Indigenous Voice to Parliament facts for kids
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, also called the Indigenous Voice to Parliament or simply the Voice, was a plan for a new advisory group in Australia. This group would have been made up of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Its main job would have been to share the views of Indigenous communities with the Australian government.
A special vote, called a referendum, was held on 14 October 2023 to decide if the Voice should be created. However, the idea was not approved. Most people across Australia, and in at least four states (New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania), plus the Northern Territory, voted against it.
If the vote had passed, the Voice would have been added to the Australian Constitution. This would have meant it was a permanent part of Australia's main rule book. The Voice would then have given advice to the Parliament of Australia and the government about issues affecting Indigenous Australians. The government would have then created the exact rules for how the Voice would work through new laws.
The plan for the Voice was strongly supported by Indigenous leaders in 2017. They shared their ideas in a document called the Uluru Statement from the Heart. This statement asked Australians to support the Voice. They believed it would help improve the lives of First Nations people by giving them more say in laws and policies. At that time, the Liberal-National Turnbull government did not support the idea.
In 2019, the Liberal-National Morrison government also discussed an "Indigenous voice to government." Their idea was to create it through laws, but not put it in the Constitution. They started a process to design how it would work. This process finished in 2021 and suggested having local, regional, and a national Voice. The Morrison government said they would act on these ideas, but no laws were passed before the 2022 election.
After the 2022 election, the Albanese Labor government came into power. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised to hold a referendum to put the Voice into the Constitution. In March 2023, he shared the main ideas for the Voice. He also confirmed that the referendum would happen in 2023. Linda Burney, the Minister for Indigenous Australians, was in charge of this process. The main opposition parties, led by Peter Dutton in the Liberal-National Coalition, announced they did not support a national Voice.
Why the Voice Was Proposed
Indigenous Australians have been asking for better representation for a long time. As far back as 1933, an Aboriginal leader named William Cooper tried to ask King George V for an Indigenous member in Parliament.
Modern talks about recognizing Indigenous Australians in the Constitution began in 1992. This was after a major court decision called the Mabo Decision. The government at the time, led by Prime Minister Keating, suggested working with Indigenous leaders. They wanted to find a way to recognize Indigenous Australians in the Constitution. This plan did not happen then.
Formal discussions with Indigenous leaders started again in 2012 under the Gillard government. An expert group was formed. They suggested adding a rule to the Constitution that would stop racial discrimination. However, the government did not act on this report.
This led to a period where no progress was made. But in 2015, both major political parties worked together to create the Referendum Council. This group aimed to find a way forward for constitutional recognition.
Indigenous Australians and the Constitution
The Australian Constitution has been changed twice before regarding Indigenous Australians. These changes were voted on in the 1967 referendum and the 1999 preamble referendum.
Before 1967, the federal government could not make laws specifically for Indigenous Australians. A part of the Constitution, section 51(xxvi), allowed laws for "the people of any race, other than the aboriginal race in any State." Also, Indigenous Australians were not counted in the population for some constitutional purposes.
After the 1967 referendum, these parts were removed. More than 90% of Australians voted yes to these changes. This was a big step forward for Indigenous rights.
In 1998, a meeting was held to discuss if Australia should become a republic. At this meeting, almost everyone agreed that a new introduction, or preamble, should be added to the Constitution. This preamble would recognize Indigenous Australians as the first people and traditional owners of Australia.
This idea, along with the republic question, was put to a vote in the 1999 referendum. Both ideas were defeated. The first draft of the preamble was written by Prime Minister John Howard and a poet named Les Murray. Indigenous leaders were upset because they were not asked for their ideas. They also felt the draft only mentioned Indigenous people's past presence, not their ongoing connection to the land. Because Indigenous leaders were not properly consulted, they asked for the preamble question to be removed from the vote. The debate about the preamble was limited, as most attention was on the republic question. In the end, only 39.34% of Australians voted yes to the preamble.
Since 2007, Australian governments have often said they want to hold a referendum for constitutional recognition. However, no plan was ever put to a vote until 2023. After the Uluru Statement in 2017, the idea of a Voice to Parliament became the main focus. Many believed it was the best way to achieve recognition that both Indigenous Australians would accept and that would pass in a referendum.
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