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Submissions: Your Feedback

Submissions from people and organisations who have agreed to have their feedback published are provided below.

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Submission Number
2446
Participant
Anonymous
Submission date

The Interim Co-Design Report for a First Nations Voice has provided a fairly clear indication for what a First Nations Voice will actually be like. It is hopeful to see that a Voice as lined out in that report will have a positive impact on First Nations people across the country. I think having a First Nations Voice will help empower Indigenous individuals and organisations to push for the changes they want to see within their communities. In this way, a Voice will undoubtedly have a substantial ripple-on effect, and it is therefore important for the Voice to be as effective and inclusive as possible. The voice will be most effective longterm if it is enshrined in the Constitution. The Voice must have constitutional protection, preventing it from being dissolved by a government who does not agree with it. It is important that the mandate of the Uluru Statement is enacted through a referendum, producing constitutional change. My intention through this submission is to push for three key elements to be considered with relation to a First Nations Voice:

1. The final Co-Design Report should urge the government to honour its election commitment to a referendum.
2. The legislation for the Voice must be passed after a referendum has been held in the next term of Parliament. The Voice cannot be merely legislated, it must be enshrined constitutionally so that it is protected.
3. The Voice’s membership model needs to fair, so that unknown individuals with merit have the same chance of being part of the Voice as public figures who have had leadership roles. Additionally, it needs to ensure that it includes First Nations people from urban, regional and remote areas; young people and elders; men, women and LGBTQI people.

A Voice that is made up of a diverse group of First Nations people, and is enshrined in the constitution will most effectively and fairly empower Indigenous people for generations to come.