When was the 1967 referendum

I have a dream today! Black and white footage of Aboriginal people living in extreme poverty, with poor housing and an older woman carrying water. A woman sits on the ground washing clothes with children sitting behind her. A woman holds a baby in front of a corrugated iron hut. Black and white footage of a weatherboard school. A male Aboriginal teacher stands at the front of a classroom. Rows of Aboriginal students write on slate tablets. Narrator: But many Indigenous and non-Indigenous Aussies realised things could and should be different.

A black and white photograph of a large group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and white Australian protesters in a city street. VOTE in both squares. Yes, Yes. Black and white footage of an outdoor absentee polling place. The names of electorates hang from scaffolding and piles of papers are on tables.

People are lining up and voting. Narrator: In all Indigenous people were given the right to enroll to vote in federal elections like everyone else. Black and white footage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and white Australian protesters in a city street.

Narrator: In Indigenous workers stood up against unfair working conditions and fought for land rights. Black and white footage of young men attaching a large banner to the side of a bus.

Black and white footage of young boys running with a dog along an unpaved road. Woman and children stand by fences of weatherboard houses. Narrator: And in the same year, uni students protested against racism and poor living conditions around country NSW.

Black and white footage of 4 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, 2 men and 2 women, being interviewed on a TV show. Black and white footage of 2 woman at a table covered in pamphlets on a footpath.

Narrator: Around this time activists had also set their sights on a really big goal that would involve the whole nation. According to political historian, Scott Bennett, these sections were originally included in the Constitution because of the widely held beliefs that:. In , a Tasmanian Member of Parliament dismissed the need to include Indigenous people in a national census on the basis that:. Following the Referendum, the words "…other than the aboriginal people in any State…" in section 51 xxvi and the whole of section were removed, allowing for Indigenous people to be included in the census, and giving federal Parliament the power to make laws in relation to Indigenous people.

Prior to the Referendum, making laws for Indigenous people was the responsibility of the states, and laws varied greatly from state to state. Advocates for the Referendum believed that if federal parliament was granted the power to legislate for Indigenous people, it would act in their best interests, leading to better conditions for Indigenous people.

Citizenship rights: By , Indigenous people were already legally considered citizens, although many experienced discrimination in their everyday lives. Equal rights: Even though the Referendum revealed a desire to extend equal rights to Indigenous people, the referendum did not guarantee equality. The Referendum gave the federal government the power to make laws for Indigenous people, but it did not require that those laws would ensure equality and would not be discriminatory [4].

Many Indigenous people regard the Referendum as a symbolic turning point, revealing a widespread desire for Indigenous equality in Australia. Others feel that the Referendum was irrelevant to their lives, having little effect on the daily discrimination they experience.

The Referendum has had a lasting impact on Indigenous policies. Saturday 27th of May marks the 50th anniversary of the Referendum in which Australians voted overwhelmingly to amend the Constitution to allow the Commonwealth to make laws for Aboriginal people and include them in the census.

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 and so that Aboriginals are to be counted in reckoning the population'? The proposed law Constitution Alteration Aboriginals sought to give the Commonwealth Parliament power to make laws with respect to Aboriginal people wherever they lived in Australia.

It also sought to make it possible to include Aboriginal people in national censuses. The amendment deleted part of section 51 xxvi of the Constitution and repealed section The results of the referendum vote are set out below:. The referendum also put a separate question on a proposed law seeking to remove the connection in the Constitution between the number of members of the House of Representatives and the number of senators; this question was not carried.