Suffrage in Australia
Today, the right to vote at all levels of government is held by citizens of Australia over the age of 18 years, excluding some prisoners and people "of unsound mind".
[citation needed] A number of prominent colonial figures, including William Wentworth, campaigned for a greater degree of self-government, although there were divisions about the extent to which a future legislative body should be popularly elected.
The Australian Patriotic Association was formed in 1835 by Wentworth and William Bland to promote representative government for New South Wales.
The right to vote was limited to adult men with a freehold valued at £200 or a householder paying rent of £20 per year, both very large sums at the time.
In 1852, the British Government announced that convict transportation to Van Diemen's Land would cease and invited the eastern colonies to draft constitutions enabling self-government.
[12] Western Australia and Queensland had racial restrictions and few Indigenous people exercised their right to vote in the other colonies (later states) before 1962 (see below).
Western Australia and Queensland had racial restrictions and few Indigenous people exercised their right to vote in the other colonies (later states) before 1962 (see below).
[13][14][15] The Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 gave women the right to vote and stand for election for federal parliament but there were racial restrictions for both sexes.
The Act granted British subjects, male and female, over the age of 21 years who had been living in Australia for at least 6 months the right to vote and stand for election to federal parliament.
[25] However, the Act excluded "natives of Australia, Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands (other than New Zealand)" from the federal franchise, unless they were already enrolled to vote in an Australian state.
[34] Under the Queensland Elections Act (1885), no "aboriginal native of Australia, Asia, Africa, or the Islands of the Pacific" was entitled to vote.
[9] The property qualification (ownership of land that was valued at least £100) excluded virtually all such persons from the franchise.
[29][28] In 1925, British-Indians who met the residency requirements of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 and naturalised Asian Australians were exempted from the disqualification.
[42] In 1962, Western Australia enfranchised Indigenous Australians and those of Asian, African or Pacific Islander descent.
"[47] In 1983, this disenfranchisement was relaxed and prisoners serving a sentence for a crime punishable under the law for less than 5 years were allowed to vote.
[52][53] The threshold of 3 years or more sentence will result in removal of the prisoner from the federal electoral roll, and the person must re-enrol upon release.
For example, prisoners in NSW and Western Australia serving a sentence of longer than one year are not entitled to vote in State elections.
[56] In Queensland elections, people serving prison sentences of 3 years or longer are not entitled to vote.
[58] The High Court in Roach v Electoral Commissioner held that it was legitimate to exclude long-term prisoners from the franchise on the basis that they had broken their contract with society.
[44] The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (Cth) (the Electoral Act) states that "A person who...by reason of being of unsound mind, is incapable of understanding the nature and significance of enrolment and voting... is not entitled to have his or her name placed or retained on any Roll or to vote at any Senate election or House of Representatives election.
The report recommended the removal of the "unsound mind" provision stating that it arguably violates Australia's obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), to guarantee that persons with disability can "effectively and fully participate in political and public life on an equal basis with others, directly or through freely chosen representatives, including the right and opportunity for persons with disabilities to vote and be elected, including the right and opportunity to vote and be elected".
[60] The Human Rights Law Centre has stated that the exclusion of persons of "unsound mind" from the franchise "is vague, stigmatising and overly broad, and does not reflect the true capacity of people with disabilities to make decisions about voting".
In South Australia, most Indigenous people did not meet the requirement that all voters reside at a particular address for a specified period.
