Women's suffrage in Victoria

=== Victorian Aboriginal women's suffrage ===

=== Victorian Aboriginal women's suffrage ===

{{Broader|Voting rights of Indigenous Australians}}

{{Broader|Voting rights of Indigenous Australians}}

The 1908 Adult Suffrage Act, did not explicitly place restrictions on voting according to race. However, as Victoria was now a state under the new Federation of Australia, federal decisions impacted state decisions. It was through this roundabout way that Victorian Aboriginal peoples were excluded from voting in both state and federal elections after federation. From the start of the invasion until the federation of Australia, the Aboriginal peoples of Victoria had been greatly reduced due to frontier wars and violence, and introduced disease. Aboriginal peoples in Victoria at this time had few civil rights, and were an impoverished minority, and therefore they did not pose a significant political threat to the status quo. There is some anecdotal evidence that a small number of Aboriginal men were on the electoral roll, and cast votes before federation, as they were legally enfranchised to do so if they were property holders. It does not seem that the Victorian politicians had any great concerns about this. During the writing of the Australian constitution, in the lead up to federation, there was discussion about having universal suffrage for adults, without race or gender restrictions. Immigration policies, known as the [[White Australia policies]] had already been established to ensure that only white people could enter the country. However, Western Australia and Queensland had large populations of Indigenous Australians, and argued that that they could have a significant impact on voting if allowed to vote. The south eastern states were persuaded by these arguments and voted in favour of a racial restriction.{{sfn|Grimshaw|2008|p=|pp=198-203}} The clause read "No aboriginal native of Australia, Asia or the islands of the Pacific, except New Zealand, shall be entitled to have his name place on the electoral role, unless so entitles under Section 41 of the Constitution."{{sfn|Grimshaw|2008|p=203|pp=}} Section 41 supposedly enshrined the rights of those eligible to vote in state elections, to also vote in the federal elections. However, in practice, administrators interpreted Section 41 as not allowing Victorian Aboriginal peoples to vote in federal elections. Furthermore, because the state electoral rolls were used as a basis for the federal electoral rolls, and because electoral officials held the perception they were not eligible to be on the federal roll, they believed Victorian Aboriginal peoples could not be put on the state rolls.{{sfn|Grimshaw|2008|p=|pp=203–204}} This was how things stood until 1949 when Prime Minister [[Ben Chifley]]'s government changed legislation for Aboriginal people from south eastern states to be able to vote in federal elections. This in turn should have lowered the unofficial administrative barriers preventing them voting in Victorian state elections. However, it was not until the success of the [[1967 Australian referendum (Aboriginals)|1967 referendum]] that many Victorian Aboriginal people became aware that they now had the right to vote.

The 1908 Adult Suffrage Act, did not explicitly place restrictions on voting according to race. However, as Victoria was now a state under the new Federation of Australia, federal decisions impacted state decisions. It was through this roundabout way that Victorian Aboriginal peoples were excluded from voting in both state and federal elections after federation. From the start of the invasion until the federation of Australia, the Aboriginal peoples of Victoria had been greatly reduced due to frontier wars and violence, and introduced disease. Aboriginal peoples in Victoria at this time had few civil rights, and were an impoverished minority, and therefore they did not pose a significant political threat to the status quo. There is some anecdotal evidence that a small number of Aboriginal men were on the electoral roll, and cast votes before federation, as they were legally enfranchised to do so if they were property holders. It does not seem that the Victorian politicians had any great concerns about this. During the writing of the Australian constitution, in the lead up to federation, there was discussion about having universal suffrage for adults, without race or gender restrictions. Immigration policies, known as the [[White Australia policy|White Australia policies]] had already been established to ensure that only white people could enter the country. However, Western Australia and Queensland had large populations of Indigenous Australians, and argued that that they could have a significant impact on voting if allowed to vote. The south eastern states were persuaded by these arguments and voted in favour of a racial restriction.{{sfn|Grimshaw|2008|p=|pp=198-203}} The clause read "No aboriginal native of Australia, Asia or the islands of the Pacific, except New Zealand, shall be entitled to have his name place on the electoral role, unless so entitles under Section 41 of the Constitution."{{sfn|Grimshaw|2008|p=203|pp=}} Section 41 supposedly enshrined the rights of those eligible to vote in state elections, to also vote in the federal elections. However, in practice, administrators interpreted Section 41 as not allowing Victorian Aboriginal peoples to vote in federal elections. Furthermore, because the state electoral rolls were used as a basis for the federal electoral rolls, and because electoral officials held the perception they were not eligible to be on the federal roll, they believed Victorian Aboriginal peoples could not be put on the state rolls.{{sfn|Grimshaw|2008|p=|pp=203–204}} This was how things stood until 1949 when Prime Minister [[Ben Chifley]]'s government changed legislation for Aboriginal people from south eastern states to be able to vote in federal elections. This in turn should have lowered the unofficial administrative barriers preventing them voting in Victorian state elections. However, it was not until the success of the [[1967 Australian referendum (Aboriginals)|1967 referendum]] that many Victorian Aboriginal people became aware that they now had the right to vote.

== Legacy and honours ==

== Legacy and honours ==