While most of us are aware that on the 23rd of March this year the Prime Minister announced the constitutional amendment and referendum question for introduction to the Parliament, it seems not as many are aware that on that same day, he also released the Principles of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

• Developed by the First Nations Referendum Working Group, the design principles outlined in that document cover:
• Independent advice to Parliament and Government
• The selection of members of the Voice
• The diversity of the members of the Voice
• Consultation and connection with grassroots communities
• Accountability and transparency
• Respect for the work of existing organisations

Frankly, none of this should come as a surprise and is in keeping with much of what was detailed in the Indigenous Voice Co-Design Process Final Report to the Australian Government in July 2021.

That report, prepared by Professor Dr Marcia Langton AO and Professor Tom Calma AO delivers a set of comprehensive design options for what the First Nations Voice could ultimately look like. (Click here to download a copy of that report [89.5Mb])

We’re still a way off

This is the big thing! Even if a Yes vote is achieved, don’t for a minute think that the Voice is going to suddenly appear.

There is gong to be extensive work undertaken in consulting with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, the Parliament and the broader public just to settle on the design of the Voice.

Once that is done, it then needs to be established as legislation, which then has to go through the correct standard parliamentary processes; and that can bring up any number of issues, delays and problems.

It doesn’t stop there, of course.

Before a National Voice can be established, there will need to be Local and Regional Voices from which the National Voice will be drawn. This process in itself is likely to be fairly protected, although some States, such as Victoria and South Australia, may have somewhat of a head-start - more on this in a later post.

If you’d really like to start understanding just what is being proposed, it’s recommended you kick-start the process by reading the Design Principles document, which you can download here.