This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A parliamentary committee established to examine the proposals of the Uluru statement has heard there is strong support for the concept of an Indigenous voice to parliament but no firm agreement on what such a body should look like.

The Uluru statement recommended the creation of a constitutionally enshrined representative body called the Indigenous voice to parliament, which would advise parliament on matters that specifically affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and would have to be established via referendum. It also recommended that Australia commit to a process of agreement-making and truth telling.

Malcolm Turnbull rejected the voice idea, calling it undemocratic, but it has the support of Labor, the Greens and Australia’s peak legal, community and Indigenous bodies.

‘Pragmatic’ approach now likely in Indigenous voice to parliament, Pat Dodson says Read more

In an interim report published on Monday, the joint select committee on constitutional recognition said it had heard strong support for the Indigenous voice proposal, particularly if it included regional and local bodies that are able to engage with local, state, and territory governments.

The committee was formed in March and has received 381 submissions. It began conducting public hearings in June.

It found that for a voice to be supported by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples its members would have to be selected by their own communities, not appointed by government.



That could include allowing different methods of voting, such as oral nominations, which could be overseen by the Australian Electoral Commission in lieu of western-style ballot voting.

But the report said there were “disparate views on how a voice should be established, what its structure should be and how it should operate”.

A year on, the key goal of Uluru statement remains elusive Read more

That disagreement extended to whether the voice should be enshrined in constitution before it was established in legislation, whether it should be established in legislation first so the Australian people gained an understanding of what it was before voting on it at a referendum, or whether it needed to be constitutionally enshrined at all.



“At this stage, it is hard to establish whether there is community and bipartisan support for a constitutional voice or voices, especially as there is as yet no agreement as to how such a body would be structured or what its functions should be,” the report said.



“In addition, there is scepticism about how such a change would influence or cause the parliament and executive to respond to any advice it received, especially given that any voice would ultimately be a creation of the parliament. As a consequence, there are varying views on the effectiveness, or capacity to bind, that any such constitutional guarantee may deliver.”

The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, has promised to create an Indigenous voice through legislation if the proposal does not have the bipartisan support necessary to mount a referendum.

But Kyam Maher, a Labor MP and shadow Aboriginal affairs minister for South Australia, warned that establishing a voice without first entrenching it in the constitution may forestall any future referendum.

Indigenous voice to parliament given new momentum at Barunga hearings Read more

“Once you take half the step, it’s very easy not to take the full step,” he said in a submission to the committee. “There’s a bit of incentive to say, ‘It’s working OK, so let’s not take that next step to constitutionally enshrine it.’”

The majority of submissions agreed that advice given by the voice to either cabinet or parliament would not be binding but would be released publicly.

Proposed models include basing it on the dismantled Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, which allowed for local and regional boards.

Other design suggestions include making it mandatory for parliament or government to refer anything that comes under the race power (s.51(xxvi)) or the territories power (s.122) of the Australian constitution to the voice for consultation, with other legislation to be referred at parliament’s discretion.



Submissions on the interim report are open. The final report is due on 29 November.

