The road to constitutional recognition

Debate over how best to recognise Australia's indigenous people in the constitution has spanned more than a century.

1901 - Commonwealth of Australia formed. Constitution does not recognise Aboriginal people but does contain several references that explicitly discriminate against them.

1962 - All indigenous Australians gain the right to vote at federal elections.

1967 - A referendum supported by an unprecedented 90 per cent of Australian voters recognises Aboriginal people in the census and gives the commonwealth powers to create laws for them.

Prior to the poll, most aspects of Aboriginal peoples' lives were controlled by state governments, and their laws varied greatly. That meant where an indigenous Australian lived determined whether they could own property, marry and move freely, drink alcohol and control their own children.

Constitution still includes two sections that permit race discrimination

1999 - Recognition of indigenous people in the constitution's preamble presented as part of a failed referendum on an Australian republic.

2007 - Prime minister John Howard makes re-election pledge to hold a referendum to recognise Aboriginal people in the constitution, gains bipartisan support.

2011 - An expert panel on constitutional recognition leads wide-ranging public consultations and delivers findings in January 2012.

2012 - The official campaign to recognise Aboriginal people in the constitution begins.

2013 - Australian parliament passes the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Recognition Act 2013 to maintain momentum towards a referendum.

2015 - Referendum Council established to advise federal parliament on progress towards constitutional recognition.

December 2016 - Referendum Council begins six months of regional dialogues to discuss amendments to the nation's founding document. Minimalist or tokenistic changes overwhelmingly rejected.

May 2017 - Referendum Council releases Uluru Statement From The Heart following national convention, which abandons symbolic constitutional recognition. Instead it calls for a constitutionally-enshrined advisory body and a commission to oversee treaty-making and truth-telling.

June 30, 2017 - Referendum Council's final report submitted to prime minister and opposition leader.

July 17, 2017 - Coalition government and Labor publicly release Referendum Council's full findings and recommendations.