Talk:Voting rights of Indigenous Australians

Encouragement to enrol was illegal?
I understand that, while all indigenous people clearly had a right to enrol from the 1967 referendum onwards, it was not at that time compulsory for them to enrol. (But if they did enrol, it was compulsory to vote.)

However, I've just read that "... perversely, it was illegal to encourage them to enrol, a bizarre state of affairs that persisted until 1984 when compulsory enrolment and voting was introduced". I'd never heard of that before. Can anyone shed any light on this? -- JackofOz 05:48, 22 September 2007 (UTC)


 * OK, I've found it on the AEC website,, see 1962. --  JackofOz 23:47, 14 October 2007 (UTC)


 * Telling you now, the link doesn't work. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.106.146.105 (talk) 08:39, 19 February 2008 (UTC)


 * They've reorganised their website. It's now here - see 1962.  --  JackofOz (talk) 05:45, 19 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I looked up at ComLaw the 1962 amendments to the Electoral Act, which the AEC is probably referring to, because it sounded odd to me too and the AEC does not reference it. Although I'm not an expert, it appears to me that whoever wrote that for the AEC is being extremely misleading and, consequently, the line should be removed from the article. As far as I can tell, the amendments are about avoiding bribery and undue influence, not making it illegal to encourage Aboriginal people to enrol. The 1962 amendments say it is bribery to make "promises, offers or suggests any valuable consideration, advantage, recompense, reward or benefit for or on account of, or to induce" an Aboriginal person to enrol (or not enrol) or promise to enrol (or not enrol), just like it is bribery to do the same for all Australians regarding a vote or candidature. And it is undue influence if someone "threatens, offers or suggests any violence, injury, punishment, damage, loss or disadvantage for or on account of, or to induce" Aboriginal enrolment, just like it is undue influence to do so for all Australians regarding a vote or candidature. It also explicitly says it is undue influence to interfere or attempt to interfere with "the free exercise by an aboriginal native of Australia of his choice whether or not to enrol as an elector". There might be something I'm missing, however. Boneymau (talk) 04:47, 20 July 2017 (UTC)


 * Very belatedly, thanks @ User:Boneymau. --  Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  07:48, 17 February 2022 (UTC)

What is a "local leader of Parliament"?
The article, section "State elections", subsection "New South Wales" says that in order to vote in NSW state elections aboriginal voters "also had to go to the local leader of parliament and ask for clearance".

In the first place, nothing in the section is supported by the link cited. In the second place, there is no such thing as a "local leader of Parliament".

Agemegos (talk) 22:41, 5 October 2010 (UTC)

Requested move
Request a move of this article to Voting rights of Australian Aborigines. Even though "Aboriginals" may be accepted now, Aborigines is still more correct, and Aboriginal is still an adjective. Altormainstream (talk) 21:16, 21 March 2011 (UTC)

editing plans 25.4.19
I am planning to update and expand this page. I plan to create a more coherent article through (1) adding a timeline of aboriginal voting milestones (2) adding a description of the voting system in Australia (3) mentioning the 'half-caste' problem and (4) elaborating on the 'political participation' section through mentioning the current day situation. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kelseystevens (talk • contribs) 13:39, 25 April 2019 (UTC)
 * Part of the story is the complexity of different historical arrangements at Commonwealth and state levels over time, so ensure that still comes through. Also, I don't think the 'political participation' section should be expanded on this article, it is supposed to be about voting rights/suffrage. Feel free to create an additional article about political participation which can go into more detail.Boneymau (talk) 21:00, 25 April 2019 (UTC)
 * Ok thanks for your reply - I will take this into consideration. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kelseystevens (talk • contribs) 11:17, 26 April 2019 (UTC)

edits 16.05.19
The timeline and table I have added aim to provide clarity and more structure concerning the milestones and events which are significant for indigenous Australian suffrage. I would appreciate some feedback and assistance, also, firstly in terms of editing the margins of the table for indigenous political representatives to improve the display / make this table more visually appealing. Secondly, in terms of the article's coherence; I have entirely replaced the section previously labelled 'Indigenous Political Participation' as I believe a more appropriate term is representation (the previous version largely concerned the aboriginal political representatives and their involvement in Australian politics). Finally, in terms of the timeline, there is definitely repetition between the article and the sections 'colonial indigenous franchise' and 'Commonwealth franchise in the early 20th century' so I would appreciate any thoughts/feedback on how to proceed with this section - thanks!