What You Should Know About The Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament
Some quick dates you should know about….
21 May 2022 - Anthony Albanese committed to allowing Australians to have their say in a referendum on whether to update the Constitution to include an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament. He did this by stating that his government would implement the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full.
30 July 2022 - At the Garma Festival, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a draft referendum question and the draft words to be added to the Constitution.
17 August 2022 - Indigenous affairs ministers from all states and territories and the Commonwealth met and agreed to support the Governments work for a Voice to Parliament.
29 September 2022 - the Hon Linda Burney announced that there are two First Nations referendum advisory groups working with the government on this - the First Nations Referendum Working Group and the First Nations Referendum Engagement Group. A third group, the Constitutional Expert Group is providing legal support.
So what is the voice to parliament?
The Voice to Parliament will be an "independent, representative advisory body for First Nations people. It will provide a permanent means to advise the Australian Parliament and Government on the views of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on matters that affect them."
Basically, the Voice to Parliament will enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to have someone or someones that provides advice directly to parliament on things such as policies and projects that will impact them.
How would the voice work?
Once a part of the Constitution, parliament and the government would have a legal obligation to consult The Voice on matters that relate to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. For instance, matters relating to native title, employment, community development, NDIS, and heritage protection, among others.
The Voice would be able to make formal advice and a parliamentary committee would consider the advice made - however, all elements of that advice would be non-justiciable. This means there could not be a court challenge, and no law could be invalidated based on their advice.
“Things like incarceration and child removal. Housing, health and educational outcomes. This voice is about making sure that what happens in the federal parliament is going to be a positive step forward both in terms of us as a nation, but also the life outcomes for First Nations people in Australia.” - The Minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney
Who would make up the voice?
The report recommends the National Voice be made up of twenty-four members with a structural guarantee of a gender balance.
The model proposes that there be two people from each state, the Northern Territory and Torres Strait.
An additional five members would represent remote areas due to their unique needs. One member from each of the NT, WA, QLD, SA and NSW.
One additional member would represent the Torres Strait Islander people living on the mainland.
And how will they serve?
Members would serve for a period of four years, with half of the membership decided on every two years. Each member will have a limit of two consecutive terms. The members would also get to choose two co-chairs (each of a different gender) every two years. The Voice will have two permanent advisory groups - the first being on youth, and the second on liability. As well as a small ethics council to advise on probity and governance.
What can they not do?
The Voice will not be able to deliver services, manage government funding, be a clearing house for research, or provide mediation between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations.
Australia could be voting on the referendum to enshrine a First Nations Voice to Parliament as really as August.
