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What was the 1967 referendum about?
The referendum asked Australians two questions, the first of which referred to the balance of numbers in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
It was the second question that held significance for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.
It asked whether people believed references to Aboriginal people in the constitution should be removed: one prevented the Commonwealth from making laws in respect to Indigenous people, and another asserted Indigenous people could not be included in the census.
The question read: “Do you approve the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled ‘An Act to alter the Constitution’ so as to omit certain words relating to the people of the Aboriginal race in any state so that Aboriginals are to be counted in reckoning the population?”
The referendum was held on May 27, 1967.
What did the referendum achieve?
The 1967 referendum saw the highest ‘yes’ vote of any in Australian history, with 90.77 per cent voting for change.
Victoria had the highest majority of any state, at 94.68 per cent.
The constitution was altered in August of that year.
This meant the federal government could make laws in respect to people of all backgrounds, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, and Indigenous people were to be counted in the census as part of Australia’s total population.
Some, including former Prime Minister Robert Menzies, had argued against the removal of the reference prohibiting the Commonwealth from making laws in respect to Indigenous people, claiming it could lead to discriminatory legislation.
But that reference had also meant the federal government was unable to make laws for the benefit of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Laws affecting Indigenous people were, to that point, made by each individual state and differed between them.
The first census to count Indigenous Australians as part of Australia’s total population was conducted in 1971.
What was not achieved through the referendum?
The referendum did not afford Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people the right to vote; that right was legislated for federal elections in 1962, and it was in 1965 that Queensland gave Indigenous people the right to vote in state elections, the last state to do so.
But it was not until 1984 that voting became compulsory for Indigenous people, as it was for other Australians.
It also did not grant equal rights to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, as it did not impact on all laws affecting them.
The referendum also did not give constitutional recognition to Indigenous Australians as the first people to call Australia home.