Safe and Equal supports the call for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament
Tuesday 22 August 2023
As the peak body for specialist family violence services in Victoria, Safe and Equal is committed to walking alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander services and communities, and listening to what Aboriginal people say is needed to address inequality and injustice.
Ahead of the Voice to Parliament referendum this year, Safe and Equal stands in solidarity with First Nations peoples and supports the call for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament.
We acknowledge and respect the diversity of viewpoints held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people around the referendum and recognise the Uluru Statement of the Heart as one way forward, with voice one element of this. We support an Aboriginal Voice to Parliament alongside other meaningful action, including treaty negotiations, truth-telling processes, implementing the recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, and funding Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations adequately to meet the service and support needs of their communities.
Safe and Equal respects First Nations people’s rights to self-determination and cultural safety. Now and always, we stand strongly opposed to racism, denial of history and wilful blindness to ongoing inequality and injustice. No matter the outcome of this referendum, we will continue to listen to, stand with and support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in their efforts towards justice, equality and control of their own lives and futures.
Read our full statement on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament here.
Want to learn more?
Read more about the Voice to Parliament at Reconciliation Australia.
IndigenousX regularly publishes features and opinion pieces on the Voice to Parliament, from First Nations writers like Celeste Liddle and Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts. You can find all articles here.
Read statements on the Voice to Parliament from the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency, the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, and Mallee District Aboriginal Services.
Check out news coverage and explainers on the Voice to Parliament referendum from SBS News, The Guardian, The Conversation and ABC News.
The Guardian Australia has launched a special podcast series on the referendum as part of their Full Story podcast feed, titled The Voice Ask Me Anything. Episodes are released fortnightly – you can find them all here.
Page last updated Tuesday, August 22 2023