What is Australia's Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum? Here's all you need to know about the proposal

Australians will vote in a referendum on 14 October 2023 to constitutionally recognise its Indigenous people by establishing a representative body responsible for providing non-binding advice to the parliament.

Indigenous people of Australia consist of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. They are 3.2 per cent of Australia's total population. More than 800,000 Indigenous people have inhabited the land for 60,000 years. They comprise various groups who have their histories, cultures and languages.

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After the British colonisation began in 1788, Australia's Indigenous population started plunging. The British colonisers took their land, exposed them to new diseases, pushed them to work in slave-like conditions, and even killed many. Since then, the marginalisation of Australia's First Nations people has continued. But there have been some efforts to address this issue more recently.

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More than 60 years after the nations' establishment in 1901, Australia included the Indigenous people in census figures in 1967, following a referendum to amend the constitution.

In 2017, around 250 First Nations representatives gathered at the holy monolith landmark of Uluru in central Australia. They created the 'Uluru Statement from the Heart', calling for a First Nations Voice enshrined in the constitution. However, at that time, the conservative government rejected the call.

When Anthony Albanese became prime minister in 2022, he promised to hold a referendum to include an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice in the parliament, giving Australians a say. According to Reuters, Albanese has staked much of his political capital on the referendum by making it one of the prime issues.

The supportive forces comprise the left-wing Greens party, independent legislators, welfare groups, and national and ethno-religious groups.

However, some people oppose it on both flanks of the political ridge. Lidia Thorpe, an independent Indigenous senator, is one of them. She left the Green party over concerns about the Voice proposal, as she wants a treaty between the government and Indigenous people first, parallel to what New Zealand and Canada have.

While New Zealand's Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 promises to protect Maori culture, Canada recognises the rights of its Indigenous people under the Constitution Act 1982.

Those against the proposal are the conservative Liberal Party and the rural-based National Party. They have appealed to Australians to vote "No" in the referendum.

A campaign called "Recognise a Better Way" suggests creating an all-party parliamentary committee to address the concerns of native titleholders instead of having a referendum on establishing a Voice to Parliament.

(With inputs from agencies)

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