27 May 1967 was the day 90% of Australians voted ‘YES’ in a milestone referendum.
To mark 50 years since the 1967 Referendum, NCIE took a look at the history leading up to and after the event. The referendum resulted in the inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the census, and gave the Australian Government the power to make laws for First Nations peoples.
These information boards are just a summary of the information we assembled to display on the NCIE site for the 50th anniversary of the referendum.
Thanks to AIATSIS, Tranby Co-operative, The National Archives of Australia, Heidi Norman and Ashleigh Synnott from UTS, for contributing research and information to this project.
McKinlay Graphic Design assembled the information boards.
The image above shows the How to Vote information supplied to Australians in the lead up to the Referendum.
The 1967 Referendum was the result of years of campaigning and hard work by so many dedicated activists, leaders and groups, including the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI). Learn more about the Council and campaigners below.
When the results came in, they reflected an overwhelming ‘Yes’ vote, with 90% of Australians taking an important step in the reconciliation process for the country.
