Understanding the Voice to Parliament

Want to understand what the Voice to Parliament is or have questions? 

This year, there is an opportunity for Australians to vote in a referendum to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our Constitution and establish a Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament.

Join us to get informed about the Voice to Parliament including the chance to ask questions from special guests, First Nations engagement specialist Jade Ritchie with former Socceroo and 2023 NSW Australian of the Year Craig Foster AM, and Constitutional Laywer and Director of Radical Centre Reform Lab Dr Shireen Morris. We’re lucky to have Broadcaster and Director of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service in Meanjin Karina Hogan facilitating the discussion.

This is your chance to learn more, ask those questions you might have like 'how does this help create a better future?' so you can make an informed choice at the Voice Referendum. Attendees will also get the opportunity to share feedback. 

What: Understanding the Voice to Parliament 
When: Tuesday, 12 September at 12pm AEST
Where: Online for free (a link to join will be shared with you when you get a ticket)

This is an opportunity for our community to come together, learn and engage in a constructive conversation about the Voice Referendum and its potential impact. The Voice is a key reform in the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which asks all Australians to recognise the rightful place of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in their own country by establishing and enshrining a First Nations Voice in the Constitution. 

About the speakers

Jade Appo-Ritchie:

Jade is from the Bunda Clan of the Gooreng Gooreng Nation. Originally from Bundaberg, Jade has lived on Larrakia country for the past 10 years and is an advocate for the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Jade has extended that advocacy to be a spokesperson for the Yes campaign in the lead up to Referendum 2023.

Jade has 20 years’ experience working on programs and initiatives to enhance Aboriginal engagement and leadership capabilities across Queensland and the Northern Territory including remote communities in Arnhem Land and Central Australia.

Jade currently works as General Manager, Business Development with environmental services company Tellus Holdings, which she joined following a role with the National Indigenous Australians Agency, as Director of Economic Development and Major Projects.

Craig Foster AM 

Following a decorated football career as Australia’s 419th Socceroo and 40th Captain, Craig has become one of Australia’s most respected sportspeople as well as a broadcaster, social justice advocate and human rights campaigner.

With an 18-year, triple Logie-winning career, he quickly became one of Australia’s most respected sports broadcasters with Australia’s multicultural broadcaster, Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). A member of the Australian Multicultural Council under the Department of Home Affairs, Immigration and Citizenship division, Craig works across a vast range of social programs, including First Nations rights and self-determination, homelessness and domestic violence, climate action and gender equality and is particularly well known for his refugee advocacy.

He is an Ambassador for Amnesty Australia, the Affinity Intercultural Foundation and Addison Road Community Centre including their #RacismNotWelcome campaign for Local Councils across Australia, Pushing Barriers, an Australia Committee member with Human Rights Watch, Advisory Council member of the Australian Human Rights Institute, UNSW and a Director of the Crescent Foundation.

Dr Shireen Morris

Shireen Morris researches, teaches and publishes in constitutional law and constitutional reform, Indigenous constitutional recognition, as well as public law more generally, specialising in the concept of a First Nations constitutional voice. As Director of the Radical Centre Reform Lab at Macquarie University Law School, which collaborates across political divides to build consensus for innovative reform, Shireen works with a Research Assistant and 6 interns spanning 5 different universities, helping build consensus for a First Nations voice referendum. Shireen completed her PhD at Monash University, with a thesis on Indigenous constitutional recognition through a First Nations constitutional voice - now published as a book, A First Nations Voice in the Australian Constitution.

MC: Karina Hogan

Karina Hogan comes from a big Aboriginal and South Sea Island family with strong ancestral ties to Northern NSW. She grew up in Woodridge, south of Brisbane, with a dynamic and colourful community that has heavily influenced who she is today. She has produced radio for the ABC on and off for the past ten years. Alongside this, she has worked as a board member for Sisters Inside working with women impacted by the criminal justice system. She currently works on the board of the Children’s Hospital Queensland and is writing a novel that speaks from the perspectives of those she grew up with. You can listen to Karina on 989fm’s Let’s Talk program with Boe Spearim.