On this day in 1967 a referendum delivered a major shift in Australian politics and policy.

Common misconceptions about the referendum include that it granted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people the vote, or that it conferred citizenship on Indigenous people - which had formally occurred in 1948. While neither of these significant changes were brought about by the 1967 vote, it did mark an important turning point.

The two provisions of the Australian Constitution that were changed in the referendum of 1967 were Section 51, which applies to the separation of powers between federal and state governments, and Section 127, which applies to the census of Australia's population.

Before the 1967 vote, Section 51 allowed the federal government to "make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to ... The people of any race, other than the aboriginal people in any State, for whom it is necessary to make special laws", stopping federal authorities from making laws pertaining specifically to Indigenous people and leaving that power with the states.

Section 127 excluded "aboriginal natives", in the language of the time, from being counted in "the numbers of the people of the Commonwealth, or of a State or other part of the Commonwealth".

The vote changed Section 51 by removing the phrase "other than the aboriginal people in any State", giving the Commonwealth the power to make laws pertaining to Indigenous people, and removed Section 127 completely, ensuring Indigenous people were counted in census counts.

The referendum required a majority of voters overall and a majority of states to agree with the Constitutional change.

Barriers to progress built into the federal system

Prior to the vote, state laws took precedence over federal laws when it came to Indigenous affairs. For example, while the federal law was changed in 1962 to guarantee the right to vote to all Indigenous adults, First Nations people in Queensland could not vote until that state changed its laws in 1965.

The call for granting the federal government the ability to make laws in Aboriginal affairs was not new. As early as Federation in 1901 Indigenous leaders had recognised nationwide problems, challenges and injustices could be addressed with national solutions.

At the protests held to mark the Day of Mourning - January 26 - in 1938, Indigenous leaders and other advocates called for a national policy on Aboriginal issues and federal action.

A petition calling for Constitutional change as the foundation of legal racial equality - eventually enshrined in law in 1975 - had been launched by the Aboriginal-Australian Fellowship in 1957, ten years before the referendum. Other petitions had been circulated throughout the 1960s calling for Constitutional change.

The Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI), including leaders Pastor Doug Nicholls and Faith Bandler, also worked many years for change.

In 1964 the federal parliamentary Labor Party, then in Opposition, raised the matter in Parliament and after three more years of campaigning and debate the referendum was announced.

Bipartisan support for reform

While it has been historically very difficult to secure a YES vote in Australian referendums, the 1967 yes campaign had the advantage of being supported by both major political parties, Labor and the Liberal-Country Party coalition.

Advocates of Constitutional change had been campaigning for many years, if not decades, working tirelessly to build public support.

The Coalition federal government and Labor Opposition agreed to not present a "no" case in official material for the vote as was standard practice.

Indigenous leadership vital to victory

FCAATSI established a national Vote YES campaign with local leaders in every state to build momentum on the ground. (Residents in the NT and ACT were unable to vote in referendums at that time.)

The vote, held May 27, 1967, saw a 90.77 per cent YES result, the highest yes vote in any Australian referendum before or since.

While the referendum result did not deliver equality before the law, it raised public awareness of the de facto apartheid system and stark inequality that operated across Australia. It also delivered a significant symbolic victory for Indigenous campaigners and was seen as recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as citizens of the country.

By the end of 1967 a Council for Aboriginal Affairs was established, and the Constitutional change also enabled Gough Whitlam's Labor federal government - elected in 1972 - to enact major policy changes and set up a Commission on land rights.

An important but incomplete legacy

However, in 2026, there continues to be significant disparities and disadvantage faced by Indigenous people nationwide. Efforts to Close the Gap have delivered mixed results at best, and in health, justice, life expectancy, education, community safety and employment significant gaps remain.

Many have noted there remains inadequate meaningful consultation between state and federal authorities and Indigenous communities, citing the defeat of the Voice to Parliament referendum in 2023 as a significant step backwards in this regard.