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, to undertake processes of agreement-making (treaty) and truth-telling.

This section of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum resource kit provides information and practical tips to engage in conversations about the referendum in ways that minimise harm, including: Practise cultural humility, Centre Indigenous knowledges, voices, and perspectives, Remember, there is no one true ‘Indigenous perspective’, Avoid deficit discourse, and Call out and actively combat fear tactics

The Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum proposes a mechanism that addresses Indigenous peoples’ right to participation in decision making, and the right to consultation with government. The Voice could also promote the realisation of other human rights for Indigenous peoples, including to ensure the full realisation of rights to health, education, housing and the protection of Indigenous cultures.

The difference between symbolic change and substantive reform in the context of the referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament and the Australian Constitution.

Self-determination is an ongoing process of ensuring that peoples are able to make decisions about matters that affect their lives. Essential to the exercise of self-determination is choice, participation and control. The outcomes of self-determining processes must correspond to the free and voluntary choice of the people concerned, including in relation to the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum.

The Statement of Compatibility confirms that the Indigenous Voice to Parliament Bill is consistent with the realisation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ right to self-determination, with the right to equality and non-discrimination, and promotes the right to take part in public affairs.

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) will hold a referendum in late 2023. The referendum will ask Australians whether the Constitution should be changed to include a recognition of the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Indigenous Voice to Parliament

Racism directed towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is likely to continue increasing in the lead up to the referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. We've collated a document with formal support services and ways to report incidents of racism.

There is a long history of First Nations people advocating for the right to representation and participation in decisions that affect them. The events listed are a selection of moments in history when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have taken action to call for large-scale change by Australian governments to realise their Indigenous rights, demonstrating the history leading to the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum.

The Commission has produced a resource kit to encourage the Australian public to consider the Uluru Statement from the Heart and the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum through a human rights lens. The resources seek to minimise harm by encouraging cultural humility and focusing the conversation on human rights principles as they relate to the referendum and proposed Voice to Parliament.