Welcome to Extinction Rebellion Sydney. You saw us on the streets or followed our socials for a while but now you want to get involved. What can you do to be part of the action? Extinction Rebellion is a decentralised movement so new chapters can spring up anywhere. This page is specifically for people wanting to get involved in the Sydney chapter but if you are outside of Sydney there might be other XR chapters closer to home. A core tenet of Extinction Rebellion is that we welcome everyone and every part of everyone. That means there is a place for you to participate, whether you want to be out on the streets, or working behind the scenes, risking arrest or supporting those who are. Every person can participate according to their strengths and interests!
First step: stay in touch! To find out what XR events are happening:
Sign up for our email newsletter.
Follow the XR Sydney Facebook page.
Check out our Instagram.
Talks and Training
To get your head around XR — who we are and how we work — you can check out our various training sessions. We regularly run the following talks:
Heading for Extinction (and What to Do About It): Join our introductory talk to learn about the climate and biodiversity emergency, Extinction Rebellion’s history and principles, and how Extinction Rebellion is taking non-violent direct action to tackle the crisis head on. Consider this a fact finding mission to see why Extinction Rebellion exists and how we plan to create change!
Welcome to XR Workshop. This workshop is a deeper dive into XR culture. Learn about:
The history of Extinction Rebellion
The culture of Extinction rebellion, including our principles and values
Non-Violent Direct Action
XR’s Theory of Change – ‘The whirlwind’
How you and your friends can get involved.
Regenerative Culture: Regen 101
Regenerative Culture is one of our core principles. It’s about creating a culture that is healthy, resilient and adaptable and sets the tone for how we operate. We’re not just rallying against climate change, we want to set a new culture. In this workshop we discuss some of the current psychology around the climate crisis, and solutions for self-care, burnout prevention, and community connections in social movements. This workshop is experiential, practical and educational.
Self-Organising Systems: SOS 101
You don’t have to have spent a lot of time around XR to hear that we’re based on autonomy and decentralisation. But what does this mean in practice? How can we get anything done if no one is in charge? Self Organising Systems training turns everything you know about organising on its head and shows you how people can work efficiently without hierarchies.
Non-Violent Direct Action: NVDA 101
Extinction Rebellion’s commitment to non-violent direct action or peaceful civil disobedience makes Extinction Rebellion different from other environmental movements. This training covers the principles of non-violent direct action, its long history of success in achieving change, the definition of non-violence, a legal rights briefing, and role-plays to get you ready for common peaceful civil disobedience scenarios. If you stick around after the workshop, we have a fun mini-action for anyone that wants to try on their brand new skills. This training is key if you want to start taking direct action!
Non-Violent Direct Action: NVDA 201
There are many support roles needed to make Non Violent Direct Action safe for participants. This training helps develop specific skills in NVDA support roles such as Legal Observer, Action Wellbeing, Arrestee Support, Media Liaison, and Police Liaison. This workshop is your chance to skill up in these roles in the lead up to the next Rebellion.
Getting in on the action
Many types of actions are done in the name of XR, from glue-ons and die-ins to street art and vigils. If it helps get our message across, and adheres to XR’s principles and values, it’s great! Actions can be organised by anyone. We suggest getting a group of like-minded rebels together to organise them. We call this an Affinity Group. Some actions might be made public, and promoted through the newsletter and Facebook but other actions will be kept quiet to keep an element of surprise. There are public actions to take part in almost weekly but if you want to get more adventurous and plan your own, come along to NDVA training to learn the ins and outs of Non Violent Direct Action and meet like minded rebels who might want to join forces!
Behind the Scenes Support: Working Groups
Working Groups serve the Affinity Groups to aid them in their actions. They are the support structure behind the scenes. Working groups are always keen for new members and they are great roles for people who may not be so keen or able to get out on the streets.
Working groups in Sydney include:
Actions and Logistics: Responsible for helping facilitate and support action planning by our Rebels. If you’ve had direct action experience or have planned actions, we want you here!
Arts: Responsible for making our actions pop – with banners, flags, costumes, performances, music and art of all kind (includes Choir and Red Rebels)
Community: Connects with other groups, holds community events, and is responsible for welcoming and integrating new Rebels into the movement.
Finance: Helps raise funds and manage spending.
IT: Responsible for tech and data. If you’d like to help provide IT support or work on our systems and security, join up with IT!
Legal: Provides legal support and research for hypothetical actions as well as back office support during our actions. The legal working group is extremely critical to the Rebellion.
Media & Messaging: Helps tell Extinction Rebellion’s story in digital and traditional media. Responsible for curating and creating content, running campaigns, establishing relationships with the media, and running Extinction Rebellion’s social media accounts.
Politics: Build political momentum for the Rebellion and networks with political bodies and political movements.
Regenerative Culture: Creates a culture of care and respect within Extinction Rebellion, equips people to support our action taking Rebels for their practical and emotional wellbeing, and coordinates support for the movement.
Self-Organising Systems: Self Organising Systems is a means of organising in a decentralised way. This group equips people to use XR’s self-organising systems through training, publishing resources, and direct support to teams.
Talks and Training: Responsible for running Extinction Rebellion’s welcome talks and non-violent direct action training. If you’re interested in helping to grow the movement via talks and workshops, then this is the working group for you!
If you’d like to join a working group but don’t know which one, we offer a one-on-one chat with an experienced rebel to talk you through which might be the best fit. Sign up for a 15 min chat with a rebel here. Still have questions? Take a look at these other resources below, or send us an email ([email protected]) and we’ll do our best to answer.