About this record

This photograph shows members of the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI) with Prime Minister Harold Holt and two other federal politicians at (Old) Parliament House in Canberra. They were meeting to seek bipartisan support for a referendum to remove discriminatory clauses from the Australian Constitution.

Campaigning for change

The case for changes to the Australian Constitution to allow the Australian (federal) Government to legislate on behalf of First Australians, and for them to be counted in the national census, had been argued since the early 20th century.

In February 1967, Prime Minister Harold Holt announced that a referendum would be held asking the Australian people whether they were in favour of changing the Constitution. Members of FCAATSI met with politicians on both sides of parliament to seek bipartisan support for the referendum.

The meeting was attended by prominent First Australian campaigners including Faith Bandler and Douglas Nicholls. Bandler was a founding member of FCAATSI. She had been inspired by her father, who is believed to have been kidnapped ('blackbirded') from Vanuatu and forced to work in Queensland. Nicholls, a renowned VFL footballer, had been a campaigner for First Australian rights since the 1930s. He was later knighted and appointed Governor of South Australia.

In May 1967, an extraordinary 90.77% of voters voted in favour of changing the Constitution. It was the largest majority for any referendum in Australian history.

In spite of the overwhelming vote, and the support of both sides of parliament, many people felt that the Holt government was slow to act after the referendum. It was to be another 5 months before Holt appointed 3 men to a newly established Council for Aboriginal Affairs. Holt also set up an Office of Aboriginal Affairs within his own department – however, a separate department specifically for Aboriginal Affairs was not established until 1972.