Indigenous leaders rally for recognition

INDIGENOUS leaders are preparing to rally for recognition, almost 50 years after winning the right to be counted as citizens.

ALMOST a half-century after Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders won the right to be counted as Australian citizens, indigenous leaders are again preparing to rally for recognition.

Veteran activist Lowitja O'Donoghue, who remembers well the campaign for the 1967 referendum, is urging a new generation of Australians to push for recognition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Australians in the Constitution.

"We have just missed out, haven't we?'' she said. "We just don't have that recognition. Everything in Aboriginal affairs takes forever. We hoped it wouldn't take as long, but it does, and we just have to keep working on it."

Ms O'Donoghue said she did not want to see a repeat of the decade-long campaign needed before the 1967 referendum, which resulted in a 91 per cent yes vote.

"This time around, what I have noticed is the young people are the people who are now keen to actually get on board and so that really excites me," she said. "They need to step up, get out where the rubber hits the road. I think they are getting that message."

Tanya Hosch, deputy national director for the campaign for constitutional recognition, said activists such as Ms O'Donoghue had paved the way for a younger generation of leaders to continue the push for equal rights.

"It is people like Lowitja and others who have been just amazing, strident campaigners for decades and decades - not just on this issue but on many - and they have really laid the groundwork for us to be at this unique point in our nation's history right now where you can really feel that groundswell of support coming from Australian people," Ms Hosch said.

"That doesn't happen by accident; it takes an enormous amount of dedication from people who have, like Lowitja, spent their whole lives making sure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are treated fairly."

The Recognise campaign is making the case for constitutional recognition ahead of a referendum that had been slated for this year's federal election but last year was postponed. "We know that the Constitution doesn't change itself," Ms Hosch said.

"It is a difficult task so we need all Australians to come on board and help us.

"We need to get out there and meet as many people as possible."

Ms Hosch said the referendum would take place when it was assured of success. "We hope that is sooner rather than later," she said.

"We should be bold and work towards getting this question in our constitution resolved in the next few years."