The upcoming referendum: What is The Voice to parliament?

By Krista Schade

The Albanese government has proposed to change the Australian constitution to include an Indigenous Voice to parliament, which will be voted on in a referendum.

A date for the referendum is yet to be released, but commentators expect it to happen later this year, in October or November.

The government has unveiled the question that will be put to voters:

“A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?”

Voters will be required to answer yes or no.

If the majority of Australian vote yes, theconsitution will be altered to include the following:

“Chapter IX Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples 129 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice

In recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia:

1: There shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice;

2: The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to the Parliament and the Executive Government of the Commonwealth on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples;

3: The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to matters relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, including its composition, functions, powers and procedures.”

The government will roll out a public education campaign before the referendum, to answer common questions about how the process will unfold, but it will not fund either the yes or no campaigns.

The referendum requires a majority of votes in a majority of states to succeed. If the vote is successful, parliament will then design the Voice via legislation.

Why change the constitution?

The current government wants to change the constitution to include the Voice to protect it from being abolished by future governments, without the consent of the Australian people.

Introducing commonwealth or state legislation or laws, to create The Voice, could be overturned at any change of government.

What is The Voice and how would it work?

The Voice would advise the Australian parliament and government on matters relating to the social, spiritual and economic wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Parliament and government would be obliged to consult it on matters that overwhelmingly relate to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, such as native title, employment, housing, the community development program, the NDIS or heritage protection.

The Voice would be able to table formal advice in parliament, and a parliamentary committee would consider that advice.

What does the Uluru Statement From The Heart have to do with The Voice?

In 2017 more than 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait leaders met at Uluru to discuss and agree on an approach to constitutional reform to recognise First

Nation peoples. ‘The Uluru Statement From The Heart’ was released following this convention, and called for the ‘establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution’.

How would it be structured?

The referendum working group advising the government says the design of The Voice will work alongside existing organisations and traditional structures. The Voice won’t deliver services, manage government funding, be a clearing house for research, or mediate between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations.

The co-design report recommended the national voice have 24 members, with gender balance structurally guaranteed.

The base model proposes two members from each state, the Northern Territory, ACT and Torres Strait.

A further five members would represent remote areas due to their unique needs – one member each from the Northern Territory, Western Australia, Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales. An additional member would represent the significant population of Torres Strait Islanders living on the mainland.

Members would serve four-year terms, with half the membership determined every two years. There would be a limit of two consecutive terms for each member.

Two co-chairs of a different gender to one another would be selected by the members of the voice every two years.

The national voice would have two permanent advisory groups – one on youth and one on disability – and a small ethics council to advise on probity and governance.

The co-design report proposed 35 regions across Australia, broken down by state and territory. Communities and governments in each state and territory would jointly determine these.

Yes or no?

Yes23.org one of the major organisations campaigning for the yes vote say the upcoming referendum is a “rare chance to make a major positive impact.”

“This vote will give all Australians the chance to come together and consider a change to our constitution that will honour and celebrate the rights, history, and ongoing relationship of Indigenous Australians with this land.

“A Voice will provide advice to the Federal Parliament about laws and policies, through a consultative policy making process that delivers meaningful structural change.

“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people know and understand the best way to deliver real and practical change in their communities. When they have a say through a Voice, we can finally start to close the gap that still exists between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians on practical issues like life expectancy, educational outcomes, and employment.”

The 'No’ campaign is led by ‘Australians for Unity,’ and is led by Shadow Indigenous Australians Minister Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and activist Nyunggai Warren Mundine.

In May 2023, Price and Mundine merged their respective no campaigns, ‘Fair Australia’ and ‘Recognise a Better Way.’

Arguments for the 'No' vote include that the Voice won’t deliver meaningful change for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, or that Sovereignty and Treaty should be prioritised ahead of a Voice to Parliament.

“The Indigenous Voice to Parliament will wreck our Constitution, rewire our democracy, and divide Australians by race.

“It’s divisive, it’s dangerous, it’s expensive and it’s not fair,” Senator Price said.