Australian referendum, 1967 (Aboriginals)

The referendum of 27 May 1967 approved two amendments to the Australian constitution relating to Aboriginal people. Technically it was a vote on the Constitution Alteration (Aboriginals) Act, 1967, which after being approved in the referendum became law on the 10th August of the same year.

Related Topics:
27 May - 1967 - Australian constitution - Aboriginal - Referendum - 10th August

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The amendment was overwhelmingly endorsed, winning over 90 per cent of voters and carrying all six states. It was put to the electorate on the same day as a referendum on the composition of parliament, which was rejected.

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The referendum removed two sections from the Constitution.

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• The first was a phrase in Section 51 (xxvi) which stated that the Federal Government had the power to make laws with respect to "the people of any race, other than the Aboriginal race in any State, for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws." (This is known as the "race power.") The referendum removed the phrase "other than the Aboriginal race in any State," giving the Commonwealth the power to make laws specifically to benefit Aboriginal people.
• The second was Section 127, which said: "In reckoning the numbers of the people of the Commonwealth, or of a State or other part of the Commonwealth, Aboriginal natives shall not be counted." The referendum deleted this section from the Constitution. It was widely believed at the time, and is still often said, that this was a reference to the census, and that Aboriginal people were not counted in Commonwealth censuses before 1967. In fact the section related to calculating the population of the states and territories for the purpose of allocating seats in Parliament and per capita Commonwealth grants. Its purpose was to prevent Queensland and Western Australia using their large Aboriginal populations to gain extra seats or extra funds. Aboriginal people living in settled areas were counted in censuses before 1967.

It is frequently stated that the 1967 referendum gave Aboriginal people Australian citizenship and that it gave them the right to vote in federal elections. Neither of these statements is correct. Aboriginal people became Australian citizens in 1947, when a separate Australian citizenship was created for the first time (before that time all Australians were "British subjects"). Aboriginal people gained the vote in Commonwealth territories in 1965, and in the states, under various state laws, somewhat earlier.

Related Topics:
1967 - 1947 - 1965

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