Hi all,

Last night, I found out that Norfolk Island (a current dependency of Australia) used to have citizen-initiated referendums. This largely overlapped with an era semi-autonomy / limited self-governance for Norfolk Island. They even had their own unicameral Parliament. Their CIRs were legislated for via the Norfolk Island Referendum Act 1964.

Unfortunately, this came to an end when they lost self-governance in 2015/16. The Norfolk Island Parliament was also dissolved along with their referendum act. Their former Parliament was replaced with the Norfolk Island Regional Council and were also lumped in with the federal electorate of Bean (based in the ACT!). They are also currently represented by the ACT senators.

I found a couple of academic journal articles relevant to this subject, but I haven't gained to access to the full text yet. I've pasted the links these and other material below.

Perhaps in our efforts to introduce CIRs we could bring up the Norfolk Island Referendum ACT 1964. I should note that their threshold for citizen-initiated referendums was around a third of electors. This was in part due to their small population. If introduced elsewhere in Australia, the threshold would need to be lower. Anyway, this gives us a source of hope and guidance. We can also learn a thing or two from the Citizen Initiated Referendum Bill 2013 that failed to pass the Senate.

https://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/pacific/NF/norfolk-island-referendum-act-1964-2000/view

https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/rearvision/the-end-of-self-government-on-norfolk-island/7530806

https://www.nipeoplefordemocracy.com/

https://www.nipeoplefordemocracy.com/post/norfolk-island-and-the-return-of-colonialsim

https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_departments/Parliamentary_Library/Research/FlagPost/2024/July/NorfolkIsland

https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/bill/cirb2013291/#:~:text=2013.-,10,25

https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Human_Rights/Scrutiny_reports/2013/2013/42013/c16#:~:text=The%20bill%20provides%20that%20if,months%20after%20the%20proposal%20is

https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=s900

Practising Self-Government A Comparative Study of Autonomous Regions, pp. 200-227, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139088206.007 Publisher: Cambridge University Press,vPrint publication year: 2013

Gussen, Benjamen Franklen. "CITIZEN-INITIATED REFERENDA IN AUSTRALIA: LESSONS FROM NORFOLK ISLAND." Loyola Journal of Public Interest Law 21, no. 1 (2019): 135+. Gale Academic OneFile (accessed August 19, 2025). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A618951488/AONE?u=anon~3a186db4&sid=googleScholar&xid=8563aad8