© BrunoPress

Tommie Smith and John Carlos - At the 1968 Mexico Olympics on October 16, African-Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos won gold and bronze medals respectively for the Men's 200m Sprint event.

© Getty Images

Silver medal - Peter Norman won Silver with 20.06 seconds, after Smith's 19.83 seconds win. Both of them broke the world record at the time.

© BrunoPress

Podium - In their stand, Smith and Carlos took off their shoes and stood in black socks, Smith wore a black scarf, Carlos unzipped his jacket, and both wore a glove for their monumental Black Power salute on the world stage, next to Norman.

© Getty Images

Gloves - Norman opposed the former White Australia Policy, and wore an Olympic Project for Human Rights badge in solidarity. 

He became a pariah, chastised by the Australian public and Olympic committee. When he passed away in 2006, Smith and Carlos were pallbearers at his funeral.

© BrunoPress

Peter Norman - 50 years after breaking the world record and standing with Smith and Carlos, Norman was recognised for his legacy as an athlete and advocate for human rights by receiving a posthumous Order of Merit.

There will also be a bronze statue erected in Melbourne in his honour.

© Getty Images

Julia Gillard - The 27th Prime Minister of Australia has been the first and only woman to hold the position. While in office she contributed to areas of education, disability care, workplace relations, health, foreign affairs and the environment, and as a role model to women.

© Getty Images

Misogyny speech - She is known the world over for her misogyny speech in light of inappropriate conduct in Parliament. Since then she has been an international advocate for gender politics in Australia.

© Getty Images

Mick Dodson - Named 2009 Australian of the Year, Dodson was the first indigenous Australian to graduate with a law degree and went on to be a criminal lawyer for the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service, and later the Victorian Bar.

© Reuters

Land rights - As an advocate for human rights, Dodson focused his efforts particularly on land rights and other issues affecting Indigenous people in Australia and globally, with involvement in the UN Forum on Indigenous Issues.

© Reuters

Bobbi Sykes - Heavily involved in indigenous Australian rights, Sykes was part of the development of the Redfern Aboriginal Medical Service but was arrested while protesting at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in 1972.

© Getty Images

The first - Sykes was the first black Australian to graduate from a U.S. university and received PhD in Education from Havard.

She went on to focus on human rights and women's rights, as well as still advocating for indigenous people.

© Getty Images

Charles Perkins - In 1965, Perkins was highly involved in the Freedom Rides in Australia, protesting discrimination against indigenous Australians, focusing on the living, education and health conditions among the Aboriginal population.

© Reuters

White Australia Policy - In a media stunt, Perkins 'abducted' a girl aged 5 who was about to get deported to emphasise the point that the reason she was being deported was based on colour.

© Reuters

Germaine Greer - Activist and author, Greer's book 'The Female Eunuch' was an important text in the feminist movement in 1970, and described how the stereotypes pushed on women repress them sexually.

© Getty Images

Controversy - However, Greer is known for her controversial views, including her belief that transgender women are not women, but instead men who have gotten castrated in the belief that women are non-sex.

© Getty Images

Nick Grono - Head of the Freedom Fund, Grono is a human rights campaigner that runs the world's first private donor fund dedicated to ending slavery.

© Getty Images

Global - Grono is even a board member of Girls Not Brides, the Global Partnership to End Child Marriage and Deputy President of the International Crisis Group.

© Getty Images

Peter de Waal - At the head of all LGBTQ+ activism in Australia since 1966, was Peter de Waal and partner Peter Bonsall-Boone. The two attended the first Mardi Gras in Sydney during 1978.

© Getty Images

CAMP - Both were founding members of the Campaign Against Moral Persecution, and saw law changes since they were young. In 2017, Bonsall-Boone passed away before he could take his love's hand in marriage, however, they were both inducted into as a Member of the Order of Australia for their advocacy work.

© Getty Images

Anne Gallagher -

This distinguished Australian activist is "considered the leading global expert on the international law on human trafficking," according to the U.S. Department of State.

(Photo: Wikimedia/CC by 2.0)

© Wikimedia/Creative Commons

Eddie Mabo -

In 1992, the 'Eddie Mabo v Queensland' case overturned the legal doctrine of 'terra nullius' in the High Court of Australia, which was a historic moment for those advocating for indigenous land rights. 

(Photo: Wikimedia/CC by 2.0)

© Wikimedia/Creative Commons

June Oscar - In indigenous communities, Oscar is at the forefront working to improve Aboriginal Australians' lives and minimise alcoholism through health and social welfare programs.

© Getty Images

Julian Burnside -

Refugee advocate and human rights lawyer, Burnside strongly opposed the mandatory detention of asylum seekers. For his efforts, he was named Officer of the Order of Australia in 2009.

(Photo: Flickr/CC by 2.0)

© Flickr/Creative Commons

Cheryl Overs -

Founder of the Prostitutes Collective of Victoria, the Scarlet Alliance, and a part of the Global Network of Sex Work Projects, Overs work focuses on human rights for sex workers.

(Photo: Flickr/CC by 2.0)

© Flickr/Creative Commons

Arnold "Puggy" Hunter - 2001 Australian Human Rights Medal winner, Hunter was also the chairman of National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO), focusing on healthcare for indigenous communities.

© Reuters

Ruby Hammond -

In 1988, Hammond was the first Aboriginal Australian in SA to run in a Federal Parliament election. She was a strong advocate for land rights and Aboriginal sovereignty.

(Photo: Flickr/CC by 2.0)

© Flickr/Creative Commons

Graeme Innes -

For almost a decade, Innes was Australia's Disability Discrimination Commissioner.

He passed the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities.

(Photo: Flickr/CC by 2.0)

© Flickr/Creative Commons