The 1965 Freedom Riders of Australia

Witness History

A warning for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners - this programme contains the names of people who have died.

Nearly 60 years ago, a group of university students set out on a bus to challenge the discrimination of Australia’s indigenous people.

Led by Sydney University’s first indigenous undergraduate, Charles Perkins, they toured north-western New South Wales highlighting the public pools, cinemas, theatres and pubs in country towns where Aboriginal people were excluded or segregated from white people.

Darce Cassidy was recording the journey for a radio programme. We hear 19-year-old Brian Aarons demonstrating at a swimming pool in Moree where Aboriginal children were not normally allowed to swim.

He and Gary Williams, an indigenous student, recall the Freedom Ride to Josephine McDermott, including the moment when they made the national news by ordering a beer together in a Bowraville pub.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Photo: The 1965 Freedom Riders. Brian Aarons and Gary Williams sit fifth and fourth from the right, one row from the back. Credit: Reproduced with permission of Wendy Watson-Ekstein and Ann Curthoys)