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1967 Aboriginal Referendum Facts

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1967 Aboriginal Referendum Facts

Use the timeline and results below to investigate what the 1967 referendum changed, what it did not change, and why it mattered. For the analysis questions, support your view with evidence.

What did the vote ask?

On 27 May 1967, Australians voted on proposed changes to the Australian Constitution. The successful changes removed the words that excluded Aboriginal people from being counted in the Commonwealth census under section 127 and amended section 51(xxvi), giving the Commonwealth Parliament power to make special laws for people of any race. The referendum did not itself create equality or guarantee particular laws.

1.Which pair identifies the constitutional provisions changed by the referendum?

Sections 51(xxvi) and 127
Sections 51(xxvi) and 128
Sections 116 and 127
Sections 51(xxvi) and 109

2.In your own words, explain one constitutional effect of removing section 127’s exclusion. Why could this matter for national decision-making?

Reading the result

The official result was an overwhelming Yes: 90.77% of formal votes nationally were Yes. Every state recorded a Yes majority. A referendum to change the Constitution must pass a double majority: a majority of voters nationally and a majority of voters in a majority of states (at least four of the six states).

3.The Yes vote was 90.77%. How many percentage points above 50% was it? Show or explain your calculation.

4.A student says, “A national Yes majority alone was enough to change the Constitution.” Correct the claim by explaining the double-majority rule.

5.True or false: The 1967 referendum passed because more than half of the states voted Yes, even if the national vote had been No. Explain.

Change, limits and significance

The referendum changed constitutional arrangements, but it did not itself grant land rights, equal wages or citizenship. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were not all in the same position under voting laws; by 1962, Commonwealth law allowed Aboriginal people to enrol and vote in federal elections, and enrolment was compulsory for them from 1984. The referendum’s effects should therefore be distinguished from earlier changes and from later laws and campaigns.

6.Which option names two outcomes that the referendum did not automatically deliver?

A change to section 127
Commonwealth power to make laws under the amended section 51(xxvi)
Land rights and equal wages
A national Yes majority

7.Why is it misleading to say that the referendum “gave Aboriginal people the right to vote”? Use one accurate fact about voting rights in your answer.

8.A historian calls the referendum both “symbolic” and “practical”. Explain one reason for each description, and identify one important limit of the change.