2
Orginise an event
Organise an event in your home, workplace, school, university, TAFE or community
centre.
See ANTaR’s ‘Event Hints and Tips’.
3
Petition
Circulate ANTaR’s petition calling on Federal politicians to support changes to
recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People in the Constitution and
protect all Australians from racial discrimination. Go to: www.antar.org.au.
4
Attend events
Come to events in your local area.
Upcoming* events in the Sydney area include:
Date: Tuesday 20 August 2013
Topic: Leading constitutional lawyer Professor George Williams and Anthony Mason Professor of Law at the University of New South Wales will speak on the question: 'Should Aboriginal Peoples be Recognised in the Australian Constitution?'
Time: 5:00pm
Venue: Female Orphan School, University of Western Sydney
*Full calender of events available from www.recognise.org.au/timetable-2013
5
Social Media
Tweet the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. Tell them you stand for #ConstitutionalRecognition.
Alternatively you can call talkback radio & write to your local papers and members of parliment on the importance of recognition.
WHY Recognise?
Our Constitution was written more than a century ago. By then, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples had lived in this land for more than 40,000 years, keeping alive the world’s oldest continuous cultures. But Australia’s founding document did not recognise the first chapter of our national story.
It mentioned Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples only to discriminate.
For the first six decades of our democracy, Indigenous Australians could not vote, and were excluded from being counted as citizens until 1967.
Today Australia prides itself on being a place of fairness. But our Constitution still does not recognise the first Australians. And it still lets the States ban people from voting based on their race.
We need to fix this, and bring the country together after so many chapters apart. "It is the next step in reconciling our past. And it’s the right thing to do."
Mutual Benifit
Constitutional recogntition of indigenous australians will:
- Enrich the identity of the nation as a shared identity
- Improve the effectiveness of the nation’s democracy by increasing the protection of the rights of all Australians
- make significant headway towards a reconciled Austral
Improving Indigenous Quality of Life
Constitutional recogntition of Indigenous Australians has the potential to:
- Address a history of exclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the life of the nation
- Improve the sense of self worth and well-being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples both as individuals, communities and as part of the national identity
- Enshrine the principles of non-discrimination in to our Constitution
- Build positive relationships based on trust and mutual respect between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the broader Australian community.
MEDIA COVERAGE
It's time for indigenous recognition
"MORE than a century after Federation, indigenous peoples still aren't recognised in the Australian Constitution and it's time for that to change"
Peddling a message of constitutional reform
VENTURING through Australia's red centre on a bicycle is not for the faint-hearted. Unpredictable weather, deadly wildlife and a limited access to amenity is daily fare.
The Act of recognition video
Rare unity surrounded the passage of an Act of Recognition about the first chapter of Australia's story. It is a precursor to constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Recogntition/August, 2013 3