Here's how the Indigenous Voice, a landmark Indigenous policy, is progressing
This year, the Federal Government will receive a final proposal for an Indigenous Voice. If the proposal is accepted by the Federal Government and passed through Parliament, it will be one of the most significant changes to Indigenous Australian policy since Mabo. Today, take two minutes to read about how the major policy proposal is going.
What is an Indigenous Voice?
There’s been calls for Parliament to listen to a permanent, powerful Indigenous Australian ‘voice’ for decades. Most recently, in 2017, the landmark Uluru Statement from the Heart urged for the establishment of a constitutionally-enshrined First Nations voice - or Indigenous Voice, for short.
But that happened in 2017. What’s happened since then?
In 2018, a Parliamentary committee recommended the Federal Government start a ‘co-design’ process to flesh out exactly what an Indigenous Voice would look like. In 2019, the Federal Government started that process, bringing together 52 members - key Indigenous Australians - to start detailing exactly what an Indigenous Voice would look like.
Those 52 members finished the co-design phase two weeks ago.
Ken Wyatt, the Minister for Indigenous Australians, announced earlier this month that the Indigenous Voice’s co-design phase had been completed - there’s now a draft proposal. For this next step, the Federal Government wants to hear from as many different Indigenous Australians as possible, so the final proposal is as representative as possible of First Nations people’s interests.
Under the draft proposal:
The Federal Government would be obliged to consult the Indigenous Voice when writing any laws on race, native title or racial discrimination that impacts Indigenous Australians
The Federal Government would be expected to seek its advice on issues broadly relevant to Indigenous Australians
The Indigenous Voice would be made up of 16 or 18 members, directly chosen from regional and local Indigenous bodies
But, according to the draft proposal:
The Indigenous Voice would have no veto power over laws
The Indigenous Voice would not become enshrined in the Australian Constitution
The Indigenous Voice would not deliver any government programs, or mediate disputes between Indigenous organisations
When do we get a final proposal?
This latest consultation period ends in May, and a final proposal is expected by mid-2021. The Federal Government has said it wants Indigenous Voice legislation to pass Parliament before the next election, which could be as early as October this year.
“If we don’t collectively grasp this opportunity, it may not come around again for a long time. So let’s focus on the common ground - the need to finally work together and put behind us decades of underachievement in Indigenous policy-making. The opportunity for a voice is now.” - Professor Marcia Langton and Process Tom Calma, co-chairs of the Voice Co-Design Senior Advisory Group