Calista Cheng 10 HISTORY R Mr Morales 1

PART A: TIMELINE

Key Events that occurred between 1945-2018 about the Civil Rights in Australia and the
USA

Australian Citizenship Act gives Aboriginals the vote in elections

1949 if they have served in Armed Forces.

Rosa Parks stands up for her right to sit on the bus after she
1955
refuses to give her bus seat to a white person.

Freedom Rides in America had black and white volunteers to

1961 sit next to each other on the bus
1962
All Aboriginals are given the right to vote in Commonwealth
elections.
1963 Martin Luther King presents speech "I have a Dream”

Martin Luther King, a civil rights activist is

1968
assassinated
1972 Aboriginal Tent Embassy is acknowledged outside the Parliament
House.
1975 Gough Whitlam hands back land to Gurindji People

1985 Uluru is given back to traditional

and original Aboriginal owners

2008 Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologises to the Stolen Generations

2010 Prime Minister Julia Gillard announces to recognise aboriginals
in the society
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Calista Cheng 10 HISTORY R Mr Morales

PART B: SOURCE ANALYSIS

Freedom Ride. University Students travelled to regional NSW in a bus to protest segregation led by
Charlie Perkins. Photographed on the 12th of February 1965, by Wendy Watson Ekstein.
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PART B: SOURCE ANALYSIS

2. What type of source is it?

This source is a photograph.

3. What is the date of the source?

The date of the source above is 12th February 1965.

4. What is the origin of the source?

In terms of provenance, this source is a photograph to show the actions taken by students who
believed Aboriginals needed equal rights and freedom.

5. Is it a primary or secondary source?

This photograph of the Freedom Ride is a primary source because it was taken at the time of the
event of the Freedom Ride in 1965. It illustrates the setting and exact moment of the event which
has not been modified in any way.

6. List two points the source reveals about the Rights and Freedoms in Australia from 1945 to the
present.

The photograph reveals the actions students have undergone to protest segregation and equal
freedom rights for Aboriginals. The Freedom Ride gave Australians an insight to the struggle
Aboriginals have for equality which lead to the referendum in 1967. Aboriginals were discriminated
against which inspired the students to protest for a solution and action for Aboriginals.

7. Who is the targeted audience?

The targeted audience of this photograph is anyone who is interested or studying the Rights and
Freedoms Act/Freedom Ride in Australia as well as those writing newspaper articles during the time
to commemorate the event.

8. Is this source biased?

This photograph of the Freedom Ride in 1965, is not biased because it is depicting a moment/event.
It is also not biased because it is not displaying different point of views or persuading anyone.

9. Is this source reliable?

This source is reliable because it was taken during the time of the event without modifications or
alterations to the photograph. It is also reliable because it conveys the history and one of the main
events during the Rights and Freedoms Act in Australia. It was a primary source taken at the time of
the event.

10. Is your source useful to a historian studying Rights and Freedoms in Australia from 1945 to the
present?
This source is useful to a historian studying Rights and Freedoms in Australia from 1945 to the
present because it illustrates the reliability of the source as it was not modified in any way as well as
it depicts the actions and one of the memorable events of the Freedom Ride in Australia that the
students took for equal rights and justice for Aboriginal people.
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PART C: SIGINIFICANT ACTIVIST RESPONSES

Michael ‘Mick’ Dodson

3. When was your activist born?

Dodson was born on the 10th of April in the year 1950 and is currently 68 years old.

4. Where was your activist born and raised?

Mick was born in Katherine, Northern Territory in Australia. He studied at Monivae Collage in
Hamilton, Victoria, so he spent more of his early life in Victoria.

5. Evaluate the significance (importance) of your activist by describing the career of your activist,
including how and what changes they achieved for Indigenous Australians from 1945 to the
present. This answer should be written as a paragraph response and should be between 150-200
words long.

The significance of Michael Dodson for the achievements he accomplished for Indigenous
Australians. Dodson is an Aboriginal Australian social justice commissioner, Aboriginal leader and
advocate for reconciliation. Mick Dodson changed the society and impacted every Indigenous
Australian greatly and positively as he joined the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service in 1976 to assist
and support his fellow Indigenous Australians after receiving a law degree. In 1981, he became the
first Aboriginal barrister at the Victorian bar. He has achieved so much to enable equality and
freedom between the Indigenous Australians. He continued to study Indigenous Studies and soon
followed a career as Director of the National Centre of Indigenous Australians. As an activist, he
ensured all Indigenous Australian children had decent education and has served in his own centre,
Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre. Not only was he an advocate for human and social rights
but he was also an advocate on land rights. He is a present member in today’s society of the
Publications Committee for the University of NSW Indigenous Law Reporter. Michael Dodson has
changed the basic human and social rights every human is entitled to for Indigenous Australians and
is proudly an Aboriginal Activist. He actively and is still a significant role and impact to Indigenous
 Calista Cheng 10 HISTORY R Mr Morales 5

Australians today and will never be forgotten for his efforts he has placed into helping change the
society into an equal place for everyone. Michael Dodson is an inspiration to many and has truly
highlighted the words of Rights and Freedom.

PART D: EXTENDED RESPONSE

THE FREEDOM RIDES IN AUSTRALIA (1965)

During the 1960s, the roles of Aboriginal Australians became more significant in Australia’s
society. On the 12th of February 1965, a group of University of Sydney students put together
a bus tour of New South Wales towns. Their purpose and target audience was for everyone
living in Australia as they wanted to draw attention to lack of Aboriginal Australian homes,
health and education, they felt that they Aboriginals shouldn’t be treated less than because
of their difference and background.
Known as the SAFA (Student Action For Aborigines), they had founded in 1964, to plan the
trip to draw attention to the racial discrimination Aboriginals were receiving. The Freedom
Ride Bus travelled to Walgett, Gulargambone, Kempsey, Bowraville and Moree. They
demonstrated against racial discrimination at services such as the Moree Baths, and the
Boraville Picture Theatre. They made sure that their actions were put on the media to
spread more attention and ensure Australians see the racial discrimination they are causing
on the first people on land.
Many people reacted differently but the main reaction was the aggression which caused
cars to follow the bus in order to stop it. Back then, the racial discrimination on Indigenous
Australians was foul and unacceptable, they weren’t allowed in several places and were
refused service in shops and hotels. The leader of the SAFA, Charles Perkins, spoke to
Aboriginal Residents in Moore about the racial discrimination they faced on a daily basis and
how they felt.
A majority of people have stated that the Freedom Ride was both a fact-finding mission as
well as a protest against racial segregation. Soon after, the Australian Referendum of 1967,
was purposed to improve the services available to Indigenous Australians and to not
discriminate against Aboriginals/Indigenous Australians. The Freedom Ride in Australia,
1965, helped open eyes about racial segregation and how unfair it was to those being
discriminated against, in this case Aboriginals.