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The Uluru Statement From The Heart - an idea whose time has come

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The Uluru Statement from the Heart

The Uluru Statement from the Heart (the Statement) is an invitation from a group of First Nations people to non-Indigenous Australians. Shared in 2017, the Statement calls for substantive reform to help realise Indigenous rights , through the establishment of an Indigenous Voice to Parliament and a Makarrata Commission. ‘Makarrata’ is a multi-layered Yolŋu word understood as the coming together after a struggle. The Statement specifies that the Makarrata Commission would undertake processes of agreement-making (treaty) and truth-telling.

The three key pillars of substantive reform called for in the Statement are:

Voice – a constitutionally enshrined representative mechanism to provide expert advice to Parliament about laws and policies that affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Treaty – a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations peoples that acknowledges the historical and contemporary cultural rights and interests of First Peoples by formally recognising sovereignty, and that land was never ceded.

Truth – a comprehensive process to expose the full extent of injustices experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, to enable shared understanding of Australia’s colonial history and its contemporary impacts.

The Uluru Statement comes after decades of research, reports and calls for genuine substantive reform to recognise and protect the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of these lands and waters.

The Australian Government announced on 23 March 2023 that it would hold a referendum in 2023, to ask the Australian people whether they agree to recognising the First Peoples of Australia in the Constitution by establishing an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Learn more about this in the referendums and constitutional change  resource .

The Australian Human Rights Commission affirmed its support for the Uluru Statement from the Heart in March 2023.

About the Australian Human Rights Commission

The Australian Human Rights Commission (Commission) is an independent organisation, established by an Act of the Australian Parliament . The Commission is responsible for promoting awareness of human rights, educating the Australian community about such rights, and providing expert guidance on Australia’s human rights obligations, both internationally and domestically.

The Commission’s contribution to the 2023 referendum is independent and non-partisan, appropriate to its role as a National Human Rights Institution (NHRI).

We encourage and support the Australian public to consider the Voice proposal and associated referendum through a human rights lens.

Please note, this is the first of nine resources about the 2023 referendum, produced by the Commission. View the full Voice referendum: Understanding the referendum from a human rights perspective resource kit .

Uluru Statement from the Heart’s Voice aims to change the course of Australia's parliament. Here’s how

Prime minister anthony albanese and indigenous affairs minister linda burney will visit the torres strait on thursday to "engage with australians" on the voice to parliament. here's how the voice could shape the future of australia..

The Uluru Statement from the Heart calls for the establishment of a First Nations Voice in the Australian Constitution. Credit: SBS / Lilian Cao

• Anthony Albanese committed to the Uluru Statement from the Heart during his election night victory speech
• According to some experts, the Voice aims to bring constitutional reform in the Australian parliament.

What is the Voice?

What is the Uluru Statement from the Heart? Here's how it could change Australia

How is the Voice different from similar advisory bodies in the past?

How will the Voice function?

Peter Dutton tells MPs many Australians don’t understand Indigenous Voice to Parliament proposal

What sort of bills will the Voice shape?

The 'powerful and historic' Uluru Statement from the Heart has been awarded the Sydney Peace Prize

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Indigenous Strategy, Education & Research

Uluru statement from the heart.

The Uluru Statement is the culmination of 13 regional dialogues held across Australia on the question of constitutional recognition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It also represents over a decade of work on the constitutional recognition and First Nations people.  The result of the dialogues and the Uluru National Constitutional Convention – where the Uluru Statement was issued – was a clear rejection of symbolic constitutional recognition. Instead, a call for substantive change was made with a First Nations Voice to Parliament in the Australian Constitution. Alongside a Voice, there were two other sequenced reforms: Treaty and Truth. 

Discover more

Read the Uluru Statement

Uluru Dialogue at the UNSW Indigenous Law Centre

Uluru Dialogue is a group of First Nations and non-Indigenous community leaders, law scholars and advocates based at the UNSW Indigenous Law Centre, that run education programs and projects to advance the work of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. 

Professor Megan Davis is a co-chair for the Uluru Dialogue.   

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Anthony albanese has committed to the uluru statement from the heart. this is what it means.

Indigenous voices shine at Vivid 2022

Millions of people watched Anthony Albanese when he stood at the podium at Canterbury-Hurlstone Park RSL Club in Sydney and said: “On behalf of the Australian Labor Party, I commit to the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full.”

With those words, the prime minister’s election victory speech may have heralded a new chapter in Australia’s relationship with First Nations people.

