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Australian Referendum and Human Rights-by Dr Laksiri Fernando Source:Island Australia is holding a referendum on 14 October (2023) proposing a constitutional amendment in the country in recognising the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the ‘first nations people’ and creating a body as ‘a voice’ to express their views through representatives to Parliament and the government on policies relevant to their welfare and development. A referendum is usually a vote in the form of ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to a particular question and the question in this instance is the following. “A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?” In May this year, both houses of Parliament approved the holding of a referendum and since then the campaign for yes and no has been launched by various political parties ...