Sisters In Arms: Oodgeroo Noonuccal, Kathie Cochrane and the battle for the 1967 Referendum - pre-order
[Available 25 June 2026]
The powerful story of a friendship that changed history.
The 1967 Referendum was the most successful in Australia’s history. Sisters in Arms is a work of creative non-fiction about the friendship between Oodgeroo Noonuccal and Kathie Cochrane, and their part in this pivotal campaign.
Working side by side – while raising families, attending rallies and door knocking whole communities – Oodgeroo and Kathie confronted hidden alliances, clashing agendas and government surveillance. Spies in parked cars watched them day and night. Oodgeroo’s home was broken into. Kathie was branded a Communist, and her children were shunned.
Drawing on archival research, declassified ASIO files and family memories, Kathie Cochrane’s granddaughter, Sarah Cochrane Ridout, tells the story of two remarkable women whose friendship, shared struggle and refusal to yield helped build the momentum for one of the great turning points in Australian history: the landslide YES vote.
Sisters in Arms reveals how this crucible of change also birthed Oodgeroo’s groundbreaking literary career. The story was written with close support and permissions of both families, and includes extracts from Vivian (Kabul) Walker’s unpublished biography of his mother.
