PRIME Minister Anthony Albanese has announced October 14 as the referendum date.
Australians will vote on whether to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice by including a “Voice to Parliament”, an Indigenous committee to advise federal parliament on matters affecting the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people.
The Parliament of Australia has agreed to propose adding a new chapter, ‘Chapter IX-Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ to the Constitution. The chapter would include a new section 129, which would be as follows:
129 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice
In recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia:
there shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice;
the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to the Parliament and the Executive Government of the Commonwealth on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples;
the Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to matters relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, including its composition, functions, powers and procedures.
For the Voice to succeed, a majority of states need to in favour as well as the majority of Australians.
Postal voting for the upcoming Voice to Parliament referendum opened on September 11. Advice issued by the Australian Electoral Commission has revealed that postal voters will be given a full month to lodge their application and vote.
Applications for postal voting will remain open until 6pm on October 11. However, the commission has warned that only people who can’t make it on October 14, or who cannot visit an early-voting centre in the two weeks prior, are eligible.
