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The 1967 referendum sought to amend the Constitution regarding Aboriginal affairs. It has been seen as a watershed in granting Aboriginal people citizenship rights. This event, however, was not the, eturning point,f the media made it out to be; rather it was a platform for increasing the status and rights of Aboriginal people in Australia. The Constitution was written in a time when the dominant view of Australian society regarded Aboriginal people was that they were, ea dying race,f1 therefore fundamentally disregarding them from the Constitution. The 1967 referendum succeeded in removing or amending the discriminatory aspects of the constitution. These discriminatory aspects included: Section 51 (26) which prevented the Commonwealth Government from legislating specifically for Aboriginal people and Section 127 which excluded Aboriginal people from being counted in the census2. The history, outline and consequences of the referendum and its effects on the aboriginal people of Australia will be discussed in the following essay.
Attempts to persuade the Government to change the Constitution regarding Aboriginal people began in 1910 when the Commonwealth Government gained control of the Northern Territory. Supporters believed that if the Commonwealth Government took control of Aboriginal affairs, there would be a more unified way of dealing with issues that may arise3. There was little recorded public interest in Aboriginal affairs over the next decade. In the mid 1920fs however, the Association for the Protection of Native Races, voiced its concern that the federal government should take responsibility of Aboriginal affairs from the state. Proposals to change the Constitution regarding Aboriginal rights continued into the 1930fs with feminists, such as Edith Jones, humanitarians, such as Archdeacon Lefroy and the Australian Aboriginal League all arguing for the Commonwealth control of Aboriginal rights4.
This idea that an amendment of the Constitution would bring about major change in the rights and status of Aboriginal people continued to influence the thinking of people into the 1940fs. A Constitution convention, held in 1942, sought to transfer some of the responsibility of Aboriginal affairs from a state level to a federal level5. ... After this convention the Labour Government of the time considered it necessary that a referendum be held.
Approximate Word count = 1751
Approximate Pages = 7
(250 words per page double spaced)
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