Referendum dates and results
Updated: 12 August 2025
Poster
Show result:
| Subject/Proposal | Issue of Writ | Polling Day | Result | States that Voted in Favour | % of Votes in Favour |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senate Elections To enable elections for both Houses to be held concurrently | 8 November 1906 | 12 December 1906 | Carried | All | 82.65 |
| Finance To implement the agreement to allow the Commonwealth to make a fixed payment out of surplus revenue to the States according to population. This was to replace the arrangement where the Commonwealth returned three-quarters of net revenue to the States | 28 February 1910 | 13 April 1910 | Not Carried | Qld, WA, Tas | 49.04 |
| State Debts To give the Commonwealth unrestricted power to take over State debts | 28 February 1910 | 13 April 1910 | Carried | All except NSW | 54.95 |
| *Legislative Powers To extend the Commonwealth's powers over trade, commerce, the control of corporations, labour and employment, including wages and conditions; and the settling of disputes; and combinations and monopolies | 15 March 1911 | 26 April 1911 | Not Carried | WA | 39.42 |
| *Monopolies To give power to the Commonwealth to nationalise monopolies. | 15 March 1911 | 26 April 1911 | Not Carried | WA | 39.89 |
| Trade and Commerce | 24 April 1913 | 31 May 1913 | Not Carried | Qld, WA, SA | 49.38 |
| Corporations | 24 April 1913 | 31 May 1913 | Not Carried | Qld, WA, SA | 49.33 |
| Industrial Matters | 24 April 1913 | 31 May 1913 | Not Carried | Qld, WA, SA | 49.33 |
| Railway Disputes | 24 April 1913 | 31 May 1913 | Not Carried | Qld, WA, SA | 49.13 |
| Trusts | 24 April 1913 | 31 May 1913 | Not Carried | Qld, WA, SA | 49.78 |
| Nationalisation of Monopolies | 24 April 1913 | 31 May 1913 | Not Carried | Qld, WA, SA | 49.33 |
| Legislative Powers To seek temporary extension of Commonwealth legislative powers over Trade and Commerce, Corporations, Industrial matters and Trusts | 3 November 1919 | 13 December 1919 | Not Carried | Vic, Qld, WA | 49.65 |
| Nationalisation of Monopolies To seek power for the Commonwealth to make laws with respect to monopolies | 3 November 1919 | 13 December 1919 | Not Carried | Vic, Qld, WA | 48.64 |
| *Industry and Commerce To authorise the creation of authorities to control the terms and conditions of industrial employment, to give State authorities similar powers to Commonwealth authorities, and to regulate and control trusts and combinations | 26 July 1926 | 4 September 1926 | Not Carried | NSW, Qld | 43.50 |
| *Essential Services to allow the Commonwealth to take measures to protect the public against interruption of essential services | 26 July 1926 | 4 September 1926 | Not Carried | NSW, Qld | 42.80 |
| State Debts to end the system of per capita payments which have been made by the Commonwealth to the States since 1910, and to restrict the right of each State to borrow for its own development by subjecting that borrowing to control by a loan council | 9 October 1928 | 17 November 1928 | Carried | All | 74.30 |
| *Aviation to give the Commonwealth power to legislate on air navigation and aircraft | 4 February 1937 | 6 March 1937 | Not Carried | Vic, Qld | 53.56 |
| *Marketing to give the Commonwealth power to legislate on marketing | 4 February 1937 | 6 March 1937 | Not Carried | None | 36.26 |
| *Post-war Reconstruction and Democratic Rights to give the Commonwealth power, for a period of five years, to legislate on 14 specific matters, including the rehabilitation of ex-servicemen, national health, family allowances and 'the people of the Aboriginal race' | 4 July 1944 | 19 August 1944 | Not Carried | WA, SA | 45.99 |
| Social Services to give the Commonwealth power to legislate on a wide range of social services | 21 August 1946 | 28 September 1946 | Carried | All | 54.39 |
| Organised Marketing of Primary Products to allow the Commonwealth to make laws for the organised marketing of primary products | 21 August 1946 | 28 September 1946 | Not Carried | NSW, Vic, WA | 50.57 |
| Industrial Employment to give the Commonwealth power to legislate on terms and conditions of industrial employment | 21 August 1946 | 28 September 1946 | Not Carried | NSW, Vic, WA | 50.30 |
| *Rent and Prices to give the Commonwealth permanent power to control rents and prices | 12 April 1948 | 29 May 1948 | Not Carried | None | 40.66 |
