Coalition Building: Start Here
A guide to Coalition Building resources in the Commons Social Change Library including frameworks, training sessions, podcasts, and case studies.
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Looking for inspiring videos, films and documentaries about social change and activism? The Commons Library has collated them for you.
First Nations Resources: Start Here
A guide to First Nations campaigning and activist resources in the Commons Social Change Library including stories and perspectives.
Tasmanian Wilderness Society blocks dam construction (Franklin River Campaign) 1981-83
Tasmanian Wilderness Society activists blockaded the Tasmanian Franklin below Gordon Dam site, proposed by the Hydro Electric Commission.
Australian Rainforest Action Groups boycott Malaysian rainforest timber, 1988-1994
Australian Rainforest Action Groups blockaded ships bringing rainforest timbers logged in Sarawak, Malaysia.
Australian women protest conscription during Vietnam War [Save Our Sons (SOS)], 1965-1972
Save Our Sons opposed military conscription for Australia’s role in the United States invasion and occupation of Vietnam.
Australians campaign against nuclear power and uranium mining, 1974-1988
Street marches and trade union action typified Australian resistance to the building of nuclear reactors and uranium mining and export.
Dilemma Actions: the power of putting your opponent in a bind
A study of 44 dilemma actions over the last 90 years examines the many benefits of creative protests for social movements.
Australians block cricket and impede rugby tour of apartheid South Africa, 1971
Anti-apartheid protesters impeded the South African Springboks rugby tour, and stopped the cricket tour, to protest racial inequality.
Passing the Message Stick: A Guide for Changing the Story on Self-Determination and Justice
The words we use matter! The Passing the Message Stick report gathers research and recommendations about the messages that work to promote First Nations justice. Read an excerpt, watch the briefing session, and download the full report.
Marriage Equality Campaign Timeline and Reflections
A timeline of events related to the Australian campaign for marriage equality along with reflection and analysis related to Australian, Irish and US campaigns.
Transformative Approaches to Conflict Resolution
This article introduces some of the key concepts of transformative justice and provides links to a wide array of resources. Transformative justice describes a systems approach to identifying root causes of conflict and responding to these as a community.
Psychology of Change: Evidence Based Strategies to Create Social Change
A video series from the Social Change Lab, University of Queensland explores how to use learnings from psychology to create social change.
Lessons from the Grassroots Campaign Playbook
What are the key elements of a grassroots campaign? Tips and tricks learnt from working with grassroots activists.
Did You March 4 Justice? Ideas for Your Next Steps
Ideas for next steps after the Women’s March 4 Justice – including action, skills development, videos, books and podcasts.
ChangeMakers Organising School – Season Four, 2021 – How Small Groups Make Big Changes
ChangeMakers Organising School – Training (videos and slides) to connect and deepen knowledge to organise for social change.
Behind the scenes of Sunrise’s volunteer-led phone bank program
Want to know how to run a large scale volunteer led phonebank? Learn from the Sunrise Movement and how they managed their teams.
Civil Resistance Tactics in the 21st Century: Report and Webinar
These new resources (publication and webinar) from the International Center of Nonviolent Conflict ICNC adds new methods of nonviolent action to the list of 198 methods categorized by Gene Sharp in 1973 in his book, The Methods of Nonviolent Action. It inspires, analyzes, and summarises Dr. Sharp’s tactics and updates his work by documenting additional methods of nonviolent action and scholarship.
Organising Your First Protest
Learn how to organize your first protest – Resources from the Article 20 Network including a recorded discussion with experience organizers.
Getting Elected: The first national convention for community-minded independents
Access videos and presentations from the first Australian convention for independent, community-minded candidates.
Community Organising and Digital Campaigning Webinar Series
A webinar series from Australian Progress exploring insights from Australia and around the world on how to best organise and lead digital campaigns. Includes election case studies from the US, Northern Territory (Australia) and Aotearoa New Zealand.