The voting rights of Indigenous Australians became an issue from the mid-19th century, when responsible government was being granted to Britain's Australian colonies, and suffrage qualifications were being debated. The resolution of universal rights progressed into the mid-20th century.
Indigenous Australians, that is Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander peoples, began to acquire voting rights along with other adults living in the Australian colonies from the late-19th century. Other than in Queensland and Western Australia, Indigenous men acquired the vote alongside their non-Indigenous counterparts in the Australian colonies. In South Australia, Indigenous women also acquired the vote from 1895 onward.
Following Australian Federation in 1901, the Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 allowed only Aboriginal people who could vote in their state to vote in federal elections. From 1949, Aboriginal people could vote if they were or had been servicemen. In 1962, the Menzies government amended the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 to enable all Indigenous Australians to enrol to vote in Australian federal elections. In 1965, Queensland became the last state to remove restrictions on Indigenous voting in state elections, and as a consequence all Indigenous Australians in all states and territories had equal voting rights at all levels of government.
Many restrictions on voting rights only applied to some people that would, today, be considered Indigenous. Specifically, only people of full Indigenous ancestry or of mixed race "in whom the aboriginal blood preponderates" were limited through the Franchise Act. It did not apply to Indigenous people of mixed race that were, to use the language of the time, "half-caste" or less. In practice, some local electoral officials may have denied enrolment to a broader range of Indigenous people than those formally excluded.
Indigenous voting history
Prior to the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (Imp), each colony of Australia could pass its own legislation concerning the enfranchisement of indigenous Australians. Differences between the colonies meant Indigenous Australians' right to vote depended on the area in which they resided.
Voting was reformed by the Constitution Act, which united the states of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia and Queensland. The Constitution established the Commonwealth of Australia, with the previously self-governing colonies federated to establish the Commonwealth. Indigenous Australians were granted the universal right to vote in federal elections in 1962 under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1962.
Timeline of Indigenous Australians' right to vote
Colonial Indigenous franchise
New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania
When the colonial constitutions were framed, mostly in the 1850s—New South Wales (1858), Victoria (1857), South Australia (1858) and Tasmania (1896)—voting rights were granted to all male British subjects over the age of 21. It was acknowledged that Indigenous people were British subjects under the English common law and were entitled to the rights of that status. Accordingly, Indigenous men were not specifically denied the right to vote. However, few Aboriginals were aware of their rights, Aboriginals were not encouraged to enrol to vote and very few participated in elections.
Some Aboriginal people are known to have voted. For example, Point McLeay, a mission station near the mouth of the Murray River in South Australia, got a polling station in the 1890s and Aboriginal men and women voted there in South Australian elections. For much of Australia’s political history, tens of thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people couldn’t vote in state or federal elections. In 1962 the Australian Parliament passed a landmark Act to give all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people the option to enrol and vote in federal elections. But it was not until 1984 that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were finally treated like other voters and required to enrol and vote in elections.
Queensland
Queensland gained self-government in 1859, extending voting rights in 1872 to include all British male subjects over the age of 21. Aboriginals were excluded from voting in Queensland in 1885, and the disqualification was in place until 1965.
Western Australia
Western Australia gained self-government in 1890. In 1893 voting rights were extended to include all British male subjects over the age of 21, with the exclusion of Aboriginal males. Aboriginals were disqualified for the vote in Western Australia until 1962.