Editing History of Norfolk Island (section)

=== Reduced autonomy 2016 ===

In March 2015, the Australian Government announced comprehensive reforms for Norfolk Island. The action was justified on the grounds it was necessary "to address issues of sustainability which have arisen from the model of self-government requiring Norfolk Island to deliver local, state and federal functions since 1979". On 17 June 2015, the Norfolk Island Legislative Assembly was abolished, with the territory becoming run by an Administrator and an advisory council. Elections for a new Regional Council were held on 28 May 2016, with the new council taking office on 1 July 2016.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

From that date, most Australian Commonwealth laws were extended to Norfolk Island. This means that taxation, social security, immigration, customs and health arrangements apply on the same basis as in mainland Australia. Travel between Norfolk Island and mainland Australia became domestic travel on 1 July 2016. For the [[2016 Australian federal election]], 328 people on Norfolk Island voted in the [[Australian Capital Territory|ACT]] [[Division of Canberra|electorate of Canberra]], out of 117,248 total votes. Since 2018, Norfolk Island is covered by the [[Division of Bean|electorate of Bean]].<ref>{{Citation | vauthors=((Australian Electoral Commission)) | year=2018 | title=Map of the Federal electoral divisions of BEAN, CANBERRA and FENNER | publisher=Australian Electoral Commission | url=https://www.aec.gov.au/electorates/redistributions/2017/act/final-report/files/maps-divisions/2018-aec-act-composite-Final.pdf | access-date=2 May 2025}}</ref>
There is opposition to the reforms, led by Norfolk Island People for Democracy Inc., an association appealing to the United Nations to include the island on its list of "[[United Nations list of non-self-governing territories|non-self-governing territories]]". There has also been movement to join New Zealand since the autonomy reforms.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

In October 2019, the Norfolk Island People for Democracy advocacy group conducted a survey on 457 island residents (about one quarter of the entire population) and found that 37% preferred [[Associated state|free association]] with New Zealand, 35% preferred free association with Australia, 25% preferred [[Self-governance|full independence]], and 3% preferred full integration with Australia.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}