Just one key question should be taken to a potential referendum to give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people a place in Australia's Constitution, according to a major report released today.
The Referendum Council advised Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to hold a referendum to establish a "Voice to Parliament" — a national Indigenous representative body.
The council, tasked by the Parliament to consult widely with Indigenous people, described the proposal as "modest", "reasonable" and "capable of attracting the necessary support of the Australian people".
The council did not recommend any other changes be made to the constitution.
But the council said a Declaration of Recognition should be drafted, "containing inspiring and unifying words articulating Australia's shared history, heritage and aspirations".
This declaration would be legislated by all Australian parliaments, the report said, but it would not need to be inserted into the constitution.
The report also highlighted a recommendation from May's Uluru convention for a Makarrata (treaty) Commission, and "a process to facilitate Truth Telling".
At dialogues attended by hundreds of Aboriginal people this year, support for treaties or "agreement making" were overwhelmingly supported, the report said.
The report said a "Voice to Parliament" was the most-endorsed proposal for constitutional change by Indigenous people.
Body would 'enable First Peoples to speak to the nation'
Enshrining such a body in the constitution was the key recommendation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, delivered by 250 Indigenous leaders at the May convention.
The Referendum Council said the body would have "the right to be consulted on legislation and policies that relate to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples".
"It would place into the supreme law of our Commonwealth, a Voice that will enable the First Peoples of Australia to speak to the Parliament and to the nation about the laws and policies that concern them," it said.
Previous reports delivered to Federal Parliament in 2012 and 2015 recommended drafting a statement in the constitution to acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations as the First Peoples of Australia.
This proposal was rejected by the Referendum Council, which said such a statement in the constitution was not supported in the numerous dialogues it held with Indigenous people.
"It is the Council's view that there is no practical purpose to suggesting changes to the constitution unless they are what Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples want," it said.
A proposal to amend or delete the "race power" — section 51(xxvi) of the constitution — was also rejected by Indigenous people who met with the Referendum Council.
The "race power" allows Parliament to make special laws in respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, but it has also been interpreted as a discriminatory power.
But the Referendum Council found a new representative body would cancel out the need to amend the race power, because it would be tasked with monitoring future laws relating especially to Indigenous Australians.
