On 27 May 1967, Australians voted to change the Constitution so that like all other Australians,
Essentially these changes allowed for Aboriginal people to be included in the census and altered the 'race power' to allow federal parliament to make 'special laws' about Aboriginal peoples.
In 1960, Aboriginal people were mostly denied the vote, were not counted in the Census, were still subject to extreme controls by bureaucrats, in some parts of Australia were confined to reserves or lived around our towns and cities in humpies and car bodies.
Background to status of Aboriginal Australians prior to 1967
When the Australian constitution took effect on 1 January 1901, each individual state acquired the primary lawmaking power over Aboriginal people. Consequently, the legal status of Aboriginal people shifted from British subjects to wards of the state.
In 1967 the majority of Australians voted to change the Australian Constitution to count Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the national census.
January 8 – Vietnam War: Operation Cedar Falls starts. January 13 – A military coup occurs in Togo under the leadership of Étienne Eyadema. January 14 – The Human Be-In takes place in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco; the event sets the stage for the Summer of Love.
Under the laws of the Australian Government, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were not included as citizens. Instead, in many cases they were treated as foreigners in their own land.
The 1967 Referendum was the most successful in our history winning 93 percent of votes cast. This empowered the national government to make laws in respect of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples that could assist in addressing inequalities.
In 1967, in response to a Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI) petition calling for a referendum on sections 51 and 127 of the Constitution, the Holt Coalition Government introduced the Constitution Alteration (Aboriginals) Bill 1967 to the Parliament.
Technically the referendum question was a vote on the Constitution Alteration (Aboriginals) Bill 1967 that would amend section 51(xxvi) and repeal section 127. The amendments to the Constitution were overwhelmingly endorsed, winning 90.77% of votes cast and having majority support in all six states.
1962: All Indigenous people are given the vote in Commonwealth elections. 1967: Referendum held – 90.7% of Australians vote YES to count Indigenous Australians in the census and to give the Commonwealth Government the power to make laws for them.
Why was this campaign so successful? Today commentators largely put it down to unanimity: there wasn't a “no” campaign in 1967. This is one of the reasons, no doubt, but as historians often say: “it's complicated”.
FCAATSI organized a petition calling for a referendum on sections 51 and 127 of the Constitution. In response to this petition the Holt Government introduced the Constitution Alteration (Aboriginals) Bill 1967 to the Parliament. The legislation was passed unanimously and finally a referendum was announced.
From the first federal electoral Act in 1902 to 1965, when the last state changed its law, tens of thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were subject to regulations which prohibited them from voting at federal and state elections.
On 27 May 1967, Australians voted in favour of changes to the Australian Constitution to improve the services available to Indigenous Australians. The changes focused on two sections of the Constitution, which discriminated against Aborigines.
Righting the Wrongs
On a symbolic level, it was hugely significant. It did, however, have one unintended consequence … Now the Australian Constitution fails to acknowledge Indigenous Australians at all. White Australia has a black history – Don't Celebrate 1988.
The 1967 referendum – in which over 90% of voters agreed that First Australians deserved equal constitutional rights – remains the most successful referendum in Australian history.
1967 Referendum results - Prime Minister Harold Holt responds in press release. A speech made by Prime Minister Harold Holt on 28 May 1967, in response to Referendum results - page 1.
In December 1976 the federal parliament passed the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act. It was the first legislation in Australia that enabled First Nations peoples to claim land rights for Country where traditional ownership could be proven.
On 27 May 1967, Australians voted to change the Constitution so that like all other Australians, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples would be counted as part of the population and the Commonwealth would be able to make laws for them.
What was the referendum about? Campaigners for the “yes” vote successfully argued that those references were discriminatory and excluded First Nations people from citizenship. The referendum secured the amendment of Section 51 (xxvi) and the removal of Section 127.
Since Federation, only 8 of the 44 proposals for constitutional change have been approved. The most recent successful referendums were in 1977. The Parliamentary Library's online Parliamentary Handbook provides a searchable list of referendum and plebiscite questions and detailed results.
Answer and Explanation: It was never legal to shoot any Aborigine but it was an occurrence that was ignored and discounted. On September 18, 1973, capital punishment throughout Australia was abolished.
Nearly 91 per cent of the electorate voted to amend the constitution. This change meant that Aboriginal people would be counted as part of the population and acknowledged as equal citizens, and that the Commonwealth would be able to make laws on their behalf.
This happened from the mid-1800s to the 1970s. In the 1860s, Victoria became the first state to pass laws authorising Aboriginal children to be removed from their parents. Similar policies were later adopted by other states and territories – and by the federal government when it was established in the 1900s.