Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902

Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902
Parliament of Australia
An Act to provide for a Uniform Federal Franchise
Date of Royal Assent	12 June 1902
Introduced by	Senator Hon Richard O'Connor (Prot)
Amendments
1905, 1906, 1909, 1911
Related legislation
Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918
Status: Repealed

The Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 was an Act of the Parliament of Australia which defined a uniform national criteria of who was entitled to vote in Australian federal elections. The Act established universal suffrage for federal elections for those who are British subjects over 21 years of age who have lived in Australia for six months, with some qualifications. It granted Australian women the right to vote at a national level, and to stand for election to the Parliament. The Act meant that Australia was the second country, after New Zealand, to grant women's suffrage at a national level, and the first country to allow women to stand for Parliament. However, the Act also disqualified some Indigenous Australians, Asian people, African people and Pacific Islanders (except New Zealand Maori) from voting, even if they would otherwise be qualified as British subjects.

The act was replaced by the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918.

The Act was originally very short, having only five sections. The main provision was section 3, which provided that any person over 21 years of age, whether male or female, married or single, who:

could vote in a federal election. At the time who was considered a British subject was determined by rules of English common law and an independent Australian citizenship was not introduced until 26 January 1949 with the coming into effect of the Australian Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948.

Section 4 made a range of disqualifications from the general definition in section 3. People who had at any time been convicted of treason could not vote. A person who was under sentence or awaiting sentence for any offence which could be punished by imprisonment for one year or longer (under the law of Australia, or of the United Kingdom, or of any other Dominion of the Empire) was also not allowed to vote. People of "unsound mind" were also disqualified. Indigenous people from Australia, Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands, with the exception of Māori, were also excluded. Indian people were therefore not allowed to vote, even though they were citizens of the British Empire.

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