Anniversary of the 1965 Freedom Ride

12–26 February

The 1965 Freedom Ride is commemorated from 12 to 26 February. Organised by University of Sydney students through Student Action for Aborigines and led by Charles Perkins, the journey confronted the racial exclusion experienced by Aboriginal people in regional New South Wales.

What the riders set out to do

The students travelled through country towns to investigate living conditions and challenge discrimination. Their actions brought national attention to practices that excluded Aboriginal people from facilities and services used by other residents. Charles Perkins and the other riders worked within a much longer history of Aboriginal campaigning.

The Freedom Ride was not simply a journey by visitors who discovered an unknown problem. Aboriginal people already knew the discrimination they experienced. A careful account recognises local people’s knowledge, participation and resistance alongside the students’ role in drawing wider public attention.

Confronting segregation

The protests included challenges to the exclusion of Aboriginal ex-servicemen from the Walgett RSL and barriers to Aboriginal children using swimming pools, including at Moree. The riders met hostility and violence, while media coverage carried the confrontations to audiences beyond the towns they visited.

Diaries, photographs and participants’ accounts offer different ways of understanding the journey. They reveal the work of organising a protest and the gap between claims that everyone was treated fairly and the restrictions people actually faced. These sources also require care: some contain racist language and distressing descriptions.

What the anniversary invites us to consider

The Ride makes everyday segregation visible: a rule at a swimming pool or club can show how racism operates through institutions, rather than only through individual attitudes. The anniversary can open a discussion about whose testimony is heard, how public pressure works and what changes after a protest attracts attention.

For educators, compare a participant’s diary with a photograph or contemporary news account. Ask what each source can establish and what it cannot. Avoid reenacting racist exclusion in classrooms. Learners can examine evidence without being assigned the roles of victim or perpetrator.

The annual entry begins on 12 February, marking the departure of the Freedom Ride bus from Sydney. The 15-day commemorative range allows time to explore the journey’s different places and encounters, rather than reducing it to one photograph or one confrontation.

Sources and further reading

The resources below provide historical records, First Nations perspectives and pathways for further learning. Some historical material contains names and images of deceased people, outdated language or distressing content. Follow the guidance provided by each publisher.

Online sources and longer reading

1965 Freedom Ride. AIATSIS. A detailed chronology, participants’ accounts and links to Ann Curthoys’ diaries. Contains sensitive historical language.
https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/1965-freedom-ride

1965 Freedom Ride learning module. National Museum of Australia. Teaching material on the aims of the journey and the discrimination it challenged.
https://digital-classroom.nma.gov.au/learning-modules/rights-and-freedoms-defining-moments-1945-present/18-1965-freedom-ride

How the Freedom Ride shaped the nation. University of Sydney. Reflections by Freedom Riders on the journey and its lasting effects.
https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2024/11/05/how-the-freedom-ride-shaped-the-nation.html

12–26 February 1965: The Freedom Ride. Common Ground. An Aboriginal-led historical overview confirming the commemorative range.
https://www.commonground.org.au/article/the-freedom-ride

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