The federal government is preparing to announce the initial steps taken to introduce the first Indigenous Voice to government.
It released the Indigenous Voice Co-design Final Report to the Australian Government report on Friday, which provides insight into how the Indigenous Voice to local, regional and national levels will function.
If legislated, the Indigenous Voice to parliament would be the first of its kind in Australia's history, providing a "Voice", or advisory group, for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Strait Islander people in parliament.
"The final proposals for an Indigenous Voice would provide a co-ordinated, integrated, system-wide mechanism to engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; such a mechanism does not currently exist," the report said.
The process will first involve facilitating consultations with 35 local and regional bodies around the country to receive their contributions and feedback - a move that Indigenous Australians Minister Ken Wyatt says is critical.
“It’s important to get this right. And, for the Indigenous Voice to work, it must have a strong foundation from the ground up," he said.
“The Local & Regional Voice will contribute to achieving the Closing the Gap outcomes by providing avenues for Indigenous voices to be heard, including to provide feedback to Government on Closing the Gap.”
These voices will work in "two-way communication" with a national advisory group that will be used by governments to consult with on laws and policies that impact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
But the Indigenous Voice to parliament falls short of what Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups called for in the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart.
The statement urged the government to have an Indigenous Voice enshrined in the constitution, which was rejected by the then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, and rejected again by the current Morrison government.
The Indigenous Voice to parliament is a supplement to the Uluru Statement, with co-design consultations being run in two stages since 2019.
First, three advisory groups drafted ideas of how the Indigenous Voice will be created.
Then, over 9,000 communities and organisations provided feedback through online submissions.
"I want to thank all of the 52 co-design members who worked tirelessly for 18 months to deliver this historic proposal, the result of an extensive process of co-design and consultation with both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians," Mr Wyatt said.
