What question will the Indigenous Voice referendum ask?

The date has been set for the Voice to parliament referendum, with all Australians over 18 having to answer this question.

On October 14, 2023, Australians will be asked to vote in a referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament.

On June 19, the senate voted to pass the Constitution Alteration Bill, which gave the Prime Minister the ability to set a date for the referendum.

Ahead of the vote, here are the key questions you need answered.

WHAT WILL THE REFERENDUM ASK?

On October 14, Australians will be asked to consider this question, answering with a Yes or No.

“A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve of this proposed alteration?”

The voice question was released by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on March 23.

WHAT IS THE VOICE REFERENDUM TRYING TO ACHIEVE?
The referendum is being held to give Australians a say on whether there should be an Indigenous voice to parliament. The Voice would comprise a permanent, independent, representative advisory body for First Nations people to advise the Australian parliament and government on the views of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

WHY IS THE QUESTION BEING PUT TO A REFERENDUM?

The question is being put to a referendum because it proposes a change to Australia’s Constitution, which can only be altered by a referendum.

WHAT QUESTION DID THE 1967 REFERENDUM ASK?

The 1967 referendum was about formally recognising Aboriginal people in the Constitution, allowing the Parliament to make laws for First Nations Peoples and to include them in the Census of Population and Housing, starting with the 1971 Census. The question Australians were asked to consider was: “Do you approve the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled ‘An Act to alter the Constitution so as to omit certain words relating to the people of the Aboriginal race in any state and so that Aboriginals are to be counted in reckoning the population’?”A total 6,182,585 Australians were enrolled to vote and turnout for the referendum was high at 94 per cent. The result was a resounding ‘Yes’ with 5,183,113 people, or 91 per cent of the eligible population, voting in favour of the change.

WHAT WAS THE QUESTION IN THE 1999 REPUBLIC REFERENDUM?

In 1999, Australians were asked to have their say on whether Australia should become a republic, with a President appointed by the parliament.Australians were asked to consider two questions, with the first, on the question of a republic the most significant. The wording of the first question was: “A proposed law: To alter the Constitution to establish the Commonwealth of Australia as a republic with the Queen and Governor-General being replaced by a President appointed by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Commonwealth Parliament.”

The second question was on the question of whether an introductory statement, or “preamble”, should be added to Australia’s Constitution.

According to a pamphlet setting out the case for voting ‘Yes’, said the preamble would celebrate “the values and aspirations which unit us as Australians and which will continue to inspire us into the future”.

In total 12,361,694 people were enrolled to vote in the 1999 referendum and 95.1 per cent of eligible voters turned out to have their say.

The referendum was unsuccessful on both questions with 54.87 per cent of people voting No on the question of a republic and 60.66 per cent of people voting No on the preamble question.

Originally published as What question will the Indigenous Voice referendum ask?