1977 Australian referendum

Public vote in Australia containing a total of five questions

The 1977 Australian referendum was held on 21 May 1977. It contained four referendum questions and one non-binding plebiscite. To date, it is the most recent referendum to have been successful in Australia.

This referendum had a particularly strong "Yes" vote. All but one of the referendum questions were carried, and the only one not carried had a clear national majority, but was held back by not achieving a majority of the states. No referendum since then has been successful.^[a][1]

The four referendum questions were only voted on in the states; voters in the territories only gained the right to vote on constitutional changes as a result of the Referendums amendment passing. Voters in the territories, however, were able to vote on the plebiscite.^[1]

Results in detail

Simultaneous Elections

This section is an excerpt from 1977 Australian referendum (Simultaneous Elections) § Results

Senate Casual Vacancies

This section is an excerpt from 1977 Australian referendum (Senate Casual Vacancies) § Results

Referendums

This section is an excerpt from 1977 Australian referendum (Inclusion of territories) § Results

Retirement of Judges

This section is an excerpt from 1977 Australian referendum (Retirement of Judges) § Results

National Song

This section is an excerpt from 1977 Australian plebiscite (National Song) § Results

Voters were presented with the following choice: Against the background that 'GOD SAVE THE QUEEN' is the NATIONAL ANTHEM to be played on Regal and Vice Regal occasions, electors may indicate their preferences as to which of the tunes of the songs listed below they would prefer to be played on other occasions.^[2]

See also

• Politics of Australia
• History of Australia

Notes

1. The 2017 Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey returned a majority of "yes" votes in all states (and thus nationally) but – not being compulsory – was not a referendum.

References

1. Handbook of the 44th Parliament (2014) "Part 5 - Referendums and Plebiscites - Referendum results". Parliamentary Library of Australia.
2. Handbook of the 44th Parliament (2014) "Part 5 - Referendums and Plebiscites - Plebiscite results". Parliamentary Library of Australia.

Further reading

• Standing Committee on Legislative and Constitutional Affairs (1997) Constitutional Change: Select sources on Constitutional change in Australia 1901–1997 Archived 5 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Australian Government Printing Service, Canberra.
• Bennett, Scott (2003). Research Paper no. 11 2002–03: The Politics of Constitutional Amendment Archived 16 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine Australian Department of the Parliamentary Library, Canberra.
• Australian Electoral Commission (2007) Referendum Dates and Results 1906 – Present AEC, Canberra.