1967 Referendum In Australia

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I believe one of the most significant referendums in Australia that was carried, is the 1967 Referendum to include Aboriginal people within Section 51 and 127 of the Constitution. Prior to the 1st of January 1901, the Australian Constitution took effect and the Commonwealth of Australia was formed. Under the laws of the Australian Government, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were not included as citizens. Instead they were treated as foreigners in their own land.On the 27th of May 1967, a Federal referendum was held to determine whether two references in the Australian Constitution, which discriminated against Aboriginal people, should be altered or entirely removed. At the time of the referendum, Harold Holt was the Prime Minister …show more content…

With a 90.77 per cent voting for change, the referendum saw the highest “YES” vote ever recorded in a Federal referendum. The Constitution was changed, giving formal effect to the referendum result, by the Constitution Alteration (Aboriginals) 1967 (Act No 55 of 1967), which received assent on 10 August 1967; allowing for Aboriginal people to obtain equal rights. Before 1967, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples did not have the equal rights as other Australians under the Australian …show more content…

The introduction of ‘affirmative action’. Affirmative Action is a way to directly redress the disadvantage that groups of people have experienced in the past. W.C. Wentworth, the Aboriginal Affairs Minister, started programs designed to specifically address the unique needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, such as improvements in healthcare. 2. The enactment of a number of important pieces of legislation, including the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (QLD) Act 1975; the Aboriginal Councils and Associations Act 1976; the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976; the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation Act 1991; and, in response to the land rights cases of the 1990s, the Native Title Act 1993. 3. The gradual development of a new administrative and practical definition of ‘Aboriginality’. This definition was based on community and self-identification, not just a person’s DNA or

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