Statement from the Victorian Multicultural Commission

The Victorian Multicultural Commission (VMC) acknowledges the First Peoples as the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and supports First Peoples rights to participate in decision making that affects them. The VMC also supports the full implementation of the Uluru Statement of the Heart.

In respecting this and given VMC’s role to encourage all of Victoria’s diverse communities to retain and express their social identity and cultural inheritance to promote mutual respect, the Commission supports continued steps towards reconciliation, including actioning all elements of the Uluru Statement from the Heart - Voice, Treaty and Truth. We encourage everyone to read the Statement: https://ulurustatement.org/the-statement/the-dialogues/. 

Later this year, all eligible voters will be asked to vote in a referendum on whether Australia should recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia within the Constitution.

One of the VMC’s objectives is to promote full participation by Victoria’s diverse communities in the social, cultural, economic and political life of Victoria. As such, over the coming months, the VMC will provide information to Victoria’s multicultural and faith communities to encourage everyone to gain a greater understanding of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and the proposed establishment of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice in the federal constitution, to inform their decision before they vote.

There has been and will continue to be considerable debate and a variety of opinions expressed leading up to the referendum. The VMC asks that all such discussions and campaigning be undertaken with the utmost respect and civility.

Information, including translated information, on the referendum can be found through: 

https://www.aec.gov.au/referendums/ 

https://www.sbs.com.au/language/english/en/voice-referendum 

https://www.multiculturalforvoice.org/why-the-voice

For more information, contact Zoe Knowles, Principal Comms and Events Adviser at zoe.knowles@dffh.vic.gov.au