The porticoes, lawns and classrooms of the University of Melbourne have seen their fair share of unrest, spanning from eggings to dunkings through protest marches, barricades and occupations. Some of the most consequential protests in Australian history took place on this campus.
In this new season, students from the Centre from Advancing Journalism explore the university's unruly past. Each episode we’ll dust off an object from the archives that tells a story about protest here on our campus, revealing the role played by students in the fight for labour rights, gay rights and women's rights, as well as in the anti-war movement.
We will explore the story of forgotten protests as we explore the value of campus activism, and we ask what happens when the university tries to rule student unruliness. This series also asks: what do we lose when protest is stifled?
Publisher
Centre for Advancing Journalism
Category
arts · business · education · history · society & culture
Reporter Xinnan Wang traces student activism from a 1961 protest against Australia’s White Australia Policy to a recent campus rally at the University of Melbourne. Along the way, she uncovers the forgotten history of anti-racism movements, immigration reform, and student protest in Australia, while questioning her own assumptions about activism.
Interviewees:
Andonis Piperoglou
James Waghorne
Reporter: Xinnan Wang
Show Host: Siena Kinkela.
Executive Producer: Michael Saliba
Sound Design: Xue Xue
Marketing: Megan Yin, Leyla Arrykova.
Supervising Producer: Louisa Lim
See photos of our objects and more behind the scenes on Instagram at @‌uncuratedpod
Uncurated is a Centre for Advancing Journalism podcast, produced at the University of Melbourne on the lands of the Wurundjeri and Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation.
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
12 Oct 2026
Egging Us On
At the very end of WWII, a group of UniMelb students threw eggs and other ingredients at the then Minister for War Organisation of Industry, John Dedman. The suit he wore, designed to cut corners and save fabric for the war effort, ironically became the target of an anti-rationing and conscription protest that day. Several Australian politicians have been egged since then, it might be worth asking why.
Interviewees:
Dr Elaine Pratley
Van T Rudd
Reporter: Siena Kinkela
Show Host: Siena Kinkela.
Executive Producer: Michael Saliba
Sound Design: Xue Xue
Marketing: Megan Yin, Leyla Arrykova.
Supervising Producer: Louisa Lim
See photos of our objects and more behind the scenes on Instagram at @‌uncuratedpod
Uncurated is a Centre for Advancing Journalism podcast, produced at the University of Melbourne on the lands of the Wurundjeri and Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation.
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
12 Oct 2026
The Melody of Solidarity
From the stonemasons who fought for an eight-hour workday at the University of Melbourne in 1856 to today’s staff strike at our university, this episode will explore 170 years of labour rights activism in Australia. A famous American singer and civil rights activist, Paul Robertson, will take us back to the 1960s and the power of labour rights protest. But what has changed over the past 170 years, and why does the struggle for workers’ rights continue?
Interviewees:
Jeff Sparrow
James Waghorne
Reporter: Xue Xue
Show Host: Siena Kinkela.
Executive Producer: Michael Saliba
Sound Design: Xue Xue
Marketing: Megan Yin, Leyla Arrykova.
Supervising Producer: Louisa Lim
See photos of our objects and more behind the scenes on Instagram at @‌uncuratedpod
Uncurated is a Centre for Advancing Journalism podcast, produced at the University of Melbourne on the lands of the Wurundjeri and Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation.
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
Who has been a guest on Uncurated
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Karina Lester
Dr James Waghorne
Elizabeth Tynan
Dr Ross Jones
Professor Dennis Foley
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