How do the major parties rate on the First Nations Voice to Parliament? We asked 5 experts

Dani Larkin, Lecturer/Deputy Director of the Indigenous Law Centre, UNSW Sydney, Sana Nakata, Associate Professor in Political Science, The University of Melbourne, Eddie Synot, Lecturer, Griffith Law School, Griffith University, Emma Lee, Associate Professor, Indigenous Leadership, Swinburne University of Technology, and James Blackwell, Research Fellow (Indigenous Diplomacy), Australian National University
·1-min read
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP Image/Lukas Coch and Mick Tsikas, Shutterstock</span></span>
AAP Image/Lukas Coch and Mick Tsikas, Shutterstock

One of the recommendations from the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart calls for the establishment of a First Nations Voice to parliament, enshrined in the Constitution. This would ensure First Nations people are formally consulted on government decisions and legislation affecting their communities.

However, for a Voice to parliament to be enshrined in the Constitution, it would need to be passed at a referendum.

A recent survey found significant public support for a First Nations voice to parliament.

However, it seems Labor and the Coalition are clashing on what this might look like in practice.

We asked five experts to grade the major parties’ policies and past actions on pursuing a Voice to parliament.

Coalition

Labor

This article is republished from The Conversation is the world's leading publisher of research-based news and analysis. A unique collaboration between academics and journalists. It was written by: Dani Larkin, UNSW Sydney; Eddie Synot, Griffith University; Emma Lee, Swinburne University of Technology; James Blackwell, Australian National University, and Sana Nakata, The University of Melbourne.

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Dr Dani Larkin is part of the legal team at the Indigenous Law Centre, UNSW that provides technical support to the Uluru Dialogue and community education on constitutional reform.

Eddie is part of the legal team at the Indigenous Law Centre, UNSW that provides technical support to the Uluru Dialogue and community education on constitutional reform.

Dr Emma Lee has consulted on the National Co-Design Group for Indigenous Voice. Dr. Lee has also received funding from the Australian Research Council Grant DP200101394 Making policy reform work: a comparative analysis of social procurement.

James Blackwell is a member of the Uluru Dialogue at UNSW, which is campaigning to support the Uluru Statement From the Heart and its sequence of constitutional reforms.

Sana Nakata receives funding from Australian Research Council (DP200100728; LP200200046).

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