Inquiry questions

·          What was life like in Australia at the turn of the century?

·          How and why did Federation occur?

·          What were the voting rights of various groups in Australia at Federation?*

·          How and why was the Immigration Restriction Act of 1901 introduced?

*Voting for groups at and after Federation

In 1901, the six separate British colonies were joined together to form a federation called the Commonwealth of Australia. As a unified nation under the Constitution of Australia, the colonies became States that retained their own governments and a new federal government was also formed. At the time of Federation, the Northern Territory was still a part of South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory had not yet been created.

Federation proved to work in favour of women's suffrage, as women were granted the right to stand for parliament in federal elections and vote at a federal level after the Franchise Act 1902 (Cth) was passed. In 1908, Victoria became the last State of Australia to permit women to vote. Women in Britain were not entitled to the same equality until 1928. See image 1

Federation, because it added a new, national election cycle, drew attention to inequitable voting restrictions. The Franchise Act 1902 (Cth) lifted property restrictions, which prevented a number of men from voting in the early years before Federation. It also provided that no one person should vote more than once at any one election. Less than a decade later, for those eligible to do so, enrolment was made compulsory (1911). In 1924, voting in federal elections was also made compulsory.

This pattern of inclusion, however, was not extended to all groups of society. Under the Franchise Act 1902 (Cth), all 'non-whites' including 'Aboriginal natives' of Asia, African and the Pacific Islands were not entitled to vote in federal elections. The only exception was for those who had already secured a vote at State level. This inequality was exacerbated when even those Indigenous Australians who had been granted Commonwealth voting rights, had their votes taken away by Commonwealth voting officials who kept Aboriginal peoples off the voting rolls.

In 1949, the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1949 (Cth) permitted Aboriginal peoples who had served in the Australian Defence Forces to enrol and vote in federal elections, along with their peers who were already entitled to a State vote. Change was under way. In 1962, under the Menzies Liberal and Country Party Government, all Aboriginal peoples were entitled to vote in federal elections irrespective of whether or not they were able to vote at State level.

For Indigenous individuals who were excluded from voting in State elections, in 1965, Queensland became the last State to introduce State voting rights for all Aboriginal peoples. It was not until 1984 that enrolment and voting for Aboriginal peoples in Commonwealth elections was made mandatory. See image 2

In 1973, the legal voting age was lowered from 21 years to 18 years, since critics argued that military conscription was applied to men who were not even old enough to vote.