LET'S FINISH WHAT WE STARTED IN 1967
In 1967, over 90 percent of Australians voted to change the Constitution to count Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Over 50 years on, Australia still doesn’t recognise the history and connection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to our country in the Constitution. We have started the journey, and now is the time to finish it by enshrining a Voice to Parliament in the Constitution.
A VOICE TO PARLIAMENT IS FAIR AND PRACTICAL
A Voice to Parliament is a fair and practical measure that has been proposed to give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders a say over the policies that impact them. For too long, policies have been made for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, rather than with them. A Voice is a systemic and structural change to shift this balance and deliver real change to deal with the challenges faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in Australia.
A VOICE TO PARLIAMENT CAN HELP CLOSE THE GAP
A Voice to Parliament enshrined in the Constitution will give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders a say over the policies proposed by the Australian Parliament. A Voice to Parliament will give the real experts on policies relating to Indigenous Affairs – that is, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people – a say over how to close the gap.
ULURU STATEMENT FROM THE HEART EXPLAINED IN 30 SECONDS
Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tribes were the first sovereign Nations of the Australian continent and its adjacent islands, and possessed it under our own laws and customs. This our ancestors did, according to the reckoning of our culture, from the Creation, according to the common law from ‘time immemorial’, and according to science more than 60,000 years ago.
This sovereignty is a spiritual notion: the ancestral tie between the land, or ‘mother nature’, and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who were born therefrom, remain attached thereto, and must one day return thither to be united with our ancestors. This link is the basis of the ownership of the soil, or better, of sovereignty. It has never been ceded or extinguished, and co-exists with the sovereignty of the Crown.
WHY THE VOICE MATTERS
A Voice to Parliament is a fair and practical way to deliver meaningful
constitutional recognition and reform for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
A Voice to Parliament will give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people a say on the policies and laws that impact their lives.
A Voice to Parliament will ensure that Parliament and government is better and more appropriately informed in its approach to Indigenous affairs policy and law-making.
This will lead to better outcomes for Indigenous people and more efficient use of government funds.
LIFE EXPECTANCY
Over the past ten years, the life expectancy gap still remains between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. This means Indigenous Australians are dying earlier and this is worse in more remote Indigenous communities.
A Voice to Parliament will give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people a say over the health, education, and government support policies to help close this gap.
CHILD MORTALITY
The gap in child mortality between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians is still too large. So much money has been spent without delivering real outcomes. A Voice will give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders a say over how to deliver better policies for their children.
INCARCERATION RATES
“Proportionally we are the most incarcerated people on the planet. We are not an innately criminal people.” – Uluru Statement from the Heart
After repeated policies, reports and Royal Commissions, there are still too many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in jail. A Voice to Parliament can help deliver the change needed.
STORIES FROM THE HEART
Read about our journey from the heart
