South Australia is leading the way with historic legislation that provides for a directly elected First Nations Voice to our Parliament. This is a significant opportunity for South Australian First Nations people to be heard at the highest level of decision-making in our state.

The First Nations Voice Bill 2022 has been developed following State-wide community engagement with First Nations people and communities. This legislation will now be provided to First Nations community members for their feedback.

This forms part of the Malinauskas Government’s commitment to a State-based implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, a call from First Nations people across the country for substantial change and reform so First Nations people have a greater say in decision-making and are able to express their hopes and aspirations.

The draft Bill proposes a State-wide First Nations group be formed (the State First Nations Voice), to advise and address Parliament. It would be informed and made up of representatives from a number of Local First Nations Voices.

The draft Bill proposes:

• A strong and direct line of communication for First Nations peoples to South Australia’s Parliament.
• Regions would be established around South Australia, each with their own directly elected Local First Nations Voice.
• The number of members and regions is yet to be determined but each Local First Nations Voice would have an equal number of male and female members.
• A Local First Nations Voice will talk to and consider matters of interest to local First Nations people and engage and collaborate with other organisations.
• The State First Nations Voice will consist of the two joint presiding members (male and female) from each of the Local First Nations Voice.
• The State First Nations Voice will be able to address Parliament on particular legislation of interest to Aboriginal people, make an annual address to Parliament, provide reports to Parliament on matters of interest and engage Ministers and Chief Executives about department budgets and priorities in annual meetings.
• The election process is managed by the Electoral Commission of South Australia.

After an initial election, subsequent elections would be held at the same time as State elections, with members to be elected for a four-year term.

Further engagement will be held from 17 November until 6 January 2023, to help refine the draft Bill ahead of its introduction to State Parliament in 2023.

Inaugural Commissioner for First Nations Voice, Dale Agius, will be seeking feedback from First Nations people across South Australia over the coming weeks.

Commissioner Agius has today publicly released his engagement report highlighting the views and insights from the first round of community engagements.

People can also have their say through the yourSAY website from 17 November (https://yoursay.sa.gov.au)

Quotes

Attributable to Premier Peter Malinauskas

In 2019, I committed the South Australian Labor Party to implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart if we formed government.

We’re leading the nation with a Voice to Parliament in the true sense of the word.

It’s time Aboriginal people have the ability to express their hopes and aspirations for their people in the state’s supreme decision-making body and that means speaking on the floor of Parliament itself.

Attributable to Kyam Maher

This draft Bill proposes change that will empower First Nations South Australians and strengthen our Parliament by making sure that it is informed about issues and concerns of Aboriginal people.

By establishing this First Nations Voice to State Parliament, the Government recognises and respects Aboriginal people as the State’s first peoples as well as their collective wisdom, which is needed to help make decisions that are in their best interests.

For too long, decisions have been made for Aboriginal people, and not by Aboriginal people.

Attributable to Dale Agius

I’d like to thank the people and communities I’ve met with about a First Nations Voice to South Australia’s Parliament.

My report captures the resounding message I heard in these conversations – First Nations people in South Australia want to have a say in their affairs based on the principle of self-determination. They want to be able to influence the decisions being made about them at the highest of levels – in the Parliament.

Overwhelmingly people have told me about the need for grassroots voices to be heard and that First Nations people should choose who represents them. Following my first round of engagements I have worked closely with the Attorney-General and his department to ensure the Bill has been informed by the voices of South Australian First Nations people.

We now have a model for how that could look. I’ll be going back out to communities over the coming weeks to get their feedback and to have further conversations about the Bill to finalise arrangements about how it will work.