抄録
On 14 October 2023, voters rejected a referendum proposal that would have amended Australia’s
1901 Constitution by establishing a First Nations representative body (a ‘Voice’) to advise the Australian
Parliament and Executive on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. While
the referendum could be viewed as an affirmation of Australian democratic processes and culture, it
highlighted several serious challenges to Australia’s democracy. The first and most important of these
challenges was that the outcome left the political and constitutional relationship between Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander peoples and settler Australians unresolved. The second challenge to Australian
democracy is misinformation in political campaigning. The third challenge is the increasing amount
spent on Australian election campaigns. Although Australia has campaign finance laws that cover referendums,
these laws do not place caps on expenditure and donations, potentially skewing the outcomes
of the referendum vote. The fourth challenge is low political trust. Many voters believe that Australia’s
existing democratic system and leadership do not work for them. After explaining the Voice proposal,
its origins and development, and the path to the October 2023 referendum, this paper explores these
four challenges to Australian democracy and assesses the difficulties of some of the measures currently
being proposed to address them.