Incoming Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney, who will assume the portfolio once the full ministry is sworn in, has since reiterated that implementing the Uluru Statement would be a high a priority for the new Labor government.

So what is the Uluru Statement from the Heart? As part of National Reconciliation Week , 7NEWS.com.au takes a look at the question, as well as how it could be adopted and what it will mean.

What is it?

The statement was written and signed by more than 250 delegates from First Nations communities across the country at the First Nations National Constitutional Convention in 2017.

Prior to the summit at Uluru, there had been six months of discussions between the delegates about options to changing the Constitution to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

Before that, constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians had been debated for years.

The delegates decided they did not want symbolic recognition in the founding document, which had been proposed, but rather something more substantive.

By the end of the summit, they agreed recognition in the Constitution should be guided by three principals: truth-telling, treaty and a voice to parliament.

The Uluru Statement from the Heart was written and signed.

What does it say?

The statement calls for a First Nations voice to be enshrined in the Constitution.

It also calls for the establishment of a Makarrata Commission, which is designed to oversee the processes around truth-telling and setting up a treaty with Australian governments.

Makarrata is a Yolngu word describing the development of a peace agreement.

The statement talks about the First Nations’ custodianship of the land for the 60,000 years prior to European arrival, also talking about the impacts of colonisation including high incarceration rates of Indigenous peoples.

“Our children are aliened from their families at unprecedented rates. This cannot be because we have no love for them. And our youth languish in detention in obscene numbers. They should be our hope for the future,” the document states.

“These dimensions of our crisis tell plainly the structural nature of our problem. This is the torment of our powerlessness.”

It also states Indigenous peoples having “power over our destiny” would be provided by constitutional reform.

“We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future,” the statement reads.

What will it mean for Indigenous Australians?

Wemba Wemba man Eddie Synot, a lawyer and law lecturer at Griffith University who is on the Uluru Dialogue team, said adopting the changes outlined in the statement would have real benefits for Indigenous Australians.

“The change or reform that goes in the Constitution is just simply the power for the government to do something,” he told 7NEWS.com.au.

“So it’s the power to establish the First Nations voice.

“More than anything else, the Constitution is a rule book. It lays out what the Commonwealth can and can’t do.

“So it’s about a central point where we have representation for all of our people. So different nations around the country would be able to get representation through this process, and to be able to influence the decision-making.”

What was the response?

Then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and his cabinet rejected the statement, citing difficulties in establishing enough public support for the concept to pass a referendum.

His successor Scott Morrison also rejected it, saying it would create a “third chamber” in federal parliament.

“I think two chambers is enough,” he said in 2018.

However Synot said there was support within the Coalition.

“The majority of parliament actually supports this, and that includes a fair few in the Coalition itself,” he told 7NEWS.com.au.

“It just wasn’t the section in control of policy making decisions and what not.

“It wasn’t direct opposition in the Coalition either. It was more (about) their preferred way of achieving some of the things in the Uluru Statement.”

How can it be implemented?

With Morrison deposed, creators of the Uluru Statement have welcomed Albanese’s election and said the result was a promising next step.

The Uluru Dialogue’s co-chair Professor Megan Davis, a Cobble Cobble and South Sea Islander woman, said she was looking forward to working towards the statement being implemented.

“History is calling, and the Australian people are ready to answer,” she said this week.

Starting negotiations to get to a referendum is the first stage, she said.

“We are confident that under the leadership of Prime Minister Albanese, we will see a constitutionally enshrined voice, then treaty, then truth,” Davis said.

“We look forward to working alongside the new federal government in implementing the statement. We’re ready to go to work.”

Will it be implemented?

Synot is “cautiously confident” Albanese will see through his commitment to the statement.

However Indigenous Australians have been disappointed by political leaders before.

“Politicians are still politicians, no matter what party they belong to. We also understand the reality of public policy in this country,” Synot said.

“It is quite momentous that the prime minister has come out and backed the Uluru Statement in an emphatic way - the Indigenous affairs minister has as well.

“There’s a lot of expectation. Sometimes that expectation can be overcooked a little bit and under delivered on.

“But we do want to allow ourselves to feel hopeful. We’re not naive to the challenge or difficulty of achieving that, but it is hopeful to see that come out.”

The statement in full

We, gathered at the 2017 National Constitutional Convention, coming from all points of the southern sky, make this statement from the heart:

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.

