What is a referendum and how does it work?

A referendum hasn't been called since 1999, that was 24 years ago, before a whole generation of voters had even been born!

Transcript

00:00 On October 14, Australians will head to the polls to vote in a referendum.

00:04 So what is a referendum and how does it work?

00:07 The Australian Electoral Commission defines it as a national vote on a potential change

00:12 to the constitution.

00:14 The federal parliament will set a question, which is then distributed to the Australian

00:17 public to vote yes or no to.

00:20 This time, the question will be...

00:22 A proposed law to alter the constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by

00:30 establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice.

00:34 Do you approve this proposed alteration?

00:38 That's the question before the Australian people.

00:41 Just like with an election, voting in a referendum is compulsory.

00:45 But unlike with an election, a referendum requires a double majority to be successful.

00:51 That means the majority of the population must agree to the proposed statement, and

00:54 then at least four of the six states must vote yes in the majority too.

00:59 We haven't seen a referendum since 1999.

01:03 That was 24 years ago, and a whole generation of voters weren't even born then.

01:09 That one was called by then Prime Minister John Howard and asked whether Australians

01:14 wanted to oust the monarchy and become a republic.

01:17 It was ultimately unsuccessful, as most of the 44 referendums Australia has had since

01:23 federation have been.

01:25 Only eight of them have actually been successful.

01:28 One of those eight successful referendums was the 1967 referendum.

01:33 It sought to remove a section of the constitution that barred Indigenous Australians from being

01:37 included in the population.

01:40 That referendum passed with an over 90% majority, which set a record for the largest ever yes

01:45 vote in an Australian referendum.

01:48 The upcoming referendum will seek to enshrine an Indigenous voice to parliament.

01:53 It will be the first referendum in this millennium, so it's pretty safe to say it's going to

01:58 be a big deal.

01:59 [Music]

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