Voice Referendum: Understanding the referendum from a human rights perspective

This resource kit is designed to promote greater awareness and understanding of human rights principles as they relate to the Uluru Statement, specifically the upcoming referendum and the proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Within this document, you will find information intended to help you consider whether the Voice could help to support the realisation of Indigenous rights. In February 2017 the Statement was formally presented to the Prime Minister in Parliament House.41 2017 The Uluru Statement from the Heart On 26 May 2017, at the National Constitutional Convention in Yulara on the lands of the Aṉangu people, the Uluru Statement from the Heart was presented to the Australian public by a group of First Nations people.42 Regional dialogues prior to the convention wer. [...] The rights to equality and non-discrimination in Articles 2 and 26 of the ICCPR, Article 2(2) of ICESCR, and Article 5 of CERD, as well as the principle in Article 2 of the UNDRIP; and c. [...] Importantly, in relation to the right to self-determination, the Statement of Compatibility noted that the intention of the Voice proposal is that its members would be selected by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people based on the wishes of local communities, and will improve the participation of members of those communities in decisions, policies and laws that affect their rights and inter. [...] In relation to the right to equality and non-discrimination, the Statement of Compatibility noted that the design of the Voice acknowledges the continuing disadvantage and historical exclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from decision-making processes, and seeks to address this inequality through a mechanism that enables them to express their views to the Parliament and the Au. [...] The most recent report of the Rapporteur on a visit to Australia, recommends that the Government “[p]lace full political weight behind and act on the proposals put forth by the Referendum Council, including the establishment of a ‘First Nations Voice’ in the Constitution and of a commission for treaty negotiation and truth-telling.