Australia votes on 14 October to recognise First Nations’ Peoples in the Constitution
Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, has announced that the referendum to amend the Australian constitution to include recognition of Australia’s First Nations’ Peoples by enshrining a Voice to Parliament will be held on Saturday 14 October.
On this date, all Australians will respond to the invitation from First Nations’ People in the Uluru Statement From The Heart. It asks Australians to walk together to build a better future by establishing a First Nations Voice to Parliament enshrined in the Constitution.
The Voice will be made up of representatives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, chosen by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It will be a consultative body that can make representations to the Parliament on matters relating to and affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Auspire – Australia Day Council WA CEO, Morgen Lewis, said that having a date means we can finally, as a community, commit to understanding how to make our vote count.
“I encourage everyone to inform themselves of the different perspectives and I strongly reject the notion If you don’t know, vote no. This is a history-defining, nation-building moment for Australia and, in my opinion, anyone going to the polls ignorant of what this referendum is all about, is letting themselves and their fellow Australian citizens down.” she said.
Auspire – Australia Day Council WA has a very strong strategic alliance with Reconciliation WA and we encourage our engaged network to take advantage of the excellent materials Reconciliation WA has developed to support an informed vote. These can be accessed here.
There is also very practical, neutral information now available from the Australian Electoral Commission about the process of the referendum available here. This is provided in multiple languages, with translated versions of the Yes/No Case pamphlet along with other accessible formats.