A social movement can be loosely defined as a group in society united by a common belief or goal and having no distinct organizational structure. The broad nature of this definition is in line with the nature of social movements themselves, as a social movement can lend itself to a wide range of issues. Some of these gain momentum and manage to influence the political sphere of the time, while others seem not to take off. Australia has indeed seen its fair share of social movements. In this essay I will discuss and compare three social movements; environmentalism, anti-war/peace movement and indigenous rights and measure their success, commenting on their relevance to today's society. One of the most successful social movements that Australia has seen in its young history is the environmental movement, also called "environmentalism". Despite being present as early as the 1800s, environmentalism, along with a number of other post-materialist issues, gained significant momentum in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Since then, environmental activists have fought on several fronts, and in this essay I will focus on the “green bans” of the 1970s. The “Green Bans” is a name given to the period (1971 – 1975) in which workers from the New South Wales Construction Workers' Federation withdrew from environmentally harmful projects. The context of this activism is perhaps what makes it such an important stage in the course of environmentalism in Australia. At the time, Sydney, as well as other major Australian cities, was experiencing an era of rapid industrialization and this posed a significant threat to environmental monuments and the habitat around them. This caused concern among residents...... half of document ......g, London, England, 2001, p. 215J Healey, p. 10Ibid, p. 15P Findlay, 'The Communist Role in The Anti-Vietnam and Anti-Conscription Movement', Protest Politics and Psychological Warfare, Hawthorn Press, Melbourne, Australia, 1968'Moratorios and Opposition', Department of Veteran Affairs, Australian Government, 2014, viewed 11 May 2014< http://vietnam-war.commemoration.gov.au/conscription/moratoriums-and-opposition.php>'80 days that changed our lives: thousands of people in a moratorium campaign to oppose the war of Vietnam', ABC, 2014, viewed 11 May 2014Department of Veteran Affairs, 2014IbidP Boyle, 'Why huge protests failed to stop the Iraq War', Green Left Weekly, 2013, viewed 14 May 2014