aboriginal activism in australia
...the Commonwealth in doing so. All though many of these protests failed and the policy of terra nullius remained, it did not discourage the Aboriginal people in their push for land rights and basic rights. In August 1966 the Gurindji people of the Northern Territory staged a protest against their poor wages and living conditions. The Wave Hill protest, led by Vincent Lingiari, was acknowledged as the start of the Aboriginal land rights movement . This particular protest lasted for a further nine years until the Whitlam government gave the Gurindji people the rights to their land back. All though the Gurindji people endured hardship for nine years they ultimately succeeded in their protest. They became the symbol of Aboriginal action against the government and throughout the media educated the Australian society of the hardships that the Aboriginals endured. In 1965, following a series of protests in America, a group of Students form Sydney University (Student Action For Aborigines) followed this example to draw attention to the discrimination faced by Aboriginals in rural towns. Most if not all large country towns were segregated in order to keep the whites from associating with Aboriginals; Aboriginals were not allowed to attend white schools, hospitals, swimming pools or even the local pub. The students undertook their protest by hiring a bus and travelling around rural New South Wales. Many of the town’s white residents became annoyed at these protests however the students still achieved there aim. They educated the Australian society of the hardship and abuse faced by Aboriginals and this may of seen a change in white attitudes towards Aboriginals. Before 1967 Aboriginals were not granted the right to be included in the national census or the right to vote and therefore they lived under different laws. Many believed that this had adverse affects on their lifestyle. In 1967, as a result of Aboriginals pushing for equal rights, a referendum was held which allowed the Aboriginals to vote and to be included on the census. Consequently, the Holt government granted Aboriginals full rights as Australian citizens, the right to own property and access to social welfare. These decisions made by the Australian society saw the end to the governments traditional policy of assimilation. However the most important fact was that these decisions boosted Aboriginal culture and status in a society subjected to racism and prejudice. During the early 1970’s groups such as the Aborigines Progressive Association agitated for equal rights by staging rallies across Australia. They began to push for greater control over essential services such as health care, housing and legal aid. As a result of their rallies the first Aboriginal Legal ...