Communist Party Dissolution Act 1950

20 October 1950

Fear of the threat posed by communism led the Australian Parliament to pass the Communist Party Dissolution Act 1950. Banning the Australian Communist Party had been a priority of the newly elected Liberal-Country Party government. The Act also allowed the Governor-General to declare a person or body (such as a trade union) to be communist and a threat to national security.

Immediately after becoming law, the Communist Party and various trade unions challenged the validity of the Act in the High Court of Australia. On 9 March 1951, the court declared the Act to be unconstitutional and invalid; ruling that it was beyond the power of the Parliament to suppress an organisation in a time of peace. 

Disappointed by the decision, the government sought to change the Australian Constitution to specifically give Parliament the power to deal with communism through a referendum held on 22 September 1951. 

The referendum campaign was hard-fought with trade unions, religious organisations, women's groups and many others actively involved in the debate. The proposed change was defeated, but in a very close result. Just over half the national voters and 3 of the 6 states voted against the alteration.

The bitterness of the referendum campaign and continued anti-communism would influence Australian politics for the next 20 years.