NEW BOOK

An Indigenous Voice to Parliament: Considering a constitutional bridge by Fr Frank Brennan SJ

Australians will soon be asked to vote in a referendum asking ‘Do you support an alteration to the Constitution that establishes an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice?’

Frank Brennan has been an advocate for Indigenous rights for 40 years. Here he shows the difficult path travelled by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders and their supporters to get to this question.

In the past, advocates argued for changes to Commonwealth Parliament’s powers to legislate for Indigenous Australians and to the capacity of the High Court to strike down racially discriminatory laws. They also offered changes to the Constitution that would acknowledge Indigenous history, reality and aspirations.

All those proposals are now replaced with the Voice. But is it to be a Voice to Parliament or a Voice to Parliament and to Government? Would the focus be only on special laws applying to the First Australians, or on any other relevant matters?

This book fairly outlines both the ‘Yes’ case and the ‘No’ case, so that voters can make up their own minds before casting their vote in the referendum. 

Frank Brennan is a Catholic priest, a lawyer and a member of the Jesuit Order.  He has been a long-time advocate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights, having commenced this public ministry as Adviser to the Queensland Catholic Bishops in 1982.  He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1995 for services to Aboriginal Australians, particularly as an advocate in the areas of law, social justice and reconciliation.  He and Senator Patrick Dodson shared the inaugural Human Rights Award from the Australian Council for Overseas Aid.  In 2015, he published No Small Change: The Road to Recognition for Indigenous Australia. He chaired the National Human Rights Consultation for the Rudd Government, was a member of the expert panel on religious freedom for the Turnbull Government, and a member of the Morrison Government’s Senior Advisory Group guiding the co-design process to develop an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

Purchase online at Garratt Publishing  

RRP $24.95 

Uluru Statement from the Heart:

Resource Kit for Teachers

The Edmund Rice Centre  for Justice and Community Education has compiled a Resource Kit to assist teachers, students, and all members of the school community, to understand the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

Target group: Upper Primary to Senior Secondary. 

The Uluru Statement from the Heart is written as an invitation to the people of Australia, to come together with First Nations Peoples to achieve constitutional recognition and structural reform in the relationship between the Commonwealth Government and Indigenous Peoples through Voice, Treaty and Truth. The aspirations of First Nations Peoples are for a fair, truthful, and reconciled relationship between First Nations and the people of Australia.

The Resource Kit for Teachers is designed to assist teachers to introduce the Uluru Statement from the Heart to their students by raising awareness about its content and messages. It also provides information, resources, and creative activities for learning:

 Features:

• Background information about the Uluru Statement from the Heart
• Introductory Activities and Reflections for Staff Groups, or Classes
• Creative Arts Activities for Individuals, Groups or Classes

Download:  pdf Uluru School Resource (7.06 MB)