The Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC) formed in 1985, after the Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia agreed to officially support the formation of the Congress. Reverend Charles Harris was the founding President. The UAICC consists of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of the Uniting Church in Australia, though members can also come from any other Christian denomination. The March 88 Committee - a special committee formed to organise the 1988 March for Justice, Freedom and Hope - was connected to the UAICC.

A special committee established to help organise a march for land rights and to protest the celebrations for Australia's bicentenary. Planning for the march launched nationally on 4 July 1987. Aside from acting as a counterpoint to the bicentenary celebrations, the aim of the march was to draw national and international attention to the ongoing impacts of colonisation and issues regarding the health, education, welfare, imprisonment rates and deaths in custody of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The resulting march was attended by more than 40,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples and non-Indigenous supporters. It was, at the time, the largest march ever held in Sydney since the Vietnam moratoriums. The march arrived in Hyde Park, Sydney, on Australia Day, 26 January 1988. Reverend Charles Harris was a leading figure of March 88 Committee. The Committee was connected to the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC) through Reverend Harris. Unable to determine when the Committee disbanded.

The Women and Development Network of Australia (WADNA) was established in 1981 following a conference in Melbourne that same year, where a gathering of women representing Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) member agencies convened and issued the Lowanna Declaration on Women and Development. The purpose of WADNA was to promote public awareness of issues concerning women internationally. It received funding from the Australian Development Assistance Bureau, Australian Catholic Relief, Australian Council of Churches, Australian Freedom from Hunger Campaign, Community Aid Abroad, World Vision Australia and the Women's Film Fund, as well as donations from members and supporters. The national office was located in Melbourne but WADNA had regional groups in every capital city in Australia. Wendy Poussard was the National Coordinator of the Women and Development Network of Australia between 1983-1985. WADNA had largely collapsed by the 1990s after some key people, including Poussard, left the network to form the International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA) in 1985.

Ross Watson was born in 1944. He went to school in Theodore and from 14 years of age he went to the Christian Brothers College in Yeppoon. He was an Aboriginal Australian activist, coordinator of the Black Protest Committee and founder and editor of Black Nation, a newspaper that ran from 1982 to 1985. Ross, with his newspaper, played a major role in organising rallies, protests and demonstrations, particularly around the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games. He was also a founder of the Murri School and Murri radio station 98.9 FM. His family include: Lilla Watson (sister), Charlie Watson (brother), Teila (daughter), Kaava (son), Tiga Bayles (cousin). Ross died in 2013.

The Dreamtime Cultural Centre is located just outside Rockhampton on the Bruce Highway near Limestone Creek. It was the brainchild of Kathleen Nola James (1933–1993), founding member and coordinator of the Central Queensland Aboriginal Corporation for Cultural Activities (CQACCA), which was registered in 1980. Nola envisaged a cultural centre for Rockhampton and publicised and raised funds for the venture. In 1985 the Rockhampton City Council and CQACCA reach an agreement that led to the Dreamtime Cultural Centre's establishment. Funding was sourced from Commonwealth Bicentennial and Department of Aboriginal Affairs grants. The land on which the Cultural Centre is located was originally occupied by the Darumbul Tribe and still contains their traditional ceremonial rings. The Centre was officially opened in April 1988 by former Prime Minister of Australia Robert (Bob) James Lee Hawke, with subsequent expansions in November 1988 and March 1992 for the Torres Strait Islander and Dugong complexes, respectively. The main building of the Centre is named after Nola James, who served as the Centre's Cultural Director from 1984 to 1993.

Helen Derrick (nee Greenwood-Nadebaum), daughter of Gordon and Thora Greenwoord, was born in 1940.