How could it be otherwise? That peoples possessed a land for sixty millennia and this sacred link disappears from world history in merely the last two hundred years? With substantive constitutional change and structural reform, we believe this ancient sovereignty can shine through as a fuller expression of Australia’s nationhood.

Proportionally, we are the most incarcerated people on the planet. We are not an innately criminal people. Our children are aliened from their families at unprecedented rates. This cannot be because we have no love for them. And our youth languish in detention in obscene numbers. They should be our hope for the future.

These dimensions of our crisis tell plainly the structural nature of our problem. This is the torment of our powerlessness.

We seek constitutional reforms to empower our people and take a rightful place in our own country. When we have power over our destiny our children will flourish. They will walk in two worlds and their culture will be a gift to their country.

We call for the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution.

Makarrata is the culmination of our agenda: the coming together after a struggle. It captures our aspirations for a fair and truthful relationship with the people of Australia and a better future for our children based on justice and self-determination.

We seek a Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations and truth-telling about our history.

In 1967 we were counted, in 2017 we seek to be heard. We leave base camp and start our trek across this vast country. We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future.

What is National Reconciliation Week?

National Reconciliation Week is an annual event for Australians to celebrate and learn about First Nations history, culture and achievements.

The theme of this year’s week is, “Be Brave. Make Change.”.

“’Be Brave. Make Change.’ is a challenge to us all to Be Brave and tackle the unfinished business of reconciliation so we can Make Change for all,” says Reconciliation Australia.

The week is being held from May 27 to June 3.

To mark National Reconciliation Week, 7NEWS.com.au is taking a look at the issues impacting First National people in Australia and their stories.

Stream free on

Australian Human Rights Institute

The uluru statement from the heart: where to from here.

Dr Dani Larkin

In his election victory speech on May 21, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese commenced by acknowledging the traditional owners of the country he was on, he paid his respects to their elders (past, present and emerging) and most significantly he committed to the implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full.  To be clear, this process for seeking our constitutional recognition commenced back in 1999 when then-Prime Minister John Howard sought to recognise us in the preamble of the Australian Constitution as First Peoples to this continent. This proposal, however, was rejected by the Australian people when it was put to them at the 1999 referendum. This rejection came largely from the fact that minimal-to-no consultative effort had been undertaken by the Howard Government with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, or the broader Australian public. The proposal offered only symbolic recognition, which was a concern amongst many First Nations peoples that it was unable to deliver on recognising substantive rights through meaningful structural reform.  From there, the question of how Australia should constitutionally recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait peoples has remained up in the air. Over the years Indigenous constitutional recognition has received support through election commitments from all major Australian political parties, but what has changed over time has been the shift in the form this recognition should take.   We know today that recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples means structural reform and not symbolic reform to the Australian Constitution. Structural reform in this way involves the constitutional recognition of an Indigenous elected representative body so that Indigenous people have a seat at the table when it comes to decision-making that impacts upon Indigenous people and our affairs.  In 2015, then-Prime Minister Tony Abbott endorsed the ‘Recognise’ campaign which again sought to symbolically recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the preamble of the Australian Constitution. In reaction to this proposal, prominent Indigenous leaders and constitutional experts such as Professor Megan Davis, Noel Pearson, and Aunty Pat Anderson AO, spoke with Prime Minister Abbott at Kirribilli House and called on him to support a new process of Indigenous constitutional recognition. From there, the Referendum Council was formed and tasked with going out and testing the sentiment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities as to whether – and how  –  they want to be constitutionally recognised.  The Referendum Council then designed and coordinated the Regional Dialogue consultative process , which commenced in 2016.  The Regional Dialogues involved 13 regional meetings across Australia of invited Indigenous Elders, Traditional Owners, and prominent community representatives to discuss potential options. The Regional Dialogues culminated in the 2017 First Nations National Constitutional Convention where 250 Dialogue Delegates gathered together to discuss and reach a consensus on the most preferred option for Indigenous constitutional recognition. Once a consensus was reached, delegates issued the Uluru Statement from the Heart 2017.   The Uluru Statement is an invitation to the Australian people to walk with us as part of a people’s movement for structural reform achieved through Indigenous constitutional recognition. Most importantly, it sets out a deliberately sequenced legislative reform roadmap that seeks to achieve justice and political empowerment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The Uluru Statement reform proposals include:  first the establishment of a constitutionally-enshrined First Nation’s Voice to Parliament and; second, the establishment of a Makarrata Commission to supervise Treaty and Truth-Telling processes.   Since 2017, the Uluru Statement has garnered sweeping public support, including from all major political parties. A co-design process has also been completed which was rolled out under the Morrison government from 2019- 2021, led by the then-Minister for Indigenous Affairs Ken Wyatt. The co-design process has provided us with further options for how a Voice might look and function.   Since the Albanese government has come to power, support for the Uluru Statement has continued to grow. What now remains uncertain is when a date will be set for a referendum to take place.  The Uluru Dialogue Leadership remains adamant that this should be done urgently. The Yarrabah Affirmation from Dialogue Delegates puts forth two dates for a referendum to take place. First, it proposes May 27 2023, which would be the 56th anniversary of the 1967 referendum and the 6th anniversary of the Uluru Statement. The second date proposed is early 2024, (likely January 27, which is the day after Invasion Day/Australia Day).  The timing of the referendum is important. Successful referendums count on the momentum of public support. This process has more than two -decades worth of  public support and a lot of effort to show how a Voice could be established and work to represent all views of First Nations’ people in law and policy reform processes. It’s time for constitutional enshrinement of a First Nation’s Voice to Parliament to become a reality.  Dr Dani Larkin is an Australian Human Rights Institute Associate, a Deputy Director of the Indigenous Law Centre and a Lecturer at the Nura Gili Centre for Indigenous Programs. Dani is a Bundjalung, Kungarykany woman from Grafton, New South Wales. 

