1984 Australian referendum (Terms of Senators)

Constitution Alteration (Terms of Senators) 1984 proposed for the third time that Senate of Australia and House of Representatives elections be constitutionally enforced to occur on the same day. The proposal was put to a referendum in the 1984 Australian referendum.

Results

An Act to change the terms of senators so that they are no longer of fixed duration and to provide that Senate elections and House of Representatives elections are always held on the same day.

Do you approve this proposed alteration?

Result [1]

State or territory	On rolls	Ballots issued	For		Against		Informal
				%		%
New South Wales	3,423,624	3,216,256	1,621,894	52.86	1,446,150	47.14	148,212
Victoria	2,617,291	2,475,891	1,244,451	53.20	1,094,760	46.80	136,680
Queensland	1,549,749	1,447,284	642,768	45.65	765,329	54.35	39,187
South Australia	908,424	856,226	398,127	49.98	398,463	50.02	59,636
Western Australia	858,763	806,637	358,502	46.47	412,996	53.53	35,139
Tasmania	289,142	277,100	102,762	39.29	158,777	60.71	15,561
Australian Capital Territory	150,416	140,982	76,901	56.68	58,764	43.32	5,317
Northern Territory	68,857	58,668	28,310	51.87	26,265	48.13	4,093
Total for Commonwealth	9,866,266	9,279,044	4,473,715	50.64	4,361,504	49.36	443,825
Obtained a majority in two States and an overall majority of 112,211 votes.[2]
Not carried

References

1. Handbook of the 44th Parliament (2014) "Part 5 - Referendums and Plebiscites - Referendum results". Parliamentary Library of Australia. Archived from the original on 29 September 2017..
2. Since the 1977 referendum electors in the territories were able to vote in referendums and their votes are counted towards the national total, but do not count toward the requirement for a majority of states.

See also