At this pivotal point in time, ChildFund Australia takes up the invitation extended in the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and supports full implementation. The Uluru Statement from the Heart calls for three actions, a reform process known as Voice, Treaty, Truth:
- A Voice: the establishment of an Indigenous Voice enshrined in the Constitution
- A Makarrata Commission: to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and Firsts Nations
- Truth-Telling: history told accurately and truthfully
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are the world’s oldest living and continuous culture; a source of pride and strength, with over 65,000 years of rich history and culture. Yet, over the last 200 years, Australia’s history of colonisation continues to have a deep impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It is widely known and evidenced that there are persistent and harsh disparities as a result of colonisation, dispossession and displacement from ancestral lands, as well as ongoing racism and intergenerational trauma for First Nations peoples. For children and young people in particular, this has resulted in deep and ongoing structural inequities.
As the Uluru Statement from the Heart says:
Proportionally, we are the most incarcerated people on the planet. We are not an innately criminal people. Our children are aliened from their families at unprecedented rates. This cannot be because we have no love for them. And our youth languish in detention in obscene numbers. They should be our hope for the future….
This is ChildFund’s global experience.
Indigenous children and girls are some of the most marginalised populations worldwide when it comes to the realisation of their rights. As a development and humanitarian organisation, we witness the struggle and progress towards First Nations justice. We recognise that gender, climate, economic and racial justice are not possible without First Nations justice. As a child and youth rights-focused organisation, we acknowledge that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people inherit responsibility for the preservation of their culture and lands, while experiencing ongoing discrimination, exclusion and poorer life outcomes.
As the Uluru Statement expresses … When we have power over our destiny our children will flourish.
The Uluru Statement – the expression of nearly a decade of engagement, dialogue and consultation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders and community – calls for the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution.
ChildFund Australia supports the Voice to Parliament, and encourages all people to be fully informed of the facts.