Your official referendum booklet

The official referendum booklet contains:

  • the Yes/No referendum pamphlet, which contains the Yes and No cases prepared by parliamentarians who voted for and against the proposed law. This has not been amended or fact checked by the AEC.
  • the official guide, which provides information on where to vote, what happens at the polling place, and what the ballot paper looks like. This was written by the AEC.
The AEC is simply a post-box for the Yes/No referendum pamphlet – the AEC was not involved in the development of the content of the Yes and No cases. Each case was prepared and authorised by parliamentarians who voted for and against the proposed law and the AEC’s legal obligation was to accept and distribute each case as it was submitted.


The booklet (English)
Screen reader version



Translated versions (CALD)



Translated versions (First Nations)



Accessible formats

Each case had to consist of no more than 2,000 words. Each case also had to be authorised by a majority of the members of Parliament who voted, respectively, for and against the proposed change to the Constitution and who desired to forward such a case. The Electoral Commissioner is satisfied that these conditions have been met for each case. The AEC does not have legislative authority to edit, amend or fact check the Yes or No cases.

The Yes and No cases were both submitted to the Electoral Commissioner by the required deadline of 11:59pm AEST on Monday 17 July 2023. The raw, unformatted versions of each case were previously published on this website on Tuesday 18 July 2023 – at the earliest opportunity to provide immediate access to voters. The AEC then typeset the exact wording of the Yes and No cases, as received, into the official pamphlet and published it on this website on Friday 21 July 2023. The pamphlet and the official guide were then combined to create the official referendum booklet that is being printed and distributed to Australian households, and you can access this version above.

The pamphlet is 16 pages long and contains:

  • a statement containing the proposed change to the Constitution,
  • the case that is in favour of the proposed constitutional alteration, and
  • the case that is against the proposed constitutional alteration.

The copy of the Yes/No pamphlet delivered to Australian households is part of the official referendum booklet, which also contains a four-page official guide to the referendum. This guide is a distinctly different product to the pamphlet – it outlines how to participate in the 2023 referendum.

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