Referendums in Australia

In Australia, referendums are public votes held on important issues where the electorate may approve or reject a certain proposal. The term is commonly used in reference to a constitutional referendum which is legally required to make a change to the Constitution of Australia.

In recent years, polls conducted on non-constitutional issues are often referred to as plebiscites, with the term referendum being reserved (by some) to only refer to constitutional referendums. Historically however, not all federal votes have been on constitutional matters (such as the 1916 Australian conscription referendum), and state votes that likewise do not affect the constitution are frequently said to be referendums (such as the 2009 Western Australian daylight saving referendum). As such, they are often used by Australians interchangeably and a plebiscite is often considered to be another name for a referendum.

Voting in a referendum is compulsory for those on the electoral roll, in the same way that it is compulsory to vote in a general election. As of 2023, 44 nationwide referendums have been held, only eight of which have been carried. Since multiple referendum questions are often asked on the same ballot, there have only been 19 separate occasions that the Australian people have gone to the polls to vote on constitutional amendments—of which have 8 been concurrent with a federal election. There have also been three nationwide non-constitutional plebiscites (two on conscription and one on the national song), and one postal survey (on same-sex marriage).

Federal referendums

Constitutional provisions

Main article: Chapter VIII of the Constitution of Australia

Section 128 of the Constitution specifies that alterations to the Constitution cannot be made without a direct public vote. A bill containing the amendment must first be passed by both houses of parliament or, in certain limited circumstances, by only one house of parliament. If the bill has only been passed in one house, the Governor-General must, under the "deadlock provision" of section 128, then decide whether or not to submit the referendum to the people. By convention, this is done on the advice of the Prime Minister. Since the Prime Minister normally controls the House of Representatives, the effect of this convention is to make it virtually impossible for a referendum to be put to the people if approved by the Senate, but not the House.

If the bill to alter the Constitution is approved by both houses or satisfies the deadlock provision, the bill is submitted to the electors for approval. The referendum is conducted according to the Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1984. If the bill is approved by an absolute majority of both houses, the Constitution provides that it must be submitted to the electors no less than two months but no later than six months after passage. There is no similar time limitation if the bill is approved by one House of the Commonwealth Parliament only.

To pass a referendum, the bill must ordinarily achieve a double majority: a majority of those voting nationwide, as well as separate majorities in a majority of states (i.e., 4 out of 6 states). This provision, which gives the small Australian states effectively a built-in veto, was one of those constitutional provisions accepted in order for the smaller colonies to agree to Federation. In circumstances where a state is significantly affected by a referendum (such as through an alteration of its borders or through a reduction of its representation), a majority of voters in that state must also agree to the change.

When a referendum question is carried, the amending bill is presented for royal assent, given in the monarch's name by the Governor-General.

Territories

Prior to the 1977 referendum, only electors in the six states could vote at a referendum. Since the 1977 amendment was carried, voters of the territories have been eligible to vote in referendums. Territory votes are now counted towards the national total but the territories do not count as states for the purpose of the requirement for a majority of states.

Other aspects

Voting has been compulsory in Australia since 1924.

Non-constitutional plebiscites, are conducted by the government to decide a matter relating to ordinary statute law, an advisory question of policy, or as a prelude to the submission of a formal referendum question, rather than a binding and entrenched alteration (amendment) to the Constitution. Plebiscites can offer a variety of options, rather than a simple yes/no question. Four national plebiscites have been held as of 2017. Unlike in constitutional referendums, voting in previous plebiscite has been optional.

In 1998, the Howard government amended the Flags Act 1953 to require a plebiscite to change the Flag of Australia. There is some debate over whether such legislation is legally enforceable, and a new parliament could simply amend or repeal the legislation at any time.

Success rate

Australians have rejected most proposals for constitutional amendments, approving only 8 out of 44 referendums submitted to them since federation. Noting the difficulty of the referendum process, then Prime Minister Robert Menzies said in 1951, "The truth of the matter is that to get an affirmative vote from the Australian people on a referendum proposal is one of the labours of Hercules."

Of forty-four referendums, there have been five instances – in 1937, twice in 1946, and once each in 1977 and 1984 – where a national Yes vote has been achieved but failed to win a majority of states. In three of these instances, the referendum received a majority in three states. The converse situation, where there is a majority of states but not an overall majority, has not yet occurred.

Apart from 1937, in which Victoria and Queensland were the only two states in favour, only these cases have followed a consistent pattern: a Yes vote in the two most populous states, New South Wales and Victoria, and a No vote in most or all of the other states. The rejection of these referendums was due to the less populous states voting contrary to the most populous states.

A contributing factor to the predominance of the No vote comes from the unwillingness of the Australian voters to extend the powers of the Federal government. Although none of the votes was over additional powers over commerce and industry granted to the government, at least two successful referendums can be characterised as giving the Commonwealth more powers: in 1946, the Commonwealth was given power to make laws with respect to a range of health and welfare services; and in 1967, the Commonwealth was given a power to make laws with respect to Aboriginal Australians. The government hoped that support for the aboriginal law would encourage electors to vote yes for the second referendum submitted at the same time, which would have abolished the nexus between the numbers of members in each House. This second law was not approved by the electors.

List of referendums and plebiscites

Each question asked electors to answer "Yes" or "No", except for the National Song plebiscite where electors were asked to choose between four songs.

