in university courses are for February 1965. Resources for Primary and Secondary Students - ABC Education. 00:00:00:00MICHAEL BRISSENDEN:Half a century ago a group of student activists confronted racism in regional New South Wales in what's become known as the Freedom Ride.
The University of Sydney students were led by the late Charles Perkins. Here he explains the motivation.00:00:12:14CHARLES PERKINS:The whole freedom ride is not so much for the white people. My deeper objective was for Aboriginal people to realise, hey listen, second class is not good enough, you know. You don't have to always be first class, but don't always be second class. And don't cop shit, you know, when you don't have to. Stuff You Missed in History. Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. The students that made up SAFA came from many different existing societies including the Australian Labor Party (ALP), the Newman society, the Jewish Students Union and the Civil Liberties Association.
Led by Charles Perkins there were around 35 students that took part in the Freedom Ride. Note: Ages are sometimes approximate, and both age and enrolment in university courses are for February 1965. The 1967 referendum. On 27 May 1967, Australians voted in favour of changes to the Australian Constitution to improve the services available to Indigenous Australians.
The changes focused on two sections of the Constitution, which discriminated against Aborigines. The first section specified that federal laws – designed to protect all Australians – didn't apply to Indigenous people. This meant that Aborigines had different rights in different states, and couldn't access federally funded services like social security and education: Collaborating for Indigenous Rights 1957-1973. Collaborating for Indigenous Rights 1957-1973. Aunt Celia and Granny Monsell campaigning in Brisbane for a YES vote Brisbane campaign for a YES vote on the referendum Aboriginal issue, 1967.Source: Bond collection, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Canberra Changing the Australian Constitution In 1967, after ten years of campaigning, a referendum was held to change the Australian Constitution.
Two negative references to Aboriginal Australians were removed, giving the Commonwealth the power to legislate for them as a group. This change was seen by many as a recognition of Aboriginal people as full Australian citizens. The referendum campaign effectively focused public attention on the fact that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians were second class citizens with all sorts of limitations - legislative and social - on their lives. Charles Perkins - Freedom Ride - Australian History, Indigenous Studies.
Charles Perkins – Freedom Ride is an excerpt from the program Charles Perkins (26 mins), an episode of Australian Biography Series 7 (7×26 mins), produced in 1999.
Charles Perkins: In a life of exceptional achievement, Charles Perkins, soccer star, university graduate, Aboriginal activist and Canberra bureaucrat, has often been in strife. In this interview he gives his own account of the personal experiences that fuelled his great anger against white injustice and his determination to fight for Aboriginal rights.
Australian Biography Series 7: The Australian Biography series profiles some of the most extraordinary Australians of our time. Many have had a major impact on the nation’s cultural, political and social life. All are remarkable and inspiring people who have reached a stage in their lives where they can look back and reflect. Australian Biography Series 7 is a Film Australia National Interest Program. Background Information top. Charles Perkins: Freedom Rides, An era of protest, Australia after 1945, SOSE: History Year 9, TAS. On the night of the 12 February 1965, 30 university students from Sydney boarded a bus and set off to campaign in the country towns of New South Wales.
Officially called Student Action for Aborigines, they were led by Charles Perkins, a young man who would become one of the most important Australian Aboriginal activists, as well as a leader in the Aboriginal community through his work as a politician and bureaucrat, as well as through his sporting achievements as a soccer player, coach and administrator. Perkins was often a controversial leader in the Aboriginal community. He was seen as a pioneering spokesman and bureaucrat, and was known for his determination and willingness to fight for what he believed in, which sometimes brought him into conflict with the government and other community leaders.
Perkins, born in 1936, spent his early childhood in a police-patrolled compound in Alice Springs. See image 1. Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. Freedom Ride: 24/02/2015, Behind the News. Fifty years ago a bunch of Sydney uni students made history by travelling around New South Wales on a bus to protest against racial discrimination.
It was called the Freedom Ride and it stood up for Aboriginal people at a time when they weren't given the same rights as other Australians. Now that historic event has been recreated. Here's Tash but first a warning to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders viewers, this story contains images of people who've died.