Hepatitis Australia respectfully accepts the generous invitation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and supports an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament enshrined in the Australian Constitution.

Hepatitis Australia recognises that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities’ right to self-determination is set out in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Article 19 of the Declaration recognises that before any new laws or policies affecting Indigenous peoples are adopted, ‘States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative institutions in order to obtain their free, prior and informed consent’. 

Hepatitis Australia supports the Uluru Statement in full and calls for structural reform including constitutional change. Structural reform means establishing a new relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the Australian nation based on justice and self-determination where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures can flourish, and we all move forward. 

Hepatitis Australia recognises that the Uluru Statement builds on the long and strong history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander advocacy for a better future based on justice and self-determination. Gathered in Central Australia in May 2017 on the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander forged a historic consensus on structural reform and constitutional change. 

Hepatitis Australia supports the Uluru Statement calls for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament and a Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement-making and truth-telling. These reforms are: Voice, Treaty, Truth. 

The first reform is the constitutional enshrinement of a Voice to Parliament (Voice). A Voice is a common reform adopted around the world by liberal democracies to improve democratic participation for Indigenous populations. In Australia, the Voice will empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It will be a permanent institution for expressing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ views to the parliament and government on important issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 

The second reform is the Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (Treaty), and truth-telling (Truth). Voice, Treaty and Truth provide a clear and practical path forward for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ self-determination in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Hepatitis Australia recognises that structural reform is needed to empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to have a greater say and authority over the decisions that impact them. Structural reform means making real changes to the way decisions are made and by who.

Hepatitis Australia recognises that these are necessary conditions for Australia to achieve its goal of eliminating viral hepatitis by 2030.

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September 2021