1967 Referendum: Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander People

The assimilation policy was brought into the aboriginal community in 1937, by numerous commonwealth and state government representatives. This policy aimed to make the aboriginals of Australia conform to the custom and traditions of the white Australians of British origin. When the policy was brought in it only applied to people of mixed decent, people who are part European and aboriginal. In1951 the assimilation policy changed to state all aboriginals shall attain the same manner of living as other Australians. Again in 1965 the policy was adjusted, but continued to apply to all aboriginal people. Aboriginal people of Australia have always had a strong connection with the land, each other and their religion. In 1960 the assimilation policy was declared a failure; through out the previous years surprisingly the community of aboriginals had continued to grow. This was to the white people, a sign of their strength, their traditions and how they as a community will continue to fight for their rights. While they still continued to grow in number

Throughout Australian history, there have been men and women who fought for the entitlements of the indigenous people. The most respected and recognised of these is Eddie Mabo, a Torres Strait Islander. Mabo stood up for the rights of his people from a very young age all the way to his death, in order to generate changes in the policies and laws of the government. Mabo battled for his right to own the land which he had inherited from his adoptive father, a fight which was resolved only after his demise. Despite this, Eddie Mabo became one of the key influential figures in the Aboriginal rights movement, as his strong will, determination, and intelligence allowed him to bring about change.

Since the time of federation the Aboriginal people have been fighting for their rights through protests, strikes and the notorious ‘day of mourning’. However, over the last century the Australian federal government has generated policies which manage and restrained that of the Aboriginal people’s rights, citizenships and general protection. The Australian government policy that has had the most significant impact on indigenous Australians is the assimilation policy. The reasons behind this include the influences that the stolen generation has had on the indigenous Australians, their relegated rights and their entitlement to vote and the impact that the policy has had on the indigenous people of Australia.

The 1967 referendum was the repeal of section 127 and section 51 in the Commonwealth Constitution. With the repeal of these two sections the “Federal Government were allowed to make laws for Aborigines and Aborigines were now counted in the national census”(About the 1967 Referendum). The 1967 referendum can be commonly considered the turning point in Australian history and culture for finally addressing discrimination towards the Indigenous people and taking responsibility for Aboriginal affairs. However, some do not have the same representation of the results of the 1967 referendum because of the little improvement it has done for the Indigenous people.

Firstly the change in legal and constitutional rights have been a great creator of rights for the Aboriginal people. Up until 1967 the Aboriginals did not have the right to be counted in the census. This was basically a way of saying that the Aboriginals were not Australians, almost not even people. Fortunately the 1967 referendum gave Aboriginals citizenship. It did however not end any discrimination against the Aboriginal people and

The Mabo decision was a significant event for the civil right of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Discuss.

Faith Bandler was one of the most prominent figures promoting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders civil rights in Australia, and played a significant role in the success of the 1967 referendum. Bandler’s background and early life significantly influenced her later activism, causing her to question injustices against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Bandler spent most of her adult life promoting the cause of ATSI civil rights and racial equality, and was involved in a number of key events, one of the most significant being the 1967 referendum. Bandler’s legacy is extremely important in Indigenous Australia’s and Australia’s history, and her life will continue to impact millions.

In 1967, a landmark event occurred for the Indigenous Community of Australia. They were no longer declared Flora and Fauna This means that Aboriginal people would be considered a part of the landscape and not humans in their own right.. In 1967, a Referendum was held by all members of Australian society voting on the issue of allowing Indigenous Australian to be a part of the census and thereby able to vote and be counted as part of Australia’s population. This achieved not only citizenship for Aboriginal people, but put the issue of Indigenous Rights on both the political and social platforms. This essay will look at the lead up to the Referendum, how Aborigines and their supporters communicated their belief in their rights to the

