The 1967 Referendum - Level 5 Sample Unit

Unit resources

At the time of publication, the URLs (website addresses) cited were checked for accuracy and appropriateness of content. However, due to the transient nature of material placed on the Internet, their continuing accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Teachers are strongly advised to prepare their own indexes of sites that are suitable and applicable to this unit of work, and to check these addresses prior to allowing student access.

Online resources

Australian Biography
www.australianbiography.gov.au/
Includes interviews and other materials about Faith Bandler, HC ‘Nugget’ Coombs and Charles Perkins.

Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition
www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/adbonline.htm
Useful for biographical material on participants in the campaign.

Australian 1967 Referendums 1906-1999, CD-ROM
http://www.aec.gov.au/Elections/referendums/Australian_Referendums.htm
Available free of charge from the Australian Electoral Commission.

Collaborating for Indigenous Rights: The 1967 Referendum
www.nma.gov.au/index.html
This National Museum of Australia resource includes excellent and up-to-date materials under the following headings: ‘Earlier Attempts’, ‘Australia in the 1950s’, ‘Early Petitions’, ‘National Petition Campaign, 1962-3’, ‘Parliament and Cabinet Debates’, ‘FCAA’, ‘Cabinet Decision’, ‘Campaigning’, ‘Victory Aftermath’.

Indigenous Australians and the Vote
http://www.aec.gov.au/voting/indigenous_vote/aborigin.htm
This Australian Electoral Commission website looks at the history of the Indigenous vote in Australia.

Film Australia Digital Learning
www.filmaust.com.au/learning/
Contains teaching and learning materials relating to Indigenous Australia, as well as an index of materials available online.

Mission Voices
www.abc.net.au/missionvoices/
This website tells the story of some of the missions and reserves in Victoria. The Victorian Government supported the establishment of 34 Aboriginal missions and reserves, while over 200 existed across Australia. Some of these sites lasted many years, while others closed soon after their formation. The Victorian Government strictly controlled life on the missions and reserves through an Aborigines Protection Board based in Melbourne. This site tells the story of Ebenezer, Lake Tyers, Coranderrk, Cummeragunja, Framlingham and Lake Condah. The photographs and stories give students a strong feel for life on these missions and reserves.

National Archives of Australia
www.naa.gov.au/about-us/publications/fact-sheets/fs150.aspx
‘Fact Sheet 150’ provides a useful overview of the 1967 Referendum and records relating to it.

Time Frame: Citizens at Last
www.abc.net.au/time/episodes/ep5.htm
This 1997 ABC video features accessible material and interviews.

Audio-visual resources

The Aboriginal Civil Rights Movement, Exploring Indigenous Australia
Video Education Australasia, 1999
This 30-minute program was made for secondary school students. It considers the denial of rights, early struggles, the 1967 Referendum, self-determination and continuing issues.

100 Years: the Australian Story (Episode 4)
ABC, 2001
Entitled ‘The Unfinished Business’, this hour-long episode covers looks at the experiences of Indigenous Australians throughout the 20th century, including the 1967 Referendum.

The Fair Go
ABC Open Learning, Canute Films, 1999
This video covers the 1960s and 1970s in detail.

Digilearn resources, Department of Education
www.education.vic.gov.au/studentlearning/teachingresources/elearning/digilearn.htm
Digilearn is the new portal for Government school teachers accessing Digital Learning Resources for use in the classroom.

Making a difference: Barak (Digilearn identifierL5205)
Making a difference: Charles Perkins (Digilearn identifier L5209)
Making a difference: David Unaipon (Digilearn identifier L5211)
Making a difference: Michael Long (Digilearn identifier L5216)
Making a difference: Windradyne (Digilearn identifier L3248)
Making a difference: Yagan (Digilearn identifier L5206)
Mervyn Bishop: mission life (Digilearn identifier L4111)
Mervyn Bishop: photographer (Digilearn identifier L3247)
Mervyn Bishop: the early years (Digilearn identifier L4108)
Mervyn Bishop: the old days (Digilearn identifier L4110)
Mining Indigenous land (Digilearn identifier L1437)

Books

The 1967 Referendum, or When Aborigines Didn’t get the Vote
Bain Attwood and Andrew Markus, Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra, 1997
This is the most important text for this topic. Includes detailed commentary and many primary sources.

Struggle for Aboriginal Rights: A Documentary History
Bain Attwood and Andrew Markus, Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, NSW, 1999
Includes many primary sources.

Rights for Aborigines
Bain Attwood, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW, 2003
Includes a detailed discussion of the 1967 Referendum.

Chronicles of Australian Contemporary History
Mary Cannon, Longman, Melbourne, 1996
Includes a chapter on the 1967 Referendum.

Civil Rights: How Indigenous Australians Won Formal Equality
John Chesterman, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, 2005
A detailed study of the complex process of change that took place during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

Citizens Without Rights: Aborigines and Australian Citizenship
John Chesterman and B. Galligan, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, 1997
Includes a chapter on the 1967 Referendum.

Invasion to Embassy: Land in Aboriginal Politics, 1770-1972
Heather Goodall, Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, NSW, 1996
Includes a chapter on the 1967 Referendum.

Australia’s Democracy: A Short History,
John Hirst, Allen & Unwin and Curriculum Corporation, Crows Nest NSW and Carlton Vic, 2002.

Seeking Racial Justice: An Insider’s Memoir of the Movement for Aboriginal Advancement, 1938-1978
Jack Horner, Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra, 2004
A detailed study of the Aboriginal rights movement in the middle part of the century.

Encyclopedia of Aboriginal Australia
D. Horton (General Editor), Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Canberra, 1994
Includes entries on ‘Referendum 1967’, ‘Referendum 1944’, ‘Aboriginal Advancement Leagues’, ‘FCAATSI’, ‘Office of Aboriginal Affairs’, and people like Bandler, Faith, McGinness, Onus and Oodgeroo Noonuccal.

Macquarie Atlas of Indigenous Australia
Bill Arthur and Frances Morphy (General Editors), Macquarie, Sydney, 2005
Includes chapters on governance, political participation and social justice.

Black and White Together: FCAATSI: The Federal Council for the Advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders 1958-1973
Sue Taffe, Queensland University Press, Brisbane, 2005
A detailed look at this important body.

‘The Commonwealth Referendum of 1967: Australian Indigenous Citizenship, an interpretation of historical events’
www.oodgeroo.qut.edu.au/academic_resources/academicpape/referendum19.jsp
A detailed look at the history of Australian Indigenous citizenship from Penny Tripcony. This paper was originally presented to the Aboriginal Nations and the Australian Constitution Conference at Old Parliament House in Canberra.

Victims or Victors? The Story of the Aborigines Advancement League
Victorian Aborigines Advancement League, South Yarra, Hyland House, 1985

Student materials

Student Materials 1: Indigenous rights - 1950s and 1960s (PDF - 480KB)

Student Materials 2: What is a referendum? (PDF - 32KB)

Student Materials 3: The petitions (PDF - 96KB)

Student Materials 4: The Referendum campaign leaflets (PDF - 203KB)

Student Materials 5: Campaign songs and slogans (PDF - 32KB)

Student Materials 6: The Referendum results and aftermath (PDF - 36KB)

Teacher materials

About the 1967 Referendum (Doc - 100KB)
This document provides information about teaching and learning strategies referred to in the unit.

Glossary (Doc - 39KB)
This document provides information about teaching and learning strategies referred to in the unit.

Teaching and learning resource
This document provides information about teaching and learning strategies referred to in the unit.