Freedom Riders in Kempsey: The important story behind a plaque and mural on the MNC
In 1965 activist students came to the Mid North Coast and made history.
Ellie Chamberlain
June 19, 2025
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned that the following article contains images of deceased persons.
A memorial plaque located outside Kempsey’s public pool remembers the work of Dr Charles Nelson Perkins OA, known for his fight for the rights and freedom of Aboriginal people.
The plaque sits just outside the fences of the Kempsey McElhone Swimming Complex and was unveiled on December 1, 2000, after Perkin's passing earlier that year.
The position is significant. In 1965, one of Perkin’s multiple achievements was lobbying to allow Aboriginal children to use the pool.
That year, while attending The University of Sydney, Perkins organised 30 other students to travel by bus around northern NSW to protest against discrimination, segregation and poor living conditions of Aboriginal people.
During the trip, the activists stopped at Kempsey, where young Aboriginal people were only allowed into the pool as a part of their school activities and in school hours. Aboriginal adults were not allowed in the pool at all.
Aboriginal school children at the protest at Kempsey pool in 1965. Image supplied by Macleay River Historical Society (MRHS)
In Kempsey, Aboriginal people were also not allowed in the RSL Club, or to share wards at the hospital.
On February 27, 1965, Perkins and three of the activist students met then-mayor Bob Melville and other councillors to ask for the pool ban to be lifted. When this was refused, they brought eight children from Green Hill Public School to the pool and asked for them to be admitted. They were denied entry and news items and photographs covering the event were widely published; highlighting the discrimination. In May, the Kempsey Municipal Council voted to lift the ban, allowing Aboriginal people unrestricted use of the pool.
Charles Perkins and three other activist students outside Kempsey Municipal Council Chambers prior to their meeting with then-Mayor Bob Melville and Council. Image supplied by Macleay River Historical Society (MRHS)
This year marks the 60th anniversary of Charles Perkin’s Freedom Rides. In March this year, a new mural was unveiled on the outside wall of Kempsey’s pool.
The project was coordinated by Learning the Macleay and created by local Dunghutti artist Jason Ridgeway. The mural is titled “60 Years of the Freedom Ride”.
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