Pair of short white cotton gloves worn by Aboriginal rights activist Faith Bandler

These gloves were worn by Faith Bandler when she was campaigning for the right of Aboriginal Australians to be constitutionally and legally recognized as Australian citizens in the lead up to the 1967 Indigenous referendum. She explains why she wore these 'day' or 'town' gloves when addressing groups of white women: ‘I used to wear short white gloves. They were acceptable to the white community I came in contact with when I was campaigning for black women's rights. I wore them from 1956 until the mid-1960s. During that period I only ever addressed white audiences. I only had to convince them.’