
It's been exactly five years today, since the Uluru Statement from the Heart was delivered.
And now, under a new government, it's finally one step closer to being enacted.
The statement, which calls for major change to the constitution, was one of the first points Prime Minister Anthony Albanese raised during his victory speech on election night.
"On behalf of the Australian Labor Party, I commit to the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full," he said.
"Together we can embrace the Uluru Statement from the Heart. We can answer its patient, gracious call for a Voice enshrined in our constitution. Because all of us ought to be proud that amongst our great multicultural society, we count the oldest living continuous culture in the world."
Watch: Anthony Albanese's victory speech. Post continues below.
It marks the first time the government has committed to a referendum on a First Nations Voice to Parliament since the statement was issued.
But with Labor now in its first week of power, when will the changes actually be instated?
Here's what you need to know about the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
What exactly is the Uluru Statement from the Heart?
The Uluru Statement from the Heart is a 12 paragraph statement calling for major changes to the Australian Constitution.
The statement was endorsed by a gathering of 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders in May 2017, following a First Nations National Constitutional Convention in Uluru.
It proposes three key elements of reform; Voice, Treaty and Truth.
The first element, Voice, calls for a First Nations Voice to Parliament to be enshrined in the Constitution. This would give First Nations people a say in the laws and policies that are created about them.
In order for the Voice to be enshrined in the Constitution, a referendum needs to be held and Aussies will need to cast their vote.
First Nations leaders have put forward two potential dates for a referendum; May 27, 2023, which is the anniversary of the 1967 referendum which gave parliament the power to make laws for Indigenous Australians, or January 27, 2024.
Supplied/Thomas Mayor.
Top Comments
I know that is a very simplistic and somewhat trite comment, but COME ON! A referendum? We can't even get daylight savings agreed to in WA, and we've had about 10 attempts.
We shouldn't get to have an opinion about whether Indigenous people should be included in the constitution. It is absolutely, unequivocally, obvious; of course they bloody should be.
I am now annoyed that I got so excited about Albo's swift statement acknowledging the existence of the Uluru statement.