THIS month in 1965, the Moree Bore Baths made headlines around Australia for all the wrong reasons when a group of Aboriginal children were refused entry.

A busload of university students, led by Charles Perkins, arrived in Moree the previous day to witness first-hand the appalling living conditions of Aboriginal people and the racism and discrimination they endured.

The Student Action for Aborigines – a group known as SAFA – were on a state-wide, fact-finding mission that would change the mindset of an entire country, and that 15-day bus journey across New South Wales and southern Queensland celebrates its 60th anniversary this month.

As part of this historic milestone, Bank Art Museum Moree will screen a documentary acknowledging the 1965 Freedom Ride.

BAMM director, Rosie Dennis, said the ride aimed to raise awareness of the widespread racial discrimination faced by Indigenous Australians.

“It is now regarded as a pivotal moment in the fight for civil rights for Indigenous people in Australia,” Ms Dennis said.

To acknowledge the 60th anniversary of this seminal moment in Australia’s history, BAMM will conduct several screenings of Dr Rachel Perkins’ Freedom Ride.

The documentary covers the events of 60 years ago when Rachel’s father, Dr Charlie Kumantjayi Perkins became the first Aboriginal person to attend university.

“He led fellow students from the University of Sydney on a freedom ride through rural New South Wales to expose racial segregation in Australia,” Ms Dennis said.

A university student is escorted from Moree Bore Baths in February, 1965 (image courtesy of Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales, and Courtesy SEARCH Foundation).

Charles Nelson Perkins AO, usually known as Charlie, was born in 1936 and was 29 when he led the Freedom Ride. He died on October 19, 2000, aged 64.

Perkins was an Aboriginal Australian activist, soccer player and administrator. It is claimed he was the first known Indigenous Australian man to graduate tertiary education and is best-known for his instigation and organisation of the 1965 Freedom Ride.

He also played a key role in advocating for a Yes vote in the 1967 referendum.

His daughter, Rachel, is an Indigenous Australian film and television director, producer, and screenwriter.

She founded and was co-director of the independent film production company Blackfella Films from 1992 until 2022.

Perkins and the company were responsible for producing First Australians (2008), an award-winning documentary series that remains the highest-selling educational title in Australia, and which Perkins regards as her most important work.

She directed the films Radiance (1998), One Night the Moon (2001), Bran Nue Dae (2009), the courtroom drama telemovie Mabo (2012), and Jasper Jones (2017).

The acclaimed television drama series Redfern Now was made by Blackfella Films, and Perkins directed two episodes as well as the feature-length conclusion to the series, Promise Me (2015).

Perkins is an Arrernte and Kalkadoon woman from Central Australia, who was raised in Canberra.

A detailed Moree Online News article about the 1965 Freedom Ride can be found here:

1965: Moree Bore Baths Freedom Ride protest happened 60 years ago this month

Freedom Ride the documentary

Where: The Vault, BAMM

When: Wednesday-Thursday-Friday-Saturday, February 19-20-21-22

Times: Three sessions each day – 11am, 1pm and 3pm

Bookings essential: 5764 0955