There have been 18 referendums in New South Wales, 8 of which concerned proposals to amend the New South Wales Constitution, half of which concerned the Legislative Council. While the Constitution of Australia was adopted after the 1898 and 1899 referendums in all of the proposed states, the Constitution of New South Wales, promulgated in 1902, was an Act of the Parliament of New South Wales which could be amended by Parliament. Since 1927 the Constitution has included provisions that can only be amended following approval in a referendum. 8 of the referendums, including 5 on the sale of alcohol, did not involve any proposed amendment to the Constitution. While these have traditionally been called referendums, they could also be described as plebiscites.
Local Government Areas (also known as Councils or LGAs) can also propose Constitutional amendments such as when the Council wants to make changes to the method by which the Mayor is elected to office by direct election or indirect election by the Councillors. Councils may also conduct polls which are optional to vote in and may be limited to certain voters on a proposal to gain community opinion on building infrastructure or other matters, the result of these polls (like a plebiscite) is non-binding on the Council.