Australia’s bishops say Indigenous voice to parliament ‘could be a significant step towards a more just and equitable Australia’

Catholic bishops have pushed thousands of parishes to make the Uluru Statement from the Heart available for people to read and understand ahead of the Indigenous voice to parliament vote as the amendment ‘could be a significant step’ forward.

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president Archbishop Timothy Costelloe. Picture: Fiona Basile

Australia’s bishops have asked thousands of Catholic parishes and schools to make the Uluru Statement from the Heart available for people to read ahead of the referendum, saying an Indigenous voice to parliament “could be a significant step towards a more just and equitable Australia”.

With federal parliament set to pass the government’s proposed voice constitutional amendment next month, ensuring a referendum can be held between October and December, the bishops said Australians should educate themselves “as well as possible” on the advisory body.

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference endorsed the Uluru Statement from the Heart in 2021, and in a statement last week said the Constitution’s lack of reference to Indigenous people having custodianship of the land was “an omission which needs to be rectified”.

“A voice to parliament isn’t the only way to achieve that outcome … but it is the way requested by those who gathered at the historic meeting at Uluru,” the bishops’ statement reads.

“This could be a significant step towards a more just and equitable Australia. We want to encourage all Australians to educate themselves as well as possible concerning the proposal to establish the voice.

“This is an important moment in the history of the nation, and it can help us to move towards a deep and just reconciliation. It also offers a mechanism to improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.”

While acknowledging people will have different concerns and perspectives about the voice, the bishops called on those drafting the changes to the Constitution – which is now in the hands of politicians – to “work together in a spirit of co-operation, so that the proposal presented to the Australian people will appeal to a wide range of the population”.

They encouraged Catholic parishes, schools and agencies to “arrange opportunities for people to read the document (Uluru Statement from the Heart) and have discussions about their response to its key messages”.

A broad range of religious organisations have urged all sides of politics to unite on the voice, but the Coalition parties have rejected the proposal put forward by the Albanese government.