How Did The 1967 Referendum Affect The Economic Wellbeing Of Australia

After too many years, when the Australian government decided to grant Aboriginal people with fully rights of freedom again in their country, the number of indigenous people in Australia jumped an amazingly 33 per cent from the 1991 to 1996 census. final

Indigenous Australians have faced many changes to their original life style, with numerous policies being brought in. These policies had an incredible affect on how the indigenous Australians lived. The policies inflicted on the indigenous Australians varied widely and had numerous impacts. The policies of assimilation, protection and integration had mainly negative impacts on the community, causing loss of identity, language and religion. The policies of self-determination and reconciliation, had mostly positive effects to the indigenous Australian community, creating a stronger bond between black and white Australians, encouraging the concept of closing the gap between indigenous Australians and non-indigenous Australians. These

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.

Many men, who worked on the farms, quit in search of gold. Woman became very important, in many cases, the woman and children were left to work on the land, with the help of Aboriginal stockman. A person could become very rich overnight. The upper class were not only the ones who had money now. People who worked hard would be rewarded. The boost to the economy helped pay for the modernisation of the whole of Australia. Roads, schools, and churches were built. Train lines were built to link major cities. The discovery of gold had also stopped convict transportation. The diggers came from all different backgrounds, but they worked together and considered themselves equal. They were free from social class. Today, Australia is very much free of class.

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

Archaeologists believe that aboriginals first came to Australia about 45, 000 years ago and were the only population of humans in Australia until the British invasion. There are about 500 different aboriginal groups each with their own language and territory and usually made up of several separate clans. The aboriginals of Australia are marginalised in today society. This marginalisation began right back during the British invasion where they were evicted from their own country, the stolen generation occurred and their health care, education, employment and housing was severely limited. Aboriginals generally live in poor conditions and choose unhealthy lifestyle choices

In 1976 the Fraser government passed the Aboriginal Land Rights Act. Several state governments passed their own Land Rights Acts, which recognised aboriginal and Torres Strait islander claims to land and guaranteed them royalty payments from mining companies working there. Some laws enforced by the government became challenging for most indigenous people to abide by. Through the analysis of this information we understand the impacts the government and its laws had towards the indigenous society of

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

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

The Australian legal system and constitution has evolved throughout time. The Australian government has introduced referendum into the legal system which has assisted in halting the dispossession against indigenous Australians. This referendum allowed Indigenous Australians to be including in the citizens of Australia’s census figures. In addition, this was the same year, that a new policy was introduced, which disallowed Indigenous child abduction, which hereby allowed indigenous families to stay in unity. The main discussion points regarding whether dispossession related acts against Indigenous Australians occur include; the 1967 Constitutional amendment/referendum and the structure of the Australian legal system and how it was created, a

By the end of 1967, the official end of discrimination against Aboriginal Australians began to change life in Australia.

The source was created in early 2008 and delivered on February 13th 2008. The 40th anniversary of the 1967 referendum which involved two changes to the Australian constitution to remove the discrimination against Indigenous Australians was in 2007, the year before the apology. From 1997 an apology to Aboriginal people was seen as an essential condition for