Changing Rights and Freedoms

Articles in the UDHR click on the link to take you to the website and then click on the little video.

Goes through the articles in the UDHR (about 20 minutes).

Australia was involved in the making of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Australia's Role this is a link to the Australian Government's website about Australia's role in the making of the UDHR. You will learn about why and how Australia was involved in this important declaration.

ABS Year Book Read more about Australia's role in the making of the UDHR.

• Outline the purpose of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including Australia's involvement.
• Explain the significance of the UDHR.
• Background to the struggle of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island People (The restriction of their rights and freedoms).
• Before you learn about the struggle Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people faced. It is important to know exactly why they faced a struggle. You will learn more about the attitudes and policies of Europen settlement.
• Background - Terra Nullius a good description of Terra Nullius, dispossession and the beginnings of Aboriginal Activism.
• Read real document This is a scanned version of the real document that proclaimed Terra Nullius.

Early 20th Century Aboriginal Activism

• Click on this link to visit the Australian National Museum to find out more about early Aboriginal Activism.
•  What is a 'Half-Caste'? It was a word used to describe a person who was of mixed Aboriginal and European blood. This letter in the Centralian Advocate is an example of a source that shows how people of mixed heritage were beginning to become organised in their activism.

 William Cooper:

•  One of the first Aboriginal activists. This article from the Victorian Government honour role outlines his involvement in early activism.
• Click on this link to hear William Cooper's grandson speaking about his experiences with his grandfather.

Petition to the King - William Cooper instigated this move to raise awareness of the conditions Aboriginal people were living in.

• Explain the purpose and significance of early 20th Century Aboriginal Activism.

Day of Mourning

• Student task - This interactive task will enlighten you about the protests held on the day of mourning.
• Information: explore this site for background information, newspaper sources, photographs about the Day of Mourning.
• Explain the significance of the Day of Mourning.

Aboriginal Protection Board

• Information on Protection (DOCX 19KB) 
• This link will take you to the records from the NSW government about the establishment of the Aboriginal welfare board. Students can explore this site and see where the government keeps records and the descriptions of the records. 
• National Film and Sound Archive link to Activist - Faith Bander
• What was the role of the Aboriginal Protection Board? Find out here.
• Go to TALE for Students and type in the Code X03H0. This interactive site will take you through a report from rationing and conditions at an Aboriginal reserve.
• Restrictions on culture - if you lived under the control of the board you were to behave like a white person. Restrictions.
• Life in the Reserves - Why were they created and what were they really like?

•  Lousy Little Sixpence What was life in the Reserves really like? These women give you an insight...
• Think and write: What rights and freedoms were denied to Aboriginal people in the period leading up to 1965?

Stolen Generations - a Range of sources

• Personal Accounts
• A moving account
• The stealing of children
• Testimonies Using these sources, or others you find, describe the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples who were forcibly removed from their families.

Policy of Assimilation

• Assimilation - This means instead of trying to keep a race separate (segregation), the government tried to assimilate the Aboriginal people into the European race (to make them similar). Aboriginal people were encouraged (forcibly) to leave behind their cultural practices and adopt the European way of life. The idea being, they would eventually cease to exist as a race because they had merged into the European race.
• The actual Policy doc
• Changing Policies
•  Because of the policy of Assimilation, many Aboriginal people became 'Fringe Dwellers' Click on this link to learn more Fringe dweller. Fringe Dwellers were 'half-caste' people living on the "fringes" of both societies, Aboriginal and white.
•  Describe the effects of the assimilation policy for rights and freedoms of Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people.

US Civil Rights Movement

In this section, you will learn about how the US Civil Rights movement influenced the Aboriginal Activists and helped to influence events in Australia at the same time.

• Learn about US Civil Rights - Information from the BBC.
• Background Information - This Wikipedia site is a good place to start for background information.
•  Martin Luther King - This video will give you an understanding of who Martin Luther King was and his role in the US Civil Rights Movement.
• US Civil Rights Background Click on this link if you want to learn more about the reasons behind the Civil Rights Movement in the US. It will take you to a webpage with an in-depth look at the background. 
• After you have used the above links to research the US Civil Rights Movement, outline the aims and methods used.

Freedom Rides - Australia

Back in Australia, Aboriginal and white people were began to protest about the treatment of Aboriginal people.

• What were the Freedom Rides? Click on this link for information about who was involved in the Freedom Rides and what their purpose was.
• Interactive Tour - See where the Freedom Rides went, which NSW towns were involved?
• National Geographic Article - This article includes a useful Timeline.
• Make your own interactive Timeline using Toki Toki
• 'Explain how the US civil rights campaigners influenced the Australian Civil Rights campaigners.'
• 'Discuss the impact of the NSW Freedom Ride on the Civil Rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.'

Australian Civil Rights Campaigners
 

Still to do:

1962 Right to vote federally

1967 Referendum

Reconciliation

mabo decision

Bringing Them Home report

Methods used and the role of One individual in the struggle (eg Charlie Perkins). Links to others.

Investigate a group.

Continuing nature of efforts to secure civil rights and freedoms.

Rights of the Child, Decl of rights of indigenous people.

methods used globally to attain civil rights (eg. Syria??)

Evaluate the methods and effectiveness of one campaign