Analysis Since the Voice to Parliament referendum, our national discourse has failed to reflect on where we should go next

In 1968, anthropologist W E H Stanner spoke in his Boyer lecture about the "cult of forgetfulness".

He called it " the Great Australian Silence " — where Australians do not just fail to acknowledge the violence and legacy of the past towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, but choose to not think about this past at all. 

Has that Great Australian Silence been extended into perpetuity since the defeat of the Voice to Parliament?

Not all, but many Indigenous Australians saw the failure of the October referendum as a repudiation of their desire to be seen and heard.

As we embark on the beginning of Reconciliation Week, the first since the defeat of the Voice, the pain of the last chapter for many has been rendered invisible.

There has been an inability of our national discourse to pause and reflect on what that means and where we should go next.

It is, again, First Nations people who have quietly been doing the heavy lifting on what this national vote meant and what should come next. The absence of non-Indigenous leaders in this debate in recent months has been stunning.

The No vote has been used to further alienate Indigenous Australians

Reconciliation is designed to be a two-way street. You cannot reconcile if you are not prepared to do your part.

What should the part of the dominant non-Indigenous group of Australians look like?

Politicians have avoided talking about the recent referendum unless doing so for political advantage . 

But even the victors who successfully argued their No case have failed to articulate a path forward.

The questions many are asking now are how do we reckon with the fact that Aboriginal Australians wanted something different? And how do we forge a path forward that narrows conflict rather than further alienating a people who have been discriminated against and disadvantaged?

Some have used the No result to interpret a greater range of messages.

Is this linked to the referendum? The push to roll back existing practices that acknowledge Indigenous Australians has accelerated since the Voice defeat.

The Age reported just this weekend that grassroots Victorian Nationals members have called for a ban on public funds being spent on Welcome to Country ceremonies .

At the party's state conference on Saturday, members also passed a motion calling on a future state government to give farmers the same "respect and consideration" as First Nations people regarding the use of their land, amid a growing debate about the state's cultural heritage laws .

After the Voice, what's next for reconciliation?

There are some Indigenous people who are now starting to frame their thoughts after what many have experienced as a bruising and deflating period of their lives.

Thomas Mayo — one of the most prominent figures behind the Yes campaign — has written a book to be published in September investigating what's next for reconciliation and justice in Australia.

In the book, titled Always Was, Always Will Be , Mayo contends that since the referendum, some have used the outcome to argue against any recognition of Indigenous Australia at all, claiming the No vote was a "clear rejection of the Uluru Statement".

He believes this is a purposeful misrepresentation of the outcome and says there has been a "greater reluctance" to demonstrate leadership and vision in Indigenous affairs since the referendum.

"Conservatives in Queensland and Victoria, for example, have announced they will repeal treaty legislation if they are elected . And in some local government areas, councils have removed the traditional Welcome and Acknowledgement of Country from their meetings and events," Mayo says.

The 2022 budget provided $5.8 million to start work on setting up the Makarrata Commission and oversee processes for making agreements and truth-telling on top of $27 million pledged during the election to establish the body.

