What’s a Voice, and why does it matter?

A Voice to Parliament will be a constitutionally protected body to make representations to the Australian Parliament and the Executive Government on legislation and policy of significance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The Voice will not have veto power over legislation and policy. Nor will it be able to compel the Parliament or Executive government to do things. It will not deliver services or manage government funding of services.

A Voice can further the self-determination of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by giving them a greater say on matters that affect them.

A Voice is about including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Constitution and creating a constitutionally enshrined principle that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should able to make representations to the Parliament and Executive (the government) on matters that affect them.

A Voice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people?

All people in a democracy have a voice on matters that affect them. As a minority of less than 4% of the population, only some of whom are of voting age, it is very difficult for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to use voting as a way of being heard.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have had to rely on other mechanisms to be heard. This has included previous representative bodies and consultative processes. However, none of these have had any permanency and changes of government make these bodies vulnerable.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are also uniquely affected by Australia’s Constitution, which has allowed the Commonwealth Parliament to make laws about them since 1967. This is known as the ‘race power’. However, there is no requirement those laws be made to the benefit of or in the interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Enshrining the Voice in the Constitution means future governments cannot abolish it without consulting the Australian people.

What the Voice looks like in a practical sense will be determined by the government of the day, however, its existence in the Constitution will mean there will always be a Voice or a body representing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia, no matter the political party elected to government.

Listen, learn and share:

Find out more on how the Voice will work with government by reading the Australian Government Voice Principles

The Conversation has gathered experts to answer 10 questions on the Voice, including how it can make a practical difference.  The Conversation is running a series of articles exploring the positions behind the Yes and No campaigns.