First Nations Voice to Parliament

First Nations Voice to Parliament

In late 2023, Australians will have their say in a referendum about whether to change the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

The Murray PHN Board endorses the establishment of a First Nations Voice to Parliament. Here is the Board's statement:

A PHN’s role is to improve the health outcomes of people in its communities, by working towards the delivery of the right care, at the right time and in the right place. We focus particularly on the needs of groups within our catchment at risk of poor health outcomes.

Murray PHN understands the impact that disadvantage and discrimination have on the health of individuals and groups within our society. We have a stated commitment to strive to be an anti-racist organisation and play our part in reducing the impact of systematic racism on the health and wellbeing of people.

Recognised as the world’s oldest living culture, First Nations Peoples were the original inhabitants of the Australian continent. European settlement brought invasion, infection, occupation and dispossession of country and culture for First Nations Peoples. Today their life expectancy and health outcomes remain significantly lower than those of non-Indigenous Australians.

The Uluru Statement from the Heart was developed over years of consultation. It seeks to enshrine constitutional recognition of a Voice to Parliament as a process to allow input and perspectives to inform legislation impacting on First Nations’ Peoples.

In the pursuit of improving the health outcomes of First Nations’ Peoples, Murray PHN supports the establishment of a First Nations Voice to Parliament.

Murray PHN Board Chair Fabian Reid says, "Our work as a Primary Health Network is aimed squarely at improving the health of those in our communities at risk of poor health outcomes. Because we understand the impact that both disadvantage and discrimination have on the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities, Murray PHN supports the establishment of a First Nations Voice to Parliament.

"A quarter of Victoria’s First Nations peoples live in our catchment. It is not acceptable that their life expectancy and health outcomes are well below those of our non-Indigenous community members. Listening to First Nations Peoples' perspectives will inform our national approach and help us work together to improve the health, educational and social outcomes that First Nations Peoples experience."

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