Rise in support for indigenous recognition in Constitution

Almost 80 per cent of Australians support recognising indigenous people in the Constitution.

Almost 80 per cent of Australians support recognising indigenous people in the Constitution, but support among Aboriginal people for the historic change is slipping.

As the government prepares to appoint a new referendum council to guide the reform, a new survey shows four in five Australians are ready to embrace change, and awareness is at new highs.

The survey of almost 3000 people in July and August found that 79 per cent of the public and 85 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians would have voted “yes” for changing the constitution to recognise First Australians.

A survey in May found that 75 per cent of all voters and 87 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders would vote yes if a referendum were held at the time. The slight drop in support among First Australians is within the poll’s margin of error.

A Newspoll conducted for The Australian in June found 63 per cent of Australians suppor­ted constitutional recognition, with 19 per cent opposed and 18 per cent uncommitted.

The Polity research, commissioned by the RECOGNISE campaign, showed awareness of the proposal for constitutional recognition rose from 37 per cent in March to 63 per cent, and jumped from 52 per cent to 73 per cent among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

RECOGNISE campaign director Tanya Hosch urged the country’s political leaders to take advantage of the surge in community awareness of constitutional recognition.

“We believe this rise in support was in part due to the widespread media attention when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives met the then prime minister and Opposition Leader in Sydney in July,” Ms Hosch said.

But she warned the support could not be taken for granted, saying the opposition and the government needed to urgently agree on the makeup of the new referendum council that will be charged with overseeing the process.