Once the group had finished visiting these towns and had ended their journey Charles Perkins reported what had happened to a crowd of approximately two hundred at the 1965 Federal Council for the Advancement of Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islands conference in Canberra. The responses after this conference were mainly positive and because of Charles Perkins’ the NSW Aboriginal Welfare Board had announced they would spend sixty-five thousand pounds on more housing in Moree for the Aboriginals. The Australian Freedom Riders had caused many debates all across Australia which had then caused the 1967 Referendum which got rid of a law in the constitution that had stated ‘laws can be made for the people of any race, other than the Aboriginal race in any state, for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws’. The law was changed and removed the section ‘other than the Aboriginal race’ this was a positive change as it meant laws could be made in favour of the Aboriginals which could help protect them. Another positive aspect that came out of the

Several key events and people influenced the journey and results of Aboriginal voting rights. Many major contributions towards the indigenous voting rights can be described as international criticism, Aboriginal Protests and Political conflicts. Male Aboriginal Australians were recognised as male people, and therefore could vote in state elections, It was expected to stay this way. However, the ‘white Australia policy’ in 1901 caused many Aboriginal Men to lose their state voting rights and banned them from enrolling in federal elections, According to (hgj) The “electoral officials had the power to decide who was an ‘Aboriginal Native’ or not.” After several years of discrimination, in 1934 Indigenous Australians took a stand in a day of mourning for indigenous rights. Another powerful argument for Aboriginal Australians was their world war efforts from 1914 to 1918. Many white Australians that fought with the Indigenous Australians believed that if “they are good enough to fight and die for their country then they are good enough to vote in elections” As a result of this effort, 1945 marked the year that all male Aboriginal war participants were granted Federal election voting rights. It is important to remember when and how the

Over the past 230 years, Aboriginals have protested in many different ways to gain rights, which they believe they are deserving of. Through aims of what they wanted to achieve, the processes they went through brought them disappointment over the poor results of some actions and pleasure over the success of others. Over those years, very few periods of protest have been as revelational or effective as the protests occurring between 1938 and 1972. During this period many different groups of Aboriginals have fought for the common cause of being recognised as people rather than interferences caught in the midst of Australians expansion as a nation.

Each example given has also shown how self-determination was and continues to be a major struggle for Aboriginal people. Beginning with the Whitlam government, the Land Rights Act was going to be the national recognition that Aboriginal people had been waiting for, however the swift dismissal of the government and subsequent changes to the bill meant that an uninformed government would dictate claims of Aboriginal land rights. This was continued in the Heritage Protection Act for Western Australia in which no monitoring of abuses of power within the authoritative ministry was assessed; hence damage to heritage sites for the development of industries occurred. Finally the Racial Discrimination Act although making racial discrimination illegal has clearly been violated by the government in the Northern Territory interventions and hence is not valued by Australia despite the international commitments made to recognising Indigenous rights. Although legislation has been introduced to recognise Indigenous rights, there seems to always be a catch. A final reoccurring theme in the legislation discussed is the uninformed views of the non-Indigenous government as decisions are made on behalf of Aboriginal people; hence two major statements were discussed that precisely define Aboriginal self-determination by Aboriginal

Many were convinced that the nation’s economic prosperity was endangered by communists as it was rumoured that they had insinuated their way into the country’s political parties and trade unions. As a result, on 22 September 1951, the 1951 Australian Referendum was introduced with a question: 'Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled “Constitution Alteration (Powers to deal with Communists and Communism) 1951?' Citizens casted 2,317,927 votes for and 2,370,009 against the proposal, thus the Referendum was not passed. However, as the difference between the votes were not substantial, the country continued to remain divided over the concerning issue of

One of the first campaigns that made Australian history was commonly known as the 1967 Referendum. It proposed to include Aboriginal people in the census and allow the Commonwealth government to make laws for the Aboriginal people. The current Commonwealth

On 27th May 1967, 90.77% of Australians voted in favour of changes to the Australian Constitution to improve the welfare of Indigenous signifying the end of racial discrimination . The 1967 Referendum was a practical and symbolic strategy which proposed to include Aboriginal people in the census and to allow the Commonwealth government to make laws for Indigenous Australians. The Referendum has had a significant impact on Indigenous policies as it