Joint Statement: Over six years ago, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander delegates ‘from all points of the Southern sky’ gathered together and crafted the Uluru Statement from the Heart. They invited us to walk with them in a ‘movement of the Australian people for a better future’. As representatives of the community sector, we stand ready to accept the generous invitation from First Nations peoples and take the next step towards that better future. We will be saying ‘Yes’ at the referendum on October 14th, and we call on you to join us on this journey. A Voice to Parliament will make our system fairer by ensuring that everyone has a chance to be heard. It is a critical next step towards a future where First Nations peoples are respected and listened to and have the opportunity to inform government decisions about their own lives. Drawing from our collective experience working with communities across Australia, we know that our political leaders make better policies when they listen to the voices of people directly affected. Time and time again, in the disability sector, the housing sector, employment services, and aged care, we’ve seen that policies can succeed or fail based on how well governments respect and listen to the communities affected. We’ve seen progress being made for communities who have been historically marginalised – like the LGBTQIA+ community – when we’ve truly listened to their experiences. Unfortunately, governments have too often refused to listen or take up the advice of First Nations peoples. Successive governments have ignored the urgent calls from First Nations leaders and peak organisations to invest in community controlled domestic violence organisations, take meaningful steps to protect Country and address climate change, and reform our justice system. As a country, we have now reached a critical crossroad. We can either take this next step forward together towards deeper listening, healing and growth for our nation or sit on the sidelines and risk seeing this invitation rejected. It is time for all of us to act; to have the conversations in our communities – around dinner tables, in lunchrooms, workplaces, community halls, and on sporting fields. Street by street, these are the actions that great social movements and transformational moments demand of us. This is how we transform our nation and walk together towards a better future for all. The only question history will ask – what did you do to ensure that Australia voted ‘Yes’? Signatories ANTAR Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Alannah & Madeline Foundation Anglicare Victoria Anti-Poverty Week ARACY Asylum Seekers Resource Centre (ASRC) Australian Association for Adolescent Health (AAAH) Australian Communities Foundation Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) Australian Services Union Brotherhood of St Laurence Catholic Social Services Australia Centre for Women’s Economic Safety (CWES) Cerebral Palsy Alliance CHIA NSW CHOICE cohealth Common Equity NSW Community Housing Industry Association (CHIA) Community Housing Industry Association NSW Community Housing Industry Association Victoria Community Legal Centres Australia COTA Australia Council to Homeless Persons David Morawetz’s Social Justice Fund Disability Advocay Network Australia Djirra Eastern Community Legal Centre Economic Justice Australia Edmund Rice Centre Equality Australia Family & Relationship Services Australia Federation of Community Legal Centres (Victoria) Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) Financial Counselling Australia Financial Rights Legal Centre GiveOUT Good Shepherd Good Things Foundation Grampians disAbility Advocacy Health Consumers’ Council WA Health Justice Australia Hepatitis Australia Homelessness Australia HOST International Housing for the Aged Action Group Human Rights Law Centre Inclusion Australia Infoxchange Jesuit Social Services Knowmore Life Without Barriers Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation Mercy Care Mission Australia Mountains Community Resource Network NCOSS NTCOSS One Door Mental Health Oxfam Participate Australia People with Disability Australia (PWDA) Project Youth Public Health Association Australia Refugee Legal SACOSS Sacred Heart Mission Save the Children and 54 Reasons Settlement Council of Australia Settlement Services International Single Mother Families Australia (SMFA) Social Ventures Australia South Port Community Housing Group St Vincent de Paul Society National Council of Australia SydWest Multicultural Services TasCOSS The Benevolent Society The Pinnacle Foundation The Snow Foundation The Y Uniting Care Australia Uniting NSW/ACT Uniting VIC/TAS VCOSS Verge Collaborative Volunteering Australia WACOSS Welcoming Australia Welfare Rights Centre Western Sydney Community Forum YWCA Canberra ACOSS Website |