The Freedom Ride

By Annabellexee

  • Formation of SAFA

    in 1964 a group of Uni students formed the Student Action For Aborigines (SAFA). They would raise awareness for the treatment of indigenous peoples and end the discrimination.
    This trip was influenced by a University of Sydney protest against racial segregation in the united states. Members of the public were urging students to look to their own backyard if they wanted to draw attention to racial discrimination. This led to the formation of SAFA and the planning of their tour.

  • Launch of SAFA

    In February 1956 a group of uni students organised a bus tour Western and Coastal NSW towns. The trip was created to draw public attention to the poor state of aboriginal health, housing and education. They hoped to stop segregation and raise awareness of the barriers between indigenous and non-indigenous people. These group of students were SAFA.

  • Students Visit towns

    The freedom ride visits towns such as Walgett, Gulargambone, Kempsey, Bowraville and Moree. Aboriginal people in these towns suffered harsh conditions. Aboriginals were continuously barred from clubs, pools, caffees. And were oftenly refused service in shops and hotels. Outside of Walgett townspeople even drove their bus off the road.

  • News of the racism Hits the Media

    In Walgett the vice president of the RSL said he would never allow an Aboriginal to become a member. Darce Cassidy recorded the conversation and a short while later it was all over Australian television and radio. It opened discussion on racism and treatment of indigenous peoples, it received mass media coverage. This event started the civil rights movement in Australia.

  • Students visit Moree

    Moree was known to be extremely segregated and discriminatory. The students focused on the swimming pool and it became a place of tension. Students attempted to assist Aboriginal children from the reserve outside of town to enter the local pools while locals angrily defended the race-based ban.

  • Charles Perkins speaks

    Charles Perkins speaks to a crowd of 200 attending the Federal council for the advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI) conference in canberra. After this conference the NSW Aborigines Welfare Board publicly announced that it would spend 65,000 pounds on housing in Moree.