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Day of Mourning
A protest held by Aborinal Australians on Australia Day. It pushed for "full citizen status and equality within the community", which was a precursor to the referendum in 1967. -
Policy of assimilation
The process of removing children from their families and integrating them into white society was introduced. This sparked an uproar in the community and led to the movement for the referendum. -
Brown v. Board of Education
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous ruling in the landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. State-sanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th amendment and was therefore unconstitutional. -
Rosa Parks: Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Freedom Riders
The Rosa Parks bus ride boycott all started when she refused to give up her seat for a white person on a segregated bus. She was a civil rights activist and her arrest sparked the movement of desegregation, in which Martin Luther King Junior was brought to public interest. Rosa Parks was one of 5 women arrested for refusing to give up their seat to white people. In response to this a boycott of public buses by blacks in Montgomery began on the day of Parks' court hearing and lasted 381 days. -
Little Rock High School Incident
The little rock high school incident was a protest from the white people of the school to not merge or go to school with the African Americans. The protest got violent and the army were called in. This sparked an uproar between segregation with whites and coloured. -
Petition to change the constitution
The first of many petitions pushing for a change to the constitution regarding Aboriginal rights. This petition was pushing for the referendum. -
Commonwealth Electoral Act
An act that stated that "Indigenous people should have the right to enrol and vote at federal elections". The act was the first step in giving Aboriginal people equal rights within society. -
I have a dream
A public speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr., an American civil rights activist. The speech called for an end to racism in the US, and was delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters during the March of Washington, one of the biggest civil rights movements in US history. The speech was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement as it brought publicity to civil rights efforts. It also had the greatest influence on the Australian movement as it raised awareness worldwide. -
Passing of Jim Crow laws
Jim Crow laws were state and local laws which would enforce racial segregation in the southern United States. Starting in 1890 with a “separate but equal” status for African Americans. Segregation of public schools were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1954 in Brown v. Board of Education. The remaining Jim Crow laws were overruled by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. -
The Civil Rights Act
The civil rights act is a landmark piece of civil righst legislation in the US that outlawed discimination on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. The act enforced the constitutional right to vote. -
Wave hill walk off
Aboriginals refused to work as second class citizens and walked away from their cattle station and refused to work until they recieved the same wages as white Australians. This was a sign of rebellion against the discrimination towards Aboriginal Australians and led up to the referendum. -
1967 Referendum
The referendum made a change to the constitution in including Aboriginal Australians in the census and allowing the Commonwealth to create laws for them. -
Assasination of Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel, and died later that evening in hospital. King had previously received many death threats due to his role in the Civil Rights Movement. A crowd of 40,000 people led a silent march in his honour.
