A Statement on the Voice to Parliament

“ECLC supports the call for the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution.” 

Supporting First Nations Communities is a priority for ECLC and the Centre strongly supports voting YES to a Voice to Parliament and Yes to the Uluru Statement of the Heart. The Centre celebrates the strength, leadership and resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. We recognise the ongoing injustices perpetrated against them and consider a Voice to Parliament to be one step towards correcting these injustices. 

Through the Uluru Statement from the Heart, all Australians have been invited to “walk with” Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in a journey to voice, truth and treaty. For this reason exactly, ECLC supports the ‘Yes’ vote for the Voice to Parliament in the 2023 referendum. 

 On Saturday, 14 October 2023, Australians will have the opportunity to vote in a referendum to change the Constitution to recognise the First Nations Peoples of Australia by establishing a Voice to Parliament.   

The question the Australian people will decide in the referendum is a simple proposition, a matter from the heart. The question reads

“A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?” 

ECLC’s answer is simply YES!

Key resources on The Voice

ECLC supports the Uluru Statement from the Heart and the Voice to Parliament.
For further information about The Voice to Parliament visit: https://voice.gov.au/

• Find out more about enrolling to vote – or checking your enrolment –  here 

A Statement from The Federation of Community Legal Centres (the peak body for CLCs including ECLC) can be found here.

• Click here for translated versions of The Uluru Statement from the Heart, including many First Nations’ languages and Auslan 
• A Resource Hub with all resources including factsheets, videos, audio and social media tiles;
• Direct access to social media toolkits Voice to Parliament – Translated social media toolkits and resources – Referendum support | Life Without Barriers (lwb.org.au);
• Factsheet 1 and Factsheet 2  which show the information in English with further translations in multiple languages along with a poster in languages so people know information is available;
• Videos on Understanding the referendum in your language. – YouTube;
• An amazing resource from First Peoples Disability Network with an Easy Read Uluru Statement interpretation.

ECLC joins Allies for Uluru

ECLC has joined with the Allies for Uluru, a coalition of nearly 300 social sector organisations, in ramping up collective efforts to ensure a ‘Yes’ vote for the Voice to Parliament now that a date has been set for the referendum – Saturday 14th October 2023.

This will be the first referendum in 24 years and ECLC looks forward to a positive step forward for our First Nations communities. 

ECLC CEO Michael Smith outlined how important the official campaign period is: “ECLC has long supported the generous invitation in the Uluru Statement of the Heart for Voice, Treaty and Truth. We heard at our Volunteers & Partnerships dinner from Reuben Berg – now newly elected Co-chair of the Victorian First People’s Assembly – how important yet straightforward this opportunity is.”

“ECLC encourages all of our community to listen, learn and be informed about the Referendum and why it is important. As a Centre, we will be supporting the Yes campaign in keeping with our vision of Human Rights, Justice and Fairness.”

To find out more: https://www.yes23.com.au/and https://www.reconciliation.org.au/