Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says he's in favour of recognising Indigenous people in the Constitution but has concerns about the proposal on the table.
At the National Press Club on Tuesday Mr Abbott said any future referendum of Indigenous recognition in the nation's founding document should be a stand alone event and not tacked onto an election vote.
"It's best pursued outside of the policy rancour of election campaigns," he said. A fortnight ago an expert panel of 19 Indigenous leaders, politicians and legal minds released their report recommending recognition take place in the body of the constitution.
They recommended racist sections of the document be scrapped.
The panel also proposed new sections prohibiting racial discrimination, acknowledging the continuing relationship of Indigenous people with their traditional lands and waters.
Mr Abbott said his party was a long-term supporter of recognising Indigenous people in Australia's founding document.
However, he had concerns about the proposal on the table.
"My fear at the moment is that the recommendations that we've got from the committee rather overreach," he said.
The Coalition has expressed concerns about any potential legal ramifications of specific anti-discrimination power.
He said the priority must be to create the sense of "coming together" evident in the 1967 referendum question.
"We've indicated a desire to take this process forward but in a way that is likely to gain overwhelming consensus support," Mr Abbott said.
Expert panel co-chair Mark Leibler welcomed the opposition's "in-principle support" but declined to comment on whether the recommendations had overreached.
He, Mr Abbott and legal affairs spokesman Senator George Brandis have had extensive talks on the issue in the past and would meet again this week to find "common ground."
"They've had a constructive attitude," Mr Leibler said. He said multi-party support was crucial to the referendum's success.
"We're quite confident the (recommendations) will get through," he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Leibler said images of a protest in Canberra on Australia Day involving a small group of people from the Aboriginal Tent Embassy "were unhelpful" to the cause of constitutional recognition.
"Australians will understand that mainstream Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders don't behave like that," he said.
