This is an opportunity for unity.

We can’t change our history, but we can move forward together.

On 14 October, Australians will vote in a referendum about the Voice to Parliament.

We want to help our community participate respectfully in the discussion, learn about the benefits of a successful referendum, and understand what writing ‘Yes’ means when it’s time to vote.

What is the Voice to Parliament?

The Voice to Parliament is an independent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander group of people appointed to give advice to government on decisions being made about them. The Voice to Parliament would help to guide Government policy but would not have the power to make laws.

It is being proposed to give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people more input into decisions that impact them. Establishing a First Nations Voice to Parliament was one of the recommendations in the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Read the full statement overleaf.

How will a Voice to Parliament be established?

If the referendum is successful, Parliament will work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and the broader public to design the Voice. A legislative bill would then be developed and introduced to Parliament. This bill may be referred to a parliamentary committee to suggest ways to improve it. Parliament decides if it becomes law. Once this happens, the legislation comes into effect and the work to set up the Voice begins.

What is the benefit of a Yes vote to all Australians?

The referendum is an opportunity for unity.

Voting Yes will be a step towards equality, helping close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people currently live shorter lives, with worse health outcomes, get paid lower wages and have reduced access to infrastructure and education when compared with non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Voting Yes will recognise our First Peoples’ unique culture, heritage, history and connection to this land – and enable us to more readily listen to and learn from the oldest continuing living culture in the world.

Voting Yes will help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people share their experiences and local knowledge to deliver better health, education and housing outcomes in communities right across Australia – for the benefit of all Australians.

We can’t change our history, but we can move forward together.

Why is the City of Melbourne supporting the Yes campaign?

The City of Melbourne is committed to responding to the Uluru Statement from the Heart and its call for voice, treaty and truth.

We believe we cannot be a city for all people unless all people have a say in decisions that impact them. The Voice to Parliament provides a clear avenue for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to have their say.

A city that says Yes makes a powerful statement about who we are, and what we are collectively capable of. We want to take a step forward, together. That’s why we’re saying Yes.

Do I have to vote in the referendum?

If you’re enrolled for elections, you’re enrolled for referendums too – which means you must vote in this referendum.

Your vote matters. Ensure your enrolment details are up to date at aec.gov.au 1

Where can I get more information?

As the closest level of government to the people, local councils have an important and practical role to play in helping people make an informed decision about the Voice to Parliament.

For more information, visit melbourne.vic.gov.au/voice2

Authorised by Sally Capp in Melbourne on behalf of Melbourne City Council.

Uluru Statement of the Heart

We, gathered at the 2017 National Constitutional Convention, coming from all points of the southern sky, make this statement from the heart:

Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tribes were the first sovereign Nations of the Australian continent and its adjacent islands, and possessed it under our own laws and customs. This our ancestors did, according to the reckoning of our culture, from the Creation, according to the common law from ‘time immemorial’, and according to science more than 60,000 years ago.

This sovereignty is a spiritual notion: the ancestral tie between the land, or ‘mother nature’, and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who were born therefrom, remain attached thereto, and must one day return thither to be united with our ancestors. This link is the basis of the ownership of the soil, or better, of sovereignty. It has never been ceded or extinguished, and co-exists with the sovereignty of the Crown.

How could it be otherwise? That peoples possessed a land for sixty millennia and this sacred link disappears from world history in merely the last two hundred years?

With substantive constitutional change and structural reform, we believe this ancient sovereignty can shine through as a fuller expression of Australia’s nationhood.

Proportionally, we are the most incarcerated people on the planet. We are not an innately criminal people. Our children are aliened from their families at unprecedented rates. This cannot be because we have no love for them. And our youth languish in detention in obscene numbers. They should be our hope for the future.

These dimensions of our crisis tell plainly the structural nature of our problem. This is the torment of our powerlessness.

We seek constitutional reforms to empower our people and take a rightful place in our own country. When we have power over our destiny our children will flourish. They will walk in two worlds and their culture will be a gift to their country.

We call for the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution.

Makarrata is the culmination of our agenda: the coming together after a struggle.

It captures our aspirations for a fair and truthful relationship with the people of Australia and a better future for our children based on justice and self-determination.

We seek a Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations and truth-telling about our history.

In 1967 we were counted, in 2017 we seek to be heard. We leave base camp and start our trek across this vast country. We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future.