LibGuides: English: English Issue 2023: Voice to Parliament

The Uluru Statement from the Heart

The Uluru Statement from the Heart
The Uluru Statement from the Heart is an invitation to the Australian people. We ask Australians to accept our invitation to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future. We call for the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution and a Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement-making and truth-telling about our history.

Useful Articles and Links

Design Principles of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice
A Voice to Parliament will be a permanent body to make representations to the Australian Parliament and the Executive Government on legislation and policy of significance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It will further the self-determination of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, by giving them a greater say on matters that affect them. Click on this link to download a PDF document of the design principles of the Voice to Parliament agreed by the First Nations Referendum Working Group.
Video Explainer: Indigenous voice to parliament: what is it and how would it work? – The Guardian
There has been a lot of talk about the referendum on the Indigenous voice to parliament being held later this year. But what happens if it is successful? What is the voice and how would it work? The Guardian's Indigenous affairs reporter Sarah Collard explains what we know so far about how the Albanese government hopes to enshrine an Indigenous voice in the constitution and what it means for all Australians
Article: Voice referendum: who’s behind the yes and no campaigns and how do they plan to convince Australia? - The Guardian
The yes side for the Indigenous voice to parliament is being driven by three collectives with a shared history, while the no campaign has been more reluctant to share its plans
Artcle: Marcia Langton: Fighting for a Voice - The Saturday Paper
It is eight months since Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used his victory speech to promise his government would implement in full the Uluru Statement from the Heart. What has transpired since is less the dialogue he hoped for and more two separate monologues.
What does sovereignty mean? ANTAR fact sheet
This ANTAR Factsheet discusses Sovereignty, what it is and what it means in the context of First Nations Australia.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sovereignty was never ceded. But what is meant by this? What do First Nations peoples mean when they speak in the language of ‘sovereignty’? And can Australian law recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sovereignty?
Australian Human Rights Commission: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
All of us can play a part in making sure that every Australian – Indigenous and non-Indigenous – has the opportunities and choices they need to lead full and healthy lives.This website includes news, projects and reports.
SBS News: Voice to Parliament referendum
This page collates SBS's articles and resources relating to the Voice to Parliament referendum.
Closing the Gap Report: 2020
The annual report to Parliament on progress in Closing the Gap. Closing the Gap began in response to a call for governments to commit to achieving equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in health and life expectancy within a generation.
Bringing them home: The 'Stolen Children' report (1997)
The 700-page report of the 'Stolen Children' National Inquiry, Bringing them Home, was tabled in Federal Parliament on 26 May 1997.
Aboriginal Deaths in Custody 30 year anniversary – Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service
We have now passed the 30-year anniversary of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) on 15th April 2021. However, many of the Royal Commission’s recommendations have not yet been implemented. As we continue to wait, our people continue to die. Click through to find fact sheets and video interviews.
Deaths in Custody: impact, statistics and remembering First Nations people who died
More than 30 years on from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, ANTAR examines the impact of the Commission, interim developments and current statistics, and remembers First Nations people who died as a result of the ‘justice’ system.
Video: A Primer for Constitutional Reform
A brief history of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander struggle, culminating in the Uluru Statement. Documentary narrated by Rachel Perkins. This video provides useful background information.
Via Vimeo. Duration: 27:39
The Australian Constitution in focus
The Australian Constitution is the legal framework for how Australia is governed. This paper explores in detail the history of the Constitution, its key features and the High Court’s role in interpreting it.
Analysis Article: ‘I’m here to change the country’: Albanese launches an uncompromising Indigenous voice plan (The Guardian)
Attempting to appease conservatives was pointless and risked failure, the referendum working group told the PM. It appears he listened
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice: Final Report
The Final Report of the co-design process outlines an Indigenous Voice made up of two parts that work together: Local & Regional Voices and a National Voice.
The Indigenous Voice would provide a way for Indigenous Australians to have a greater say on the design, development and implementation of policies and programs that affect them.

Useful Podcasts

7am Podcast: Can the Voice to Parliament deliver radical change? With Gary Foley
While the Uluru Statement from the Heart includes truth-telling and a treaty, a constitutionally enshrined Voice to Parliament is the first step that the government plans to take. If it goes ahead, it will be the first referendum since the republic vote just over 20 years ago. Today, Professor Gary Foley, senior lecturer of history at Victoria University, on the lessons we should take from history and his hope for genuine change.
Radio National podcast: Will the Voice to Parliament empower communities?
This week, a group of Indigenous leaders from communities across the country are in Canberra to argue their case for a Voice to Parliament. Tyronne Garstone is one of the members of Empowered Communities and the CEO of the Kimberley Land Council he joined RN Breakfast.
Radio National Podcast: How history can help shape the debate about an Indigenous voice to Parliament.
In the Uluru Statement from the Heart, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are calling for an Indigenous Voice to parliament. While they haven’t set out how that would work there are models we can look back on. Ever since the referendum of 1967 federal governments have attempted and failed to set up administrative organisations to give Indigenous Communities a say in their own affairs. As we once again debate how we acknowledge Australia’s first people - what if anything can we learn from those past attempts?
Find Your Voice with Zoe Daniel, with guest Professor Marcia Langton AO
Find Your Voice Podcast: Zoe is joined by Professor Marcia Langton to discuss the Indigenous Voice to Parliament Referendum

Video: Megan Davis: Parliament will have to 'account for' Indigenous Voice - ABC Insiders

David Speers interviews Professor Megan Davis, co-author of the Uluru Statement From The Heart about the status of the Yes campaign and the Opposition’s concerns.

Enrol to Vote

Enrol to Vote
You must enrol to vote if you:
• are an Australian citizen
• are 18 or older, and
• have lived in Victoria for longer than a month.
If you’re 17, you can fill out an enrolment form now. On your 18th birthday, you will be automatically enrolled and you’ll be ready to vote.
Enrol to vote
If you are 17 or 18, click this link to enrol to vote online. A printable form is available via the VEC link above. You will need:
• your driver's licence, or
• Australian passport number, or
• Medicare card number, or
• Australian citizenship number, or
• have someone who is enrolled confirm your identity.

Video: What is a referendum?

What is a referendum?
The Australian Electoral Commission explains what a referendum is. Watch the video above, then click this link for more detailed information.

Video: The Year of the Voice | Q+A

In the first Q+A for 2023, Craig Foster, Lidia Thorpe, Malarndirri McCarthy, Bridget McKenzie and Tom Calma discuss the upcoming referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

Panellists: Craig Foster, NSW Australian of the Year 2023 and Chair of the Australian Republican Movement; Malarndirri McCarthy, Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians and Indigenous Health; Bridget McKenzie, Nationals Senate Leader; Lidia Thorpe, Greens Senator for Victoria; and Tom Calma, Senior Australian of the Year 2023. With a live performance from William Barton, Multi-instrumentalist, composer, vocalist and producer Queensland Australian of the Year 2023.

This episode was broadcast on Monday January 30, 2023.

Video: Professor Tom Calma AO named 2023 Senior Australian of the Year

The 2023 Senior Australian of the Year is Professor Tom Calma AO.

Tom Calma AO is one of Australia’s most respected human rights and social justice campaigners. The Kungarakan Elder has worked for more than 45 years at local, community, state and international levels championing the rights, responsibilities and welfare of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Video: Paul Keating’s Redfern speech - 10 December 1992

Prime Minister Paul Keating - Launch of International Year of the World's Indigenous Peoples, 1993
Opportunity and care, dignity and hope. Prime Minister Paul Keating at the launch of Australia's celebration of the 1993 International Year of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Redfern Park, 10 December 1992. (Duration 16:50)