1906 Australian senate elections referendum

1906 Australian Senate Elections referendum

12 December 1906 (1906-12-12)
Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled — "Constitution Alteration (Senate Elections) 1906" ?
Results
Choice Votes % Yes 774,011 82.65% No 162,470 17.35% Valid votes 936,481 89.30% Invalid or blank votes 112,155 10.70% Total votes 1,048,636 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 2,109,562 49.71%

The Australian referendum of 12 December 1906 approved an amendment to the Australian constitution related to the terms of office of federal senators. Technically it was a vote on the Constitution Alteration (Senate Elections) Bill 1906, which after being approved in the referendum received the royal assent on 3 April 1907.^[1] The amendment moved the date of the beginning of the term of members of the Senate from 1 January to 1 July so that elections to the federal House of Representatives and the Senate could occur simultaneously.

The 1906 vote was the first referendum ever held in the Commonwealth of Australia and concerned the first amendment proposed to the constitution since its enactment. The referendum was held in conjunction with the 1906 federal election.