This topic focuses on Australian social movement history. There is so much to learn from the stories of past collective action for social and ecological justice. Learning social movement history can provide insights about strategy, a vast toolbox of potential tactics, and abundant inspiration.
Take inspiration from this Civil Rights Movement story about how to build movement capacity and structure. Learn about Ella Baker and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee SNCC.
Read a book excerpt from United We Stand: Class Struggle in Colonial Australia which discusses women’s resistance to workplace exploitation.
Learn about the history of Australian workers rights, strikes & campaigns from resources at the Australian Trade Union Institute ATUI Library.
3 essential elements activists today can learn from the women’s suffrage movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Listen to an inspiring podcast about women & leadership in the Australian environment movement with Judy Lambert & Victoria McKenzie-McHarg.
A collection of campaigns that changed Tasmania e.g. Franklin River, gay law reform, forest blockading, No Gas Across the Bass.
A collection of campaigns that changed the Northern Territory. e.g. Wave Hill Walk Off, Jabiluka, Pine Gap & Anti-Fracking.
A collection of campaigns that changed Western Australia. e.g. James Price Point, Ningaloo, whaling, forest and other people and places.
These videos focus on “movement moments” – events during which Australian activists pushed forward issues & created conditions for social change.
Read an excerpt from the book Knocking The Top Off: A People’s History of Alcohol in Australia about the fight for equal pay.
Activism and Campaign history – A range of resources about the history of First Nations, social and labour movements in Australia and beyond.
An interview with a member of the Western Australia-based Grevillea about how the group applied a dynamic and creative perspective to approaching issues such as militarism, pollution and international solidarity during the 1980s and 1990s.
A list of articles and ideas from the Commons Librarians about resources to explore in archiving your work in social change.
A brief history of nonviolence training around the world, Australia and in the Pacific by a group called Pt’Chang.
Insights into how a grass roots community campaign based in Gloucester Valley, NSW scored a major victory against the Coal Seam Gas industry.
A timeline of the Green Bans implemented by NSW Builders Labourers Federation (BLF) in the early 1970s.
Histories and case studies from Australia of the fight for independence, inclusion, equality, access and services for people with disability.
A timeline of protests in Australia by people with disability for independence, inclusion, access and services from the 1970s to 2020s.
Read about the history of opposition to uranium mining in Australia in the 1970s and early 1980s regarding union bans and uranium exports.
The 1938 Dalfram dispute involved workers at Port Kembla in Australia striking and refusing to load iron on a ship bound for Japan in 1938.