The federal budget that was just handed down this month included no extra money for the truth-telling process.

The government says it is still consulting about what truth-telling will look like.

Since the referendum the Albanese government has introduced some practical policy advances in areas such as Indigenous housing, employment and education.

But Mayo says "we cannot lose sight of the need for structural and systemic reforms — to address the core of the problem, the torment of our powerlessness". 

"The Uluru Statement from the Heart is no less true because of the referendum result. The need for a Voice no less logical; no less important. It remains the best way to design policies and laws, giving a Voice to the people who they affect most," he writes.

And on National Sorry Day, held yesterday to acknowledge the experiences and strength of Stolen Generations survivors, healing workshops, on-country camps and the documentation of the experiences of survivors were boosted by a $3.5 million funding announcement.

The federal funding, announced ahead of Sorry Day, was aimed to prop up community-led services through the Healing Foundation across the next two years. 

This is our great moral burden

Yet is it enough? If we continue on the current trajectory, the inequality in outcomes will endure.

First Nations Australians are unlikely to receive again in our lifetime the scale of national focus and attention the Voice debate delivered from our political leaders and national media.

Yet nations that fail to grapple with their histories are doomed to a perpetual cycle of grievance.

The National Reconciliation Week theme for this year calls on Australians to "tackle the unfinished business of reconciliation" and a great moral burden falls on the shoulders of Australians who want to reject Stanner's cult of forgetfulness.

"There have been many moments in Australia's reconciliation journey that make us want to turn away. But when things are divisive, the worst thing we can do is disengage or disconnect," Reconciliation Australia says in its statement on this year's theme.

On the night of the referendum defeat, prominent Indigenous leader and academic Marcia Langton declared reconciliation as we know it dead.

Months later, however, her work on Indigenous justice has not ended.

How does she see it now?

"The lies about our simple proposal for reform, for a Voice, so that we can be heard by governments to close the gap, will become obvious to future generations," she believes.

"[Australians who stood] with us know the truth. Whether Australians allow the lies to stand, whether the nation they imagine is founded on these lies remains their responsibility."

Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy, who represents the Northern Territory, says there remains a deep hurt and disappointment in the community over the outcome of the referendum.

"People are still devastated by the defeat. It is hard to accept, but we have to accept it and keep going — 6.2 million Australians voted for a better future. And while we may not have won the referendum, we did not lose our courage and determination and resilience."

Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney says Indigenous people "can't afford to throw up our hands in despair".

"Sometimes change happens fast. But more often than not, change happens slowly. Progress is not a straight line. I'm still hopeful that we can achieve a more just and more reconciled future."

Patricia Karvelas is the presenter of Q+A, which returns tonight at 9.35pm on ABC TV, RN Breakfast and co-host of the Party Room podcast.

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• Federal Parliament
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Albanese calls Uluru Statement from the Heart a sign of ‘manners’

By anna macdonald.

Prime minister Anthony Albanese recommitted to the Uluru Statement from the Heart during the Welcome to Country ceremony at the beginning of the first day of the 47th Parliament sitting.

The importance of the statement was at the forefront of the prime minister’s speech on Tuesday morning.

Albanese called the Uluru Statement from the Heart — which he recommitted to in his speech — a sign of “manners”.

“When you have issues that are affecting people, particularly people who have a history going back 65,000 years that offers us a continuous source of great national pride here in Australia, why wouldn’t you?

“Why wouldn’t you grasp that generous and gracious offer which is about reconciliation, which is about acknowledging dispossession and colonisation and all of the tragedy and injustice that occurred as a result of the First Fleet arriving in 1788?” the prime minister asked.

The prime minister urged his parliamentary colleagues to not “miss the chance”.

“You’re not here for that long. None of us will be. When you’re sitting on the porch, thinking about what you’re doing, you can either have a source of pride or a source of regret [sic].”

Albanese also referenced the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing a parallel between the country’s desire to “look after each other” and mask-wearing, noting some in the crowd were wearing masks.

The speech was concluded by Albanese calling for humility and hope to guide the 47th parliament, inspired by the words of Aunty Matilda House. 

Aunty Matilda, a Ngambri and Ngunnawal woman, herself spoke briefly, welcoming those present, before asking her son Paul House to speak on her behalf. 

“We listen to our ancestors, the old people, they show us the right path. They take care of us, they help us, they protect us. Looking to see, listening to hear, and learning to understand.

