Abstract
On 14 October 2023, a constitutional referendum was held in Australia and the Australian voters,
by roughly a 40-60 margin, rejected the proposal concerning Australia's Indigenous peoples. Had
this referendum been successful, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples would have been
constitutionally recognised as the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an advisory body called the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice (referred to as the Voice). This paper first examines how
the constitution is amended in Australia and explores the formula for successful referenda. Second, the
paper explains how and why the particular referendum question in 2023 was settled on. Then, the paper
analyses voting patterns and considers reasons for the outcome, possible alternatives and implication
for future.
One of the most significant but not well understood features of the referendum is that it was
intended to put to the referendum by the Coalition government. However, their inaction and indifference
resulted in the Labor government attempting to change the Constitution. This turned it into a partisan
contest which the Coalition opposed. While it became the Labor's referendum, the Labor government
failed to persuade its supporters to vote for it.
