Change the Record, Australia’s first and only First Nations led coalition campaigning to end incarceration of, and violence against, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People supports a First Nations Voice to Parliament.
For more than 250 years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People have endured the ongoing impacts of colonisation. Livelihoods have been stripped, families ripped apart, cultures, languages and lives have been lost and taken. To this day, our mob continues to suffer injustices from healthcare to education to incarceration to family violence.
Despite decades of commitments to Close the Gap, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People are one of the most incarcerated people in the world. Our children represent only six percent of the population but are 60 percent of the children behind bars. Our children are meant to be our future- instead they are locked away and set up for a lifetime of disadvantage. We see huge numbers of First Nations women and children suffer through the family policing system, having families ripped apart and communities needing to heal. We see our people having to settle for unsuitable housing, whole communities without access to clean drinking water, and our families having to wait years and years for public housing.
The current approach, the current system, the current way of doing things simply isn’t working.
For far too long, First Nations voices have been silenced, grave injustices have been ignored, and policies that affect our everyday lives have been made without us- it’s time to make a change.
As a First Nations-led coalition of legal, health experts and family violence experts we unanimously support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led solutions to close the gap in life outcomes. We know what works and when we draw on the strength of our culture our communities thrive.
We recognise the diversity in opinion amongst our communities, and acknowledge the strength, resilience and power of our people at every level of our fights for justice, truth-telling, and accountability. Change the Record supports a yes vote in this referendum, and we know that recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People as the First Peoples in Australia, enshrining a Voice to Parliament, is the first step to securing more just outcomes for our people.
Quotes attributed to Cheryl Axleby (Narungga Woman) co-chair Change the Record:
“The Voice to Parliament is about empowerment of our people, it gives us an equal seat at the table and a voice in the decisions that affect the lives of our communities.
"The Voice to Parliament presents all Australians with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to walk alongside First Nations people".
Quotes attributed to Antoinette Braybrook (Kuku Yalanji) co-chair Change the Record:
“The Voice to Parliament is a mechanism to hold successive governments to account on the issues that continue to have a harmful impact on the livelihoods of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”
“First nations women experience family violence at vastly disproportionate rates. In my 20 years of working on the ground at the frontline of Aboriginal women’s safety, I have only seen the rates of violence against our women rise. Having a voice to parliament will mean the government must listen to our voices and ensure that our frontline expertise informs the policies and decisions that impact us. This will lead to change and save lives.”
For media, contact Rachel McFadden (Media Lead, Change the Record)
P: 0415894648
E: rachel@changetherecord.org.au