A referendum is a national vote on a question about a proposed change to the Constitution. Translated information is available – in easy read guides. An overview of the referendum process is given, and links to the Easy-Read Guides translated information.
A referendum is a national vote on a question about a proposed change to the Constitution.
All Australian citizens aged 18 and over must vote.
It’s been quite a while since we held a referendum – the last was over 20 years ago in 1999.
Learn more about how they work…
Federal Parliament decides on the proposed change to the Constitution to put to voters. A proposed law outlining the changes to the Constitution must be passed by both houses of Parliament - or passed twice in either the House of Representatives or the Senate.
A referendum must then be held no sooner than two months and no later than six months after the bill has passed Parliament.
- The Governor-General issues a writ (the formal instruction to run the referendum) which, like an election, must be held on a Saturday.
- A referendum can be held at the same time as a federal election but can also be held as a stand-alone event.
- There can be a single referendum question or several proposed changes to the Constitution for voters to consider at the same time.
Legislation
While Chapter 8 of the Constitution provides key rules for the conduct of a Referendum, the Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1984 outlines specific processes the Government must follow when holding a referendum.
The proposed change to the Constitution must be approved by a ‘double majority’ – that is:
- a national majority of voters (more than 50%) from all states and territories, and
- a majority of voters (more than 50%) in a majority of states (at least four of the six states).
The result is binding. This means the Australian Government must act on what voters decide.
While the votes of people living in the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory count towards the national majority only, all vote totals will be communicated for information through the AEC’s tally room by state and territory, by electoral division and by polling place.
Is it all counted on the night?
No, this isn’t possible. The access provided to people to vote away from their home division or state/territory, internationally or by post means votes take time to travel back to the appropriate AEC counting centre. While the count itself is easier than a federal election (formal vs informal, yes vs no), there are still logistical considerations that mean a clear indication of a final result may take days or even weeks.
In addition, just like a federal election, every vote will be counted more than once to check that the initial count was correct (a process called fresh scrutiny) and all counting happens in front of party-appointed scrutineers.
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