Indigenous Law Centre UNSW

Uluru Statement – Voice, Treaty, Truth

Uluru Statement – Voice, Treaty, Truth

Progressing the Uluru Statement and its ambitions for a better Australia for everyone

TOTAL GRANTED

$150,000

Supporting Indigenous Self-Determination

Impact AreaSupporting Indigenous Self-Determination

Year First Supported 2019

Indigenous Law Centre UNSW Organisation Indigenous Law Centre UNSW

Established in 1981, the Indigenous Law Centre (ILC) at UNSW is the only Indigenous law research centre in Australia. The ILC contributes to the recognition, protection and development of the legal rights and freedoms of Indigenous peoples both in Australia and internationally. The Centre achieves this by conducting and disseminating innovative and high-quality research on Indigenous legal issues and through community legal education on issues of particular significance.

Progressing the Uluru Statement and its ambitions for a better Australia for everyone

As the largest consensus of First Nations peoples on a proposal for substantive recognition in Australian history, the road to the Uluru Statement from the Heart is a long one even without mentioning the decades of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander activism that came before it.

Issue

Over a decade since the Council of Australian Governments agreed to a coordinated approach to addressing disadvantage in First Nations communities, there is a consensus among First Nations peoples that the gap in health, social and economic outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Australia cannot be addressed through more research and program funding alone – a different approach is needed. The problem is structural and the solution needs to be informed by First Nations through a process they identify as meaningful to them.

Response

The Uluru Statement from the Heart was issued to the Australian people in 2017 as a way forward. The Indigenous Law Centre (ILC) at UNSW is the backbone organisation for the Statement that coordinates the ongoing national dialogue process to ensure First Nations voices remain at the heart of delivering on Voice, Treaty, Truth—the three pathways to justice set out in the Statement.

Utilising a hub and spoke model, local communities have identified leaders to represent them at National Uluru Dialogues, taking place at least three times a year. Furthermore, the ILC has been undertaking extensive research to support First Nations communities to make evidence-based and informed decisions essential to successful constitutional reform negotiations, while also developing a longer-term intergenerational vision for self-determination by supporting emerging First Nations researchers, critical thinkers and leaders.

PROGRESS UPDATE

UPDATED MARCH 2022
  • Increased awareness and support: The Uluru Statement was recognised by the Sydney Peace Prize, taking out the 2021 award for its ‘historic offering of peace’. 90% of submissions to the Government’s Voice co-design process in favour of a constitutionally protected Voice to Parliament.
  • Ongoing leadership dialogues: The campaign has facilitated the Uluru Youth Summit In Cairns and Yarrabah, constitutional workshops with legal experts, and a workshop at UNSW Sydney that brought together the nation’s leading constitutional law scholars.
  • Collaboration with fellow Impact Partner, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre: ILC has worked with PIAC to broaden the reach of the Statement by translating it into more than 60 languages. The two organisations are now collaborating on the Towards Truth project to gather and analyse laws and policies that have impacted Indigenous peoples since 1788.

GRANTS

  • 2017 Large Grants round: $150,000 in campaign support

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Level 6, 126 Wellington Parade, East Melbourne VIC 3002

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we live, learn and work. We pay our respects to Elders past and present.

Australian Communities Foundation is a proudly inclusive organisation and an ally of LGBTQIA+ communities and the movement toward equality.