In March 2021 QCOSS provided a submission in relation to the Interim Report to the Australian Government: Indigenous Voice Co-Design Process.
In summary, QCOSS supports the recommendations made by the From the Heart campaign in response to the interim report. These include:
- The government must honour its election commitment to a referendum once the model for the Voice has been settled.
- Enabling legislation for the Voice must be passed after a referendum has been held in the next term of Parliament.
- The membership model for the National Voice must ensure previously unheard Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have the same chance of being selected as established leadership figures.
The National Voice must be representative of the diverse populations and needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Whilst QCOSS recognises that the Local and Regional Voices will work to provide local views to the National Voice, we support From the Heart’s position that scope of expertise must be appropriately represented in the National Voice, and sufficient scale of membership is necessary to achieve this.