Indigenous voice to parliament: Young ambassadors to ‘ignite conversations’ on Yes vote

Uluru Youth, working towards a successful ­Indigenous voice referendum, moved into another gear on Friday when it launched a youth ambassador program in Brisbane.

Bridget Cama, left, Megan Davis, Pat Anderson and Allira Davis at Friday’s Uluru Youth ambassador launch in Brisbane.

Bridget Cama and Allira Davis were students when their elders called for an Indigenous voice to parliament at Uluru. They established the Uluru Youth Dialogue in 2019. At first, they fitted their volunteer advocacy around their jobs at law firms – Ms Davis in Canberra, Ms Cama in Sydney – but preparing for the voice referendum has become full-time work. The organisation they co-chair, Uluru Youth, moved into another gear on Friday when it launched a youth ambassador program in Brisbane.

Supported by the alliance of voice architects in the Uluru Dialogue, led by Pat Anderson and Megan Davis, the 30 new youth ambassadors are committed to work towards a successful ­referendum.

Staying positive served Ms Cama and Ms Davis well when a referendum seemed a distant prospect, and they say they have seen the good things that happen when Australians have access to the facts.

The young ambassadors will spend the weekend in Brisbane planning ways to “ignite conversations across the country on why Australians should vote yes for a First Nations voice”.

Ms Cama, 28, and Ms Davis, 26, see the logic in helping to mobilise a team of enthusiastic young people across the country and believe the voice’s strongest supporters are aged 18 to 35.

They also believe that young people are good at having conversations about the voice with Australians of all ages.

The two women are living examples of this. They have been running information sessions on the voice across regional Queensland and NSW, to which people of all ages attend, many of them undecided on arrival.

“We are not demanding people vote yes, we are providing information through Uluru Dia­logue engagements with com­munity on the ground and make sure they understand what this is and what it means and what the voice will do,” Ms Davis said.

At the end of each session, anyone can ask questions. When Ms Cama helped run a session in her hometown of Lithgow last week, she was excited by the number of questions.

“People were super enthusiastic and engaged and wanted to know more,” she said.