Results of referendums

Year	No.	Name	States	Voters	Carried
1906	1	Senate Elections	6:0	82.65%	Yes
1910	2	State Debts	5:1	54.95%	Yes
	3	Surplus Revenue	3:3	49.04%	No
1911	4	Trade and Commerce	1:5	39.42%	No
	5	Monopolies	1:5	39.89%	No
1913	6	Trade and Commerce	3:3	49.38%	No
	7	Corporations	3:3	49.33%	No
	8	Industrial Matters	3:3	49.33%	No
	9	Trusts	3:3	49.78%	No
	10	Monopolies	3:3	49.33%	No
	11	Railway Disputes	3:3	49.13%	No
1919	12	Legislative Powers	3:3	49.65%	No
	13	Monopolies	3:3	48.64%	No
1926	14	Industry and Commerce	2:4	43.50%	No
	15	Essential Services	2:4	42.80%	No
1928	16	State Debts	6:0	74.30%	Yes
1937	17	Aviation	2:4	53.56%	No
	18	Marketing	0:6	36.26%	No
1944	19	Post-War Reconstruction and Democratic Rights	2:4	45.99%	No
1946	20	Social Services	6:0	54.39%	Yes
	21	Marketing	3:3	50.57%	No
	22	Industrial Employment	3:3	50.30%	No
1948	23	Rents and Prices	0:6	40.66%	No
1951	24	Communists and Communism	3:3	49.44%	No
1967	25	Parliament	1:5	40.25%	No
	26	Aboriginals	6:0	90.77%	Yes
1973	27	Prices	0:6	43.81%	No
	28	Incomes	0:6	34.42%	No
1974	29	Simultaneous Elections	1:5	48.30%	No
	30	Mode of Altering the Constitution	1:5	47.99%	No
	31	Democratic Elections	1:5	47.20%	No
	32	Local Government Bodies	1:5	46.85%	No
1977	33	Simultaneous Elections	3:3	62.22%	No
	34	Senate Casual Vacancies	6:0	73.32%	Yes
	35	Referendums	6:0	77.72%	Yes
	36	Retirement of Judges	6:0	80.10%	Yes
1984	37	Terms of Senators	2:4	50.64%	No
	38	Interchange of Powers	0:6	47.06%	No
1988	39	Parliamentary Terms	0:6	32.92%	No
	40	Fair Elections	0:6	37.60%	No
	41	Local Government	0:6	33.62%	No
	42	Rights and Freedoms	0:6	30.79%	No
1999	43	Establishment of Republic	0:6	45.13%	No
	44	Preamble	0:6	39.34%	No

Results of plebiscites

Year	No.	Name	States	Voters	Carried
1916	–	Military Service	3:3	48.39%	No
1917	–	Military Service	2:4	46.21%	No
1977	–	National Song	5:1	43.29%	Yes
2017	–	Australian Marriage Law	6:0	61.60%	Yes

State and territory referendums

States and territories of Australia may also hold referendums. Some of the most important ones were:

• In the years leading up to the Federation of Australia in 1901, all six colonies (as the states then were) passed referendums in favour of Federation.
• In 1933, voters in Western Australia voted for their state to leave the Commonwealth of Australia with the aim of reverting to the British Empire as an autonomous territory. The Western Australian Government sent a delegation to Westminster; however the United Kingdom House of Commons refused to intervene, declaring it had no power to grant secession, and therefore no action was taken to implement this decision.
• In 1967, voters in north-east New South Wales were asked if they favoured creating a new state in their region. The no vote won, with 54.1% of the formal vote.
• In 1968, Tasmanian voters took part in a referendum to approve the granting of Australia's first casino licence to the Federal Group to operate the Wrest Point Hotel Casino in Hobart. The referendum passed with 53% of the formal vote.
• In 1975, voters in Western Australia voted against permanent daylight saving/summer time.
• In 1978, the Australian Capital Territory voted at a referendum on whether the ACT should be granted self-government. Voters were given the choice of becoming a self-governing territory, a local government or continuing with the Legislative Assembly being an advisory body to the Department of the Capital Territory. 63.75% voted to continue with the then current arrangement. Despite the outcome of the referendum, the Parliament of Australia passed the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act in 1988 and the ACT became a self-governing territory in 1989.
• In 1981, the Tasmanian Government held a controversial referendum to decide the location of a hydro-electric dam on the Franklin River. With the electorate simply given a choice of two different dams, approximately 33% of the electorate voted informal by writing "No Dams" on their ballot paper.
• In 1984, voters in Western Australia voted against permanent daylight saving/summer time for a second time.
• In 1992, after trialling Daylight Saving in Queensland for a total of three years, a referendum was held, with 54.5% of Queenslanders voting against daylight saving. Regional and rural areas strongly opposed daylight saving, while those in the metropolitan south-east voted in favour of it.
• In 1992, a referendum to amend constitutional law in Queensland to extend the maximum parliamentary term from three to four years was defeated by 51.1% to 48.9%.
• Also in 1992, voters in Western Australia voted against permanent daylight saving/summer time for a third time.
• In 1995, voters in New South Wales voted for a fixed four-year term for the state parliament.
• In 2005, voters in Western Australia rejected two referendums related to weekday trading and Sunday trading.
• In 2009, after a three-year trial, voters in Western Australia voted against permanent daylight saving/summer time for a fourth time in four decades.
• In 2016, voters in Queensland voted 52.96% for a fixed four-year term for the state unicameral parliament.

See also

• Proposed 2013 Australian constitutional referendum
• 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum

External links

Federal referendums

• Select sources on constitutional change in Australia 1901–1997. Part 2 – History of Australian Referendums (PDF). Commonwealth of Australia. 24 March 1997. ISBN 0644484101. An Australian Parliament report, summarising the background, "yes" and "no" cases, and results, for each referendum up to 1988.

State and territory referendums

• "New South Wales Referendums". NSW Electoral Commission. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
• "Queensland Referendums". Electoral Commission of Queensland. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
• "South Australian Referenda". Electoral Commission of South Australia. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
• Referendum Results in Western Australia
• Referendums in Tasmania
• ACT Referendums
• "Referendums and plebiscites". Parliamentary Education Office.