Say yes to hope and a brighter future

The aged care and disability systems champion dignity, choice and self-determination for the elderly and people with disability through listening to and hearing their voices.

As we face the voice referendum on October 14, we need to learn how to listen and hear what it is our first peoples are saying.

The act of listening and hearing is transformative.

We know that when voices, once sidelined, are given the platform they need, they become part of a much richer and more nuanced conversation.

This leads to better social and economic outcomes, not just for those voices, but for families, communities and governments at all levels.

However, we have not fully embraced this principle for our first nations communities.

More than 30 years ago, as an idealistic law student, I studied the findings of the 1991 royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody, with a particular focus on Indigenous children in custody.

Back then, I believed the shocking findings and the more than 330 recommendations would bring impactful change.

Because we were finally listening.

However, today we find ourselves with record-high Aboriginal deaths in custody and conditions for many Indigenous children have worsened, with the number of children in out-of-home care surging from under 10,000 in 2008 to over 22,000 in 2023.

The referendum campaign, despite beginning with such optimism and hope for improvement, has quickly become charged, polarising and heavily politicised.

It’s easy to forget that the call for a referendum began with simply a hope for something better.

Aboriginal communities need, we need, a brighter future for Indigenous children.

Aboriginal elders and Aboriginal people with disability need the same outcomes we know and have come to expect for non-Aboriginal Australians.

Too many Indigenous elders are still dying earlier than they should and in sub-standard conditions.

Evidence abounds that when first nations peoples have a genuine say in the design and delivery of policies, programs and services that affect them, better life outcomes are achieved.

So, why are we not seeing progress?

The fact is, we’re still not really listening and we’re not hearing.

These things are hard, particularly when what is being said is politically unpalatable or inconvenient.

Since 1958, we have had numerous government-backed representative bodies aimed at empowering Indigenous communities.

All have been disbanded when the things they had to say were deemed too challenging by the government of the day (on both side of politics).

That is, when we’ve listened in the past, we’ve only done so when it suited us, when it was easy or there was a sufficient level of outrage or other political imperative.

We have not listened long enough or hard enough.

Given that, on many measures, outcomes for Aboriginal people have worsened, we certainly have not heard.

The referendum is the community’s chance to not only recognise the 60,000 years of rich and complex culture in our founding document but also to make a promise to listen (not for the first time).

It is an opportunity to put ourselves in a position to address the gaps in health, education and employment, which diminish us all.

The voice will not close these gaps.

Ultimately this will come down to the hearts and minds of the decision makers.

However, it will be the start of a more challenging but, an all the richer, conversation to that end.

We know a failure to listen and to hear causes injustice, inequality, abuse, pain and tragedy.

We see this each time we hold a royal commission into an issue, whether it be aged care, banking, deaths in custody, disability, veterans, robodebt or child sexual abuse.

We need to move beyond this now.

This is a defining moment for Australia.

As Paul Kelly says, ‘no leaves us nowhere, yes breathes in new air’.

We won’t see another moment like this.

Thanks to Kate Daniels, aged care and disability lawyer for her contribution to this article.

• Amber Crosthwaite is a commercial lawyer specialising in seniors living, aged care and disability