In February 1965, a number of University of Sydney students, including Charles Perkins, embarked on a bus tour of regional New South Wales, aiming to oppose racial discrimination and expose the mistreatment of Aboriginal people.

Inspired by protests against racial segregation in the United States, the students formed the Student Action for Aborigines (SAFA) and planned a fact-finding mission to confront the practice of segregation and discrimination in rural and regional NSW.…