“Respect, be gentle, be polite, be patient, give honour, take responsibility. Respect is taking responsibility for the now, the past, the present and the future,” Paul House said. 

Paul House took the opportunity to call on the parliament to commit to all three key elements of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, including a national treaty and truth-telling. 

Leader of the opposition Peter Dutton made a short speech, acknowledging the representation of First Nations people in this parliament. 

“The words we heard this morning carried a strong message of unity. A Welcome to Country made in the spirit of peace and a desire for harmony with all peoples of modern Australia.

“It reminded me how lucky we are to live in a peaceful and harmonious society, particularly compared to other parts of the world this very day,” Dutton said. 

Has Australia heard the First Nations’ call for a Voice?

Anna Macdonald is a Sydney-based Journalist at The Mandarin. She was previously at Mumbrella, reporting on Australia’s media and marketing industry. She graduated from the Australian National University with a Bachelor of Arts and Laws.

Tags: 47th parliament Anthony Albanese Aunty Matilda House colonisation first sitting week Paul House Peter Dutton sitting week treaty Uluru Statement from the Heart Welcome to Country ceremony

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First Nations Rights and Freedoms: Uluru Statement from the Heart

• Introduction
• Stolen Generation
• Mabo Decision
• Land Rights
• Wave Hill Walk Off

Uluru Statement from the Heart

• 1967 Referendum
• Aboriginal Tent Embassy
• Black Lives Matter
• Student Task

Treaty   - 

Constitution - 

Support for the Uluru Statement is not universal in the Indigenous community. In fact, seven delegates walked out of the national convention in 2017 where the statement was first endorsed because  they believed treaties were required immediately , not a referendum.

Meanwhile, the Greens party grabbed headlines during the election campaign because of its stance. It would prefer to create a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which would essentially have the same job as the Makarrata Commission, before an Indigenous Voice. This would reverse the order of events set out in the Uluru Statement, which urges the creation of a Voice first because it would politically empower First Nations people. However, Greens leader Adam Bandt later clarified that his party would not stand in the way of Labor’s move to hold a referendum in this term of parliament.

Labor may have won the election, but there is still a long road ahead to implement the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full – and with three processes to set in motion, it is likely that it will take more than one term to get the job done.

We seek constitutional reforms to empower our people and take a rightful place in our own country . When we have power over our destiny our children will flourish. They will walk in two worlds and their culture will be a gift to their country.

The Uluru Statement from the Heart is an invitation to the Australian people from First Nations Australians.  It asks Australians to walk together to build a better future by establishing a First Nations Voice to Parliament enshrined in the Constitution, and the establishment of a Makarrata Commission for the purpose of treaty making and truth-telling.

Listen to the Uluru Statement from the Heart by Professor Megan Davis, member of the Referendum Council here .

Books in the Library

Timeline of the Uluru Statement and Voice to Parliament

1991–2000 – the  Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation  progressed the reconciliation process through education, research and partnerships. This culminated in the  Australian Declaration towards Reconciliation,  the  Roadmap for Reconciliation , and the pinnacle of  Corroboree 2000  – 250,000 people crossing Sydney Harbour Bridge in the People's Walk for Reconciliation.

2012–2017 – Reconciliation Australia conducted the  Recognise awareness campaign , designed to raise community awareness of Constitutional Reform. 

July 2015 – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders met with the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader.  They emphasised the importance of hearing First Nations voices for an understanding of constitutional recognition for First Nations peoples, substantial reform and practical difference for successful constitutional recognition.

December 2015 – The Referendum Council was established to oversee deliberative regional dialogues designed and led by First Nations people.

May 2017 – Representatives from the regional dialogues selected to attend the First Nations Constitutional Convention at Uluru. Uluru Statement from the Heart created following the Convention.

July 2022 –  Prime Minister Anthony Albanese unveils the proposal for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament  at the Garma Festival in East Arnhem Land ( watch the speech  22:27)

Can the Voice to Parliament deliver radical change? With Gary Foley   (5 Jan 2023)

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.

Will the Voice to Parliament empower communities? (7 Feb 2023)

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.

How history can help shape the debate about an Indigenous voice to Parliament (3 Aug 2022)

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

Find Your Voice Podcast: Zoe is joined by Professor Marcia Langton to discuss the Indigenous Voice to Parliament Referendum

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• Last Updated: Jun 12, 2023 10:40 AM
• URL: https://bobhawkecollege.libguides.com/whatdoesitmeantobehuman

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