Geography

• While the word Aborigines may be used to describe members of the indigenous population of any area, it most often refers specifically to the original inhabitants of Australia. Aborigines, also commonly known as Indigenous Australians, have occupied Australia and Tasmania for at least the past 40,000 years, following their migration across the ocean from southeast Asia. There are an estimated 460,000 Aborigines currently living in Australia, with a large concentration in the state of Queensland. About two-thirds live in cities, while the rest remain in rural areas.
  
  

History

• In the 1850s, the six British colonies of Australia -- New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia -- formed individual state constitutions. Aboriginal males were given voting rights under the constitutions of New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia, but were explicitly barred from voting in Queensland and Western Australia. In 1894, all women, Aboriginal women included, were granted the right to vote throughout Australia. However, most Aborigines were unaware of these rights, and thus very few voted. In 1901, the six colonies collectively formed the Commonwealth of Australia. Under the 1902 Franchise Act, Aborigines were only granted a federal vote if they already possessed the right to vote within their state, which excluded all Aborigines living in Queensland and Western Australia. In addition, the Franchise Act was widely interpreted to grant the right to vote in federal elections only to those few individual Aborigines who had voted in state elections prior to the formation of the Commonwealth. In the 1940s, a nationwide movement to give all Aborigines the right to vote gained momentum and, by 1965, all Aborigines could legally vote in state and federal elections.
  
  

Misconceptions

• A 1967 referendum is commonly assumed to have given Aborigines the right to vote. In fact, while this referendum amended the Australian Constitution to include Aborigines in the national census and to give the government the power to extend more rights to Aborigines, the right to vote was not affected: By the time the referendum passed, Aborigines already possessed full voting rights.
  
  

Effects

• To compensate for the historical discrimination against Aborigines, the Australian Electoral Commission instituted a campaign to encourage Aborigines to vote. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Electoral Information Service sent workers to spread information about elections to Aborigines living in remote areas, but budget cuts caused the program to be discontinued.
  
  

Considerations

• Many organizations are concerned that Aborigines are still underrepresented in Australian government as a result of being denied representation for so many years. An elected government body consisting entirely of Aborigines, known as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), was formed to give Indigenous Australians a voice in government, but was abolished in 2005 following claims of corruption and mismanagement.