| *Powers to Deal with Communists and Communism to give the Commonwealth powers to make laws in respect of communists and communism | 10 August 1951 | 22 September 1951 | Not Carried | Qld, WA, Tas | 49.44 |
| *Parliament to increase the number of Members of the House of Representatives without necessarily increasing the number of Senators | 28 April 1967 | 27 May 1967 | Not Carried | NSW | 40.25 |
| *Aboriginals to enable the Commonwealth to enact laws for Aboriginal people. To remove the prohibition against counting Aboriginal people in population counts in the Commonwealth or a State. | 28 April 1967 | 27 May 1967 | Carried | All | 90.77 |
| *Prices to give powers to the Commonwealth to control prices | 12 November 1973 | 8 December 1973 | Not Carried | None | 43.81 |
| *Incomes to give powers to the Commonwealth to legislate on incomes | 12 November 1973 | 8 December 1973 | Not Carried | None | 34.42 |
| Simultaneous Elections to hold elections for the Senate and the House of Representatives on the same day | 20 April 1974 | 18 May 1974 | Not Carried | NSW | 48.30 |
| Mode of Altering the Constitution to give a vote in referendums to electors in the ACT and the Northern Territory, and to enable amendments to be made to the Constitution if approved by a majority of voters and a majority of voters in half the States | 20 April 1974 | 18 May 1974 | Not Carried | NSW | 47.99 |
| Democratic Elections to make population instead of electors, as at present, the basis of determining the average size of electorates in each State | 20 April 1974 | 18 May 1974 | Not Carried | NSW | 47.20 |
| Local Government Bodies to give the Commonwealth powers to borrow money for, and to make financial assistance grants directly to, any local government body | 20 April 1974 | 18 May 1974 | Not Carried | NSW | 46.85 |
| *Simultaneous Elections to ensure that Senate elections are held at the same time as House of Representatives elections | 27 April 1977 | 21 May 1977 | Not Carried | NSW, Vic, SA | 62.22 |
| *Senate Casual Vacancies to ensure, as far as practicable, that a casual vacancy in the Senate is filled by a person of the same political party as the Senator chosen by the people, and that the person shall hold the seat for the balance of the term | 27 April 1977 | 21 May 1977 | Carried | All | 73.32 |
| *Referendums – Territories to allow electors in Territories, as well as in the States, to vote in constitutional referendums | 27 April 1977 | 21 May 1977 | Carried | All | 77.72 |
| *Retirement of Judges to provide for retiring ages for judges of Federal courts | 27 April 1977 | 21 May 1977 | Carried | All | 80.10 |
| Terms of Senators to change the terms of Senators so that they are no longer fixed, and to provide that the election for both Houses are always on the same day | 26 October 1984 | 1 December 1984 | Not Carried | NSW, Vic | 50.64 |
| Interchange of Powers to enable the Commonwealth and the States voluntarily to refer powers to each other | 26 October 1984 | 1 December 1984 | Not Carried | None | 47.06 |
| *Parliamentary Terms to provide for 4 year maximum terms for members of both Houses of the Commonwealth Parliament | 25 July 1988 | 3 September 1988 | Not Carried | None | 32.92 |
| *Fair Elections to provide for fair and democratic parliamentary elections throughout Australia | 25 July 1988 | 3 September 1988 | Not Carried | None | 37.60 |
| *Local Government to recognise local government in the Constitution | 25 July 1988 | 3 September 1988 | Not Carried | None | 33.62 |
| *Rights and Freedoms to extend the right to trial by jury, to extend freedom of religion, and to ensure fair terms for persons whose property is acquired by any government | 25 July 1988 | 3 September 1988 | Not Carried | None | 30.79 |
| *Republic 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 | 1 October 1999 | 6 November 1999 | Not Carried | None | 45.13 |
| *Preamble To alter the Constitution to insert a preamble | 1 October 1999 | 6 November 1999 | Not Carried | None | 39.34 |
| *Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Voice To alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice | 11 September 2023 | 14 October 2023 | Not Carried | None | 39.94 |
Note:* indicates a referendum that was not held in conjunction with an election
Source:2008 Parliamentary Handbook. Parliamentary Library
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