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Rights and Freedoms
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Day of Mourning Protest
When the 150th anniversary of British settlement took place in 1938, organised groups of Indigenous Australians decided to use it as a chance to protest for their rights. They referred to the celebrations as a Day of Mourning and Protest. The meeting was the first really effective all-Indigenous civil rights meeting in Australian history. -
10 Point Plan
Jack Patten (an Indigenous Australian civil rights activist) along with other Aboriginal leaders met with Prime Minister Joseph Lyons to present a 10-point plan for citizens' rights. The basic theme of the plan was to make the rights of Aborigines the same as white people. -
Freedom Rides
The Freedom Riders were a group of mostly non-Aboriginals led by Charles Perkins, who took a bus into parts of rural NSW where racist attitudes were most prominent. They were inspired by the Freedom Riders of the American Civil Rights Movement who worked against racial discrimination. -
Wave Hill Walk Off
The Wave Hill Walk Off was a significant moment in Australian history, and a turning point for Aboriginal rights and equality. Vincent Lingiari fearlessly led 200 Indigenous workers and their families to walk off the Wave Hill Cattle Station in the Northern Territory, as a protest against the terrible work and pay conditions. -
1967 Referendum
Prime Minister Harold Holt called a referendum seeking authority to count Aborigines in the census. The referendum would also allow the federal government to legislate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples rather than leaving this to different state governments. All major political parties supported the proposal. The referendum was the most successful ever passed, with 90 percent of Australians agreeing to the proposal. -
The Mabo Case
Eddie Mabo, a Meriam man from the island of Mer (Murray Island) in the Torres Straits, was a key plaintiff in a land rights case in the High Court of Australia, today referred to as the Mabo Case.