With local election on Saturday, I thought it would be good to look back at how we all came to vote, based on our English heritage.
- Distinctive Features : Compulsory enrolment and voting; Majority-preferential instant-runoff voting for lower house; Single transferable vote proportional representation for upper house
- Election Timing : Approximately every three years
- Enrolment : Compulsory for Australian citizens over 18 residing at their current address for at least one month
Here’s an overview of the history of democratic voting in Australia and England:
England
- Prior to 1832, voting rights were extremely limited, with only about 3% of the adult male population eligible to vote. Constituencies were unevenly distributed and many “rotten boroughs” existed.
- The Reform Act of 1832 expanded voting rights to about 7% of the adult male population and redistributed parliamentary seats.
- The Reform Act of 1867 further expanded the franchise to urban working class men.
- The Representation of the People Act 1884 extended voting rights to rural workers.
- In 1918, all men over 21 and some women over 30 gained the right to vote.
- In 1928, women gained equal voting rights to men, with all adults over 21 able to vote.
- In 1969, the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18.
Australia
- When Australia federated in 1901, voting rights were already fairly extensive compared to many other countries.
- In 1902, Australia became one of the first countries to grant women the right to vote at a national level.
- Compulsory voter registration was introduced federally in 1911.
- In 1924, compulsory voting was introduced for federal elections.
- In 1962, Indigenous Australians were granted the right to vote in federal elections.
- In 1973, the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18.
Key democratic innovations in Australia included:
- The secret ballot, first introduced in Victoria in 1856.
- Preferential voting systems like the alternative vote and single transferable vote.
- Compulsory voting, starting with Queensland in 1914 and federally in 192.
Overall, Australia was an early adopter of many democratic reforms and universal suffrage compared to other countries, though Indigenous Australians did not gain full voting rights until the 1960s. England expanded voting rights more gradually over the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Voices for Change: How Suffrage Movements Shaped Modern Democracy
