Everything You Need to Know About the Referendum to Recognise Indigenous Australians

by Megan Davis, George Williams

Detailing how the Australian Constitution was drafted, this book shows how Aboriginal peoples came to be excluded from the new political settlement, and provides what Australians need to know about the proposal to recognize Aboriginal peoples in the Constitution. It explains what the 1967 referendum—in which more than 90 percent of Australians voted to delete discriminatory references to Aboriginal people from the Constitution—achieved and why discriminatory racial references remain. Close to 15 million people will cast their vote in the upcoming referendum (the date is to be announced) and need expert information that is clear and informed—as found in this book—allowing them to participate in the debate and make an informed decision. Written by two of the best-known experts in the country on matters legal, indigenous, and constitutional, the book shows the symbolic and legal power of such a change and how to get there.

224 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2015

About the author

Megan Davis is Professor of Constitutional Law at UNSW, a global Indigenous rights expert on the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and a former chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. She was the first person to read out the Uluru Statement from the Heart, at Uluru in May 2017.

Reviews

[Helen Ginbey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Digestible & clear take on the necessary steps needed to amend Australia's constitution to recognise indigenous Australians. I enjoyed the short historical context into how the constitution was formed & also some of the myths around what it means to change it. Fingers crossed we can get those essential 5 ingredients the book talks about to ensure Australians vote unequivocally 'YES'