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From Little Things Big Things Grow, Events That Changed Australia: June

A list of some of the small actions and major events from social movement history during the month of June.  

From Little Things Big Things Grow Events That Changed Australia: May

A list of some of the small actions and major events from social movement history during the month of May.  

Tactics in a time of physical distancing: Examples from Australia’s progressive past

In response to the Coronavirus pandemic the Commons is sharing protests, campaigns and events from the past which highlight ways we can undertake action whilst maintaining safe health practices and physical distance.

Social Change Radio Directory

Community broadcasters are an important part of social movements. The Commons Social Change Radio Directory includes details of almost 100 radio shows from 5 Australian states.

Mass organising calls and webinars

Need to make the most of a hot campaign moment, mobilise people and create local actions? Tips and advice from 3 experts on how to organise mass calls and webinars.

Community Mapping

What is community mapping? Learn from organisers that have used the community mapping model to empower their own communities.

“When the bombs drop, school stops” – Eight decades of Australian school strikes and direct action

Australia has a long history of students walking out of the classroom to demand change. A timeline of Australian school strikes from the 1930s until 2019.

Art for Change: Interview about fundraising with art

An interview with Brenda from Art for Change, a group of artists who donate time and art to help humanity, with useful tips on how to fundraise with art.

Pranks, performances and protestivals: Public Events

Creative tactics for social change: A number of examples of fun, empowering and engaging actions incorporating a creative approach.

Items of Mass Instruction Posters, Stickers, Memes and More

Creative tactics for social change: Different ways of spreading messages and information in a creative way… memes, posters, postcards, stencils, etc.

Changing the world via shock and beauty: Visual Artworks

Creative tactics for social change: Different ways of spreading messages and information in a creative way, including placards, plaques, projections and craftivism.

Creative activism 101 An antidote for despair

Creative troublemaking! What is creative activism? Why do we use creative tactics? What are the advantages of using cheek, shock and surprise?

From Little Things Big Things Grow Events That Changed Australia – August to May

A list of small actions and major events which challenged the state of Australian society and pointed to better ways forward.  

BUGA-UP

Formed in 1979, Billboard Utilising Graffitists Against Unhealthy Promotions (BUGA-UP) made its mark on hoardings around the nation. By revising advertising slogans and disrupting tobacco-sponsored events, the group revealed the true cost of tobacco and alcohol company deception.

Interview with Kevin Buzzacott

Kevin Buzzacott is a key figure in the opposition to the South Australian Olympic Dam mine and the nuclear industry in general. In this interview he outlines a number of the creative actions he has taken part in as part of a series of campaigns addressing the issues of dispossession and Aboriginal sovereignty.

Treesits, lock-ons and barricades: Environmental blockading in the 1980s

From 1979 to the 1990s Australia, Canadian and American activists took part in a series of environmental blockades to defend old growth forests, rivers and other biodiverse places. Join Iain McIntyre for a series of conversations with the blockaders who took part in these campaigns.  

Always look on the bright side of life The AIDEX ’91 story

In 1991 over 1000 protesters blockaded the National Exhibition Centre in Canberra with the goal of shutting down the Australia International Defence Exhibition. This book includes a detailed account of the blockade, the context of the growth of the Australian arms industry, and the words of the protesters themselves.

Lock Out The Landlords Peoples Tour

A Walking Tour of Unemployed Resistance in Brunswick, 1929-35. This walking tour visits the sites of some of Melbourne’s fiercest unemployed battles in the northern suburb of Brunswick, including pickets, occupations and protests.

Lock Out The Landlords: Australian Anti-Eviction Resistance 1929-1936

The economic depression of the 1930s saw thousands of Australians thrown out of their homes and into the streets. These actions however did not go unopposed. Across Australia pickets, occupations and protests were organised to disrupt and prevent evictions and auctions.

Victoria street squats: Anti development struggles in Sydney in the 1970s Interview with Ian Milliss

Iain McIntyre talks with Ian Milliss about his involvement with Sydney’s Victoria St squats. During the early 1970s this street in Kings Cross became the focus of a long running anti-development struggle that brought together long term residents, unionists and squatters in a campaign which reignited squatting across the city.