Close the Gap event

In February 1965, Dianne Creighton was a young Aboriginal girl in Moree when the Freedom Ride, a group of students from the University of Sydney, embarked on a 15-day journey visiting regional towns across NSW, including Moree, Bowraville, Kempsey and Lismore.  The ‘Student Action For Aborigines’ (SAFA) group led by Aboriginal rights campaigner Charles Perkins drew national and international attention to the living conditions and racial discrimination of Aboriginal people living in NSW country towns.  

Dianne will join us online to share her story and video of how the Freedom Ride impacted her community and the history of growing up on Gomeroi Country, followed by a Q & A.

Beth Hansen, a student on the Freedom Ride and former SCU staff member, will join us at the Lismore campus.

Uncle Gary Williams, the only other Aboriginal student studying at the University of Sydney, joined up with the Freedom Ride at Bowraville.  He is now CEO of Muurrbay Aboriginal Language and Culture Co-operative and an SCU Gnibi Elders Council member, and will join us online.

Livestreamed to:
Coffs Harbour campus, Room M.LG.13
Gold Coast campus, (11am-12pm QLD), Room A2.20
Online link: Join via Zoom

Please RSVP by March 17 with details about which campus you’ll be attending and any dietary requirements.
E: scuiecc@scu.edu.au
P: (02) 6620 3959

Close the Gap
The people's movement for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander health equality. 

For more than a decade now, Australians from every corner of the country, in schools, businesses and community groups, have shown their support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health equity by marking National Close the Gap Day on the third Thursday in March each year.

The Australian government adopted the goals of the Close the Gap Campaign in 2008, in a strategy known as Closing the Gap, and in 2009 committed to making an annual progress report to Parliament on progress with the Closing the Gap strategy.
In 2020, the Closing the Gap framework and strategy was significantly overhauled, with a “greater focus on partnership between governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people”.

More information: Closing the Gap | National Close the Gap Day