Centrecare supports the Uluru Statement from the Heart. We believe that the proposed changes to Australia’s Constitution allowing for the establishment of a body called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, with its ability for representations to Parliament and Executive Government of the Commonwealth, is an important, necessary step in the appropriate empowerment and recognition of First Nations people. It is also a move towards the creation of greater equity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and enhances the possibility of a more respectful and reconciled future for Australia.
Centrecare supports the creation of the Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement-making between Australia’s First Nations people and Governments, and for the Commission to oversee Truth-Telling of past and recent events. Recognising past wrongs will provide all Australians with a genuine understanding of the impact colonisation has had on our First Nations people both past and present. Such understanding is a necessary precondition to an authentic reconciliation.