On 27 May 1967 an overwhelming majority of electors voted in a national referendum to amend clauses of the Australian Constitution concerning Aboriginal people. This title explores the legal and political significance of the referendum and the long struggle by black and white Australians for constitutional change.

On 27 May 1967 a remarkable event occurred. An overwhelming majority of electors voted in a national referendum to amend clauses of the Australian Constitution concerning Aboriginal people. Today it is commonly regarded as a turning point in the history of relations between Indigenous and white Australians: a historic moment when citizenship rights - including the vote - were granted and the Commonwealth at long last assumed responsibility for Aboriginal affairs. Yet the constitutional changes entailed in the referendum brought about none of these things."The 1967 Referendum" explores the legal and political significance of the referendum and the long struggle by black and white Australians for constitutional change. It traces the emergence of a series of powerful narratives about the Australian Constitution and the status of Aborigines, revealing how and why the referendum campaign acquired so much significance and has since become the subject of highly charged myth in contemporary Australia. Attwood and Markus' text is complemented by personal recollections and opinions about the referendum by a range of Indigenous people, and historical documents and illustrations.

The Constitution and the Power of Race
The Commonwealth and Aboriginal Affairs
The Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement and Constitutional Change
The 1962-3 Petition Campaign
The Coalition Government and the Demand for a Referendum
The Campaign for the 'Yes' Vote
The Poll and its Consequences
Remembering and Forgetting the Referendum
Reconciliation and Constitutional Change
Race, Rights and the Constitution
Documents - Part I -
Written Sources
Part II - Aboriginal Oral Sources
Part III - Contemporary Aboriginal Perspectives
Index.