Australia: Indigenous voices

Among developed nations with a colonial history, Australia is alone in not recognising its first people in its constitution. Most Australians want to change this – almost 80% support updating the constitution to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Yet in October 2023, we rejected a proposal to do just that. The result was emphatic, with more than six in ten voting against.

We last rejected constitutional acknowledgment of our first peoples in 1999. Two questions were put forward then, the first on becoming a republic, the second proposing a preamble acknowledging our first peoples as part of a diverse list of acknowledgments reflecting, not coincidentally, the beliefs of the sitting Prime Minister. Both propositions were defeated. For the preamble, six in ten voted against.

One thing learned from the 1999 attempt was that Indigenous leaders had not been consulted and roundly criticised the proposed text as a result. The 2023 referendum movement, determined not to repeat this mistake, launched a lengthy consultation process culminating in the Uluru Statement from the Heart. The Statement called for recognition through the establishment of a constitutionally protected advisory body, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.  

In one sense, the outcome of this consultation was remarkable. Our first peoples are incredibly diverse, comprising hundreds of languages, dialects, and distinct cultural practices spread over an entire continent and outlying islands. Despite this diversity, an Ipsos poll conducted in early 2023, found incredible unanimity - 80% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people supported the proposal (Ipsos Australia, Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander Poll, January 2023).  The figure was quoted by the Prime Minister and cited in the official Yes case pamphlet distributed to all Australian households.

Among developed nations with a colonial history, Australia is alone in not recognising its first people in its constitution. Most Australians want to change this.

Debate on the proposed amendment was fierce and at times bitter. Bipartisan support was lost early, and opposition focused on the powers of the Voice, the legal and ideological implications of the body, and the lack of certainty about its efficacy. The backdrop to the campaign was a combined housing and cost of living crisis – concern about each reaching record levels during the debate. While support for constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples remained, support for the Voice as the mechanism to achieve it was lost – among the broader population at least.

In the end, the outcome was not surprising. Of the 44 referendum questions put to the Australian people since federation, only eight have succeeded, and no proposition has passed without bipartisan support. History and public polling projected the defeat. What remains is the challenge of reconciling the desire of the greater part of the Australian community to recognise first peoples, with the desire among first peoples for that recognition to be meaningful. The path to achieving this is now unclear.

The diverse communities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people represent the oldest continually maintained cultures on earth, with a 65,000-year history. This is a treasure of global significance. That these peoples remain unrecognised in our nation’s founding document, and that we stand alone among developed nations in this, is a source of national shame.

Daniel Pole
Research Director
Ipsos in Australia