This year marks the 40th anniversary of a defining historical event: the 1967 referendum. Australia's most successful referendum (a resounding 90.77% ticked the yes box) was held on 27 May 1967. Yet confusion still abounds as to what the referendum was actually all about. The referendum did not give Aborigines the vote (they already had that), nor did it make them citizens (except arguably in a symbolic sense).

In fact, the referendum saw more than 90% of eligible Australians vote YES to count Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians in the national census of the population and to give the Commonwealth Government power to make specific laws in respect of Indigenous people (some would say this latter power has been something of a mixed blessing for Australia's Indigenous peoples). The constitutional amendment did not result in a sudden upsurge of federal interest in Aboriginal affairs. Indeed it wasn't until 1972 that a Department of Aboriginal Affairs was created by the newly elected Whitlam government.

The landslide '67 referendum victory is often referred to as the first stage of the reconciliation movement in Australia (see Reconciliation Australia).

To commemorate the anniversary, the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Library in Canberra has prepared an online exhibition: Yes! The 1967 Referendum. The exhibition draws together many valuable resources on the history of the 1967 Referendum, including digitised items from the AIATSIS collections, material from Gordon Bryant's papers at the National Library of Australia, government papers from the National Archives of Australia and a 'Vote Yes!' jingle from the collections of the National Film and Sound Archive.

The YES! The 1967 Referendum online exhibition is now live on the AIATSIS website at-

http://www1.aiatsis.gov.au/exhibitions/Referendum/index.html

Further reading

• S. Bennett, "The 1967 Referendum", Australian Aboriginal Studies, vol.2, 1985, pp.26-31.
• Geoff Scott, NSW Aboriginal Land Council CEO, "The fight goes on: Long walk to original justice", Daily Telegraph, 25 May 2007, p.29.
• Reconciliation Australia - Resources for the anniversary of the '67 Referendum