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Australia is voting in a referendum to decide whether it will permanently recognize Indigenous Australians in the Constitution and set up a body to advise on policies. Australia is voting in a landmark referendum to decide whether it will permanently recognize Indigenous Australians in the Constitution and set up a body to advise on policies impacting their communities. More than 17.6 million Australians are called on to cast their ballots in the compulsory vote on Oct. 14. The proposal would see an advisory body elected by and made up of Indigenous Australians. It would have no veto power to make laws but would be able to directly consult parliament and the government. “For as long as this continent has been colonized, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been fighting to assert and reassert the right to determine their own futures in this place,” said Sana Nakata, Principal Research Fellow at the Indigenous Education and Research Centre at James Cook University. “So thi...

Australians appear likely to reject a proposal that would create an advocate for the Indigenous population in a referendum outcome that some see as a victory for racism CANBERRA, Australia -- Australians appear likely to reject the creation of an advocate for the Indigenous population in a referendum outcome that some see as a victory for racism. Two opinion polls published in newspapers on Monday are the latest to show a majority of respondents oppose enshrining in Australia's constitution an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Creating the Voice would aim to give Australia’s most disadvantaged ethnic minority more say on government policies that effect their lives. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday would not concede defeat before voting on the referendum ends Saturday. “We’ll wait and see when they cast their vote. I’m not getting ahead of the Australian people,” Albanese told Australian Broadcasting Corp. “I know there’s some arrogance has crept into the no-side campaign, b...