The 1967 referendum

One of the complexities of studying Indigenous history is that each State had different policies and laws relating to its' Indigenous population. This difference in laws meant that unlike white Australians, Aboriginal people could not move around the country as they pleased because they might lose the rights they had. And even though they had been granted the right to vote and had been declared citizens, they still were not counted in the population census. As awareness of discrimination against Indigenous Australians increased both in Australia and abroad it was clear that change had to take place. In 1966 the Indigenous protest movement was given a boost when the Australian government signed the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Up until 1967 the Commonwealth (federal) government only had the power to make laws specific to Aboriginal peoples in the Northern Territory (NT) and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The Commonwealth government had no power over Aboriginal people in other States, because of what was written in the constitution. Section 51 paragraph xxvi specifically restricted the federal government from making laws for indigenous people;

The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to: …..The people of any race, other than the aboriginal people in any State, for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws. (emphasis added)
Section 127 of the constitution prevented Indigenous people being counted in the census;
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 federal government decided to change the constitution so that it could have the necessary powers to make laws for indigenous people. This would enable the Commonwealth to pour money into initiatives that would improve Aboriginal people's lives. It would also mean that the differing State policies towards Aboriginal people could eventually be centralised into one encompassing policy from the Commonwealth government. This would mean that Aboriginal people could move from State to State without losing the privileges that they enjoyed in one, that were illegal in the other. See image 1

The Commonwealth government cannot change the constitution of Australia by just passing laws; it needs to hold a referendum so the people of Australia can decide if they want the constitution changed. There have been a number of constitutional referenda held in Australia, but historically very few of them are ever passed.

On 27 May 1967 the Commonwealth government held a referendum which asked the following question;
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'?

This question related to the sections of the constitution quoted above and essentially covered two main issues;

1. Should Aboriginal people be counted in the Australian census?
2. Should the Commonwealth government be given the power to make laws for Aboriginal people?

As a result of years of campaigning for equal rights and a new political climate in Australia there was no real 'no' campaign against the proposed constitutional change. There could no longer be any justification for denying equality to Aboriginal people in the constitution. Both main political parties and the media were behind the 'yes' campaign. It was also fully supported by the Indigenous protest groups. See image 2

The only real resistance to constitutional change on this issue was from those who did not like to see the States lose any powers to central government. However the constitutional change gave the Commonwealth shared power with the States - not exclusive power to pass legislation in relation to the Indigenous population. The States still had the power to also pass laws.

As it has been mentioned, historically 'yes' votes in Australian referenda have been few and far between, so when nearly 91 percent of Australians voted yes on 27 May 1967 it was a landmark moment. (Another referendum about the composition of Parliament that was held on the same day was rejected by the Australian public). The constitutional change relating to Aboriginal people came into law later that year on 10 August. See animation

Contrary to what many people believe, the referendum did not give voting rights or citizenship rights to Aboriginal people - these had already been achieved in most states by 1962. The referendum also did not end legal discrimination against Aboriginal people - that did not happen until the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) was passed.

The federal government now had the power to intervene in State policy over Aboriginal Affairs and had the power to make its own laws relating to the welfare of the Indigenous people. It did not, however, exercise this power for over five years. To the disappointment of the Indigenous rights campaigners, many of the discriminatory State policies were maintained after the 1967 referendum. Extra money was made available for Indigenous education, health and housing and a Council of Aboriginal Affairs was established. These were not the major changes in law and policy that the Indigenous activists had hoped for. The Commonwealth now had the power to change, but change was slow to come.