What happened in the 1967 referendum result?

The 1967 Aboriginal referendum was carried with 90.77 per cent Yes, the highest Yes vote of any Australian referendum in the country's history. Both proposed amendments to the Constitution were approved in all six states. The total Yes vote was 5,183,113 with the total No vote 527,007, and the result was hailed as a landmark moment in Australian constitutional history.

The Yes vote varied across states. The strongest support came from Victoria (94.68 per cent Yes) and Tasmania (90.16 per cent Yes). New South Wales recorded 91.46 per cent, Queensland 89.21 per cent, South Australia 86.26 per cent, and Western Australia 80.95 per cent (the lowest state vote). Voters in the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory also voted Yes by large margins, but their votes did not count toward the state-by-state requirement of section 128 (which requires a majority in at least four of the six states alongside the national majority).

The referendum's implementation took time. The Holt government passed the Aboriginal Welfare (Commonwealth) Act 1967 shortly after the referendum, establishing the Council for Aboriginal Affairs to advise on policy. Council members included Dr H. C. (Nugget) Coombs (chair), Barrie Dexter, and W. E. H. Stanner. The Council, supported by the new Office of Aboriginal Affairs (later the Department of Aboriginal Affairs from 1972 under Whitlam), advised on the first major federal Aboriginal policy reforms. The establishment of the federal Department of Aboriginal Affairs in December 1972 marked the substantive shift to active federal responsibility.

Several major reforms followed in the years after the referendum. The Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (passed under Fraser, drafted under Whitlam) created statutory land rights in the NT. The Racial Discrimination Act 1975 made racial discrimination unlawful. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 protected sacred sites. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) operated from 1990 to 2005 as an Indigenous-elected body delivering federal services. The Mabo decision of 1992 and the Native Title Act 1993 addressed terra nullius and native title. The 1997 Bringing Them Home report documented the Stolen Generations. The 2008 National Apology under Rudd and the 2023 Voice referendum (defeated nationally with 60.1 per cent No) extended the continuing constitutional debate. The Closing the Gap framework, refreshed in 2020 with 16 socioeconomic targets agreed between Australian governments and the Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peak Organisations, continues the work.