Indigenous voice to parliament: More than 20 universities join yes campaign

More than 20 universities have joined the campaign to back the Indigenous voice to parliament after yes advocates earlier this year told the sector “silence is political”.

Aboriginal flag and Australian Flag fluttering in the wind.

More than 20 universities have joined the campaign to back the Indigenous voice to parliament after Yes advocates earlier this year told the sector “silence is political”.

Institutions from every state and territory are backing the proposed body, including the Australian National University, Monash University, the University of NSW, Queensland University of Technology and Charles Darwin University.

It brings the portion of institutions supporting the voice to just under half, with 23 bodies still undecided on whether they will publicly support the voice ahead of the referendum due between October and December.

The two major unions – the Australian Education Union and the NSW Teachers Federation – have also joined the Yes campaign.

Yes23 campaign director Dean Parkin said educational institutions had “a crucial role” to play in teaching young Australians and “providing forums for conversations on key issues”.

“We welcome the support coming from a variety of educational institutions and encourage all Australians to come together to support a voice to parliament that will help government make better and more informed decisions on Indigenous policy,” he said.

The National Union of Students, which also supports the voice, has in recent weeks launched “education and enrolment campaigns” on campuses across NSW and will extend the lobbying to all 25 member campuses across the country.

“Young people will play an important role in this campaign and we are determined to mobilise students across the country in support of the referendum,” NUS president Bailey Riley said.

The growing support from the higher education sector follows one of the architects of the voice, Megan Davis, criticising universities in February for being slow to join the campaign.

“Universities say they don’t want to be political but the decision not to take a stance for Uluru and the referendum and the voice to parliament is a political decision,” she said at the time.

“We have strong positions on freedom of speech, which is political. We withdraw from investing in some industries, which is political … silence is political.”

University of Melbourne vice chancellor Professor Duncan Maskell said the decision to support the voice in recent months reflected the university’s values, which included “advancing the intellectual, cultural, economic and social welfare of communities”.

“These values are consistent with aims of the current proposal for an Indigenous voice to parliament,” he said.

On top of the support of the 20 universities, more than 500 organisations from a range of sectors have also signed up to the Yes campaign. It comes as numerous polls show less than half of respondents to surveys would vote Yes at the referendum, while others show about 60 per cent are in support.

Anthony Albanese last week said he was “positive” the referendum would be successful.