Australians decided if Indigenous Voice is needed to advise Parliament on minority issues

Australians voted in a referendum Saturday on whether to enshrine in the nation’s constitution a mechanism for Indigenous people to advise Parliament on policies that affect their lives. Proponents said creating an Indigenous Voice via the constitution would recognize the special place that Indigenous people have in Australian history while giving them input in government policies. Opponents argued it would divide Australians along racial lines without reducing Indigenous disadvantage.

The proposal called for establishing 'an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice” that would advise Parliament and the government on Indigenous matters. If the “yes” vote wins, the constitution would be rewritten to say the Voice “may make representations” to Parliament and government “on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.” Parliament would “have power to make laws with respect to the composition, functions, powers and procedures” of the Voice.

Proponents argued the Voice is needed because Indigenous Australians die years younger than other Australians, have a suicide rate twice that of the wider community, have worse rates of disease and infant mortality and fewer education opportunities. They said that is evidence Australia's current approach isn’t working and a Voice would lead to governments making better decisions.

The Voice was recommended in 2017 by a group of 250 Indigenous leaders who met at Uluru, a landmark sandstone rock in central Australia that is a scared site to traditional owners. The then conservative government rejected the proposal, say that a Voice would be seen as a “third chamber” of Parliament, an unwelcome addition to the House of Representatives and the Senate.

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