Newcastle Family Support Services Inc
28 September 2011
Expert panel on constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians
contact@youmeunity.org.au
Dear Panel,
Re: Submission from Newcastle Family Support Services regarding constitutional change.
Newcastle Family Support Services has been supporting families in the Newcastle area for over thirty
years. The service assists both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal families and in the last 13 years has
employed Aboriginal staff. The range of services provided in people’s homes and our centres include
counselling, group work, practical assistance, support and advocacy. The service is committed to
values of social justice and participation of families in every aspect of service delivery and is guided by
a working document known as the service’s Aboriginal terms of reference.
The service supports change in the Australian constitution in order to recognise the specific history,
rights and contribution of the First Peoples. As such we would like to submit the following
preferences arising from consultation with Aboriginal staff and families regarding specific changes in
the constitution:
 We would like to see a preamble in the Constitution that 1) recognises the peoples
now known as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, 2) acknowledges and names
the countries and diversity of the many Aboriginal nations 3) shows respect and
support for their ongoing relationship to the land, 4) acknowledges the
dispossession of land and culture over generations and 5) demonstrates an
intention to rectify the injustices of the past and move towards a reconciliation of
these matters (as per the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Act 2006).
 A preamble may be further supported by a specific section in the body of the
constitution that deals with human rights and in particular the rights of the
Indigenous people of Australia.
 We would like to see the amendment of section 51 (xxvi) of the constitution to
reflect the possibility of particular laws that may ‘benefit’ the people now known as
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (or any other racial group) as a way of
responding to significant and ongoing experiences of oppression and injustice. In
other words this would provide for the possibility of ‘positive discrimination’. We
submit this would be best supported by the addition of a clause that requires the
demonstration of adequate consultation regarding ‘benefit’ with affected
communities at a grass roots level. Additionally a requirement would also be
indicated regarding consistency with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples. We hope that in future a universal statement ensuring equality
and non-discrimination could be written into the constitution.
 We would like to see Section 25 that deals with citizen voting rights deleted from
the constitution given it is not in keeping with values of non-discrimination and
equality.
 We support the idea of introducing an agreement making power into the
constitution that would enable a treaty to be considered between Aboriginal and
non-Aboriginal peoples on a range of issues.
Apart from these proposed changes we would like to see a commitment from the Australian
government to progress towards the development of a human rights act including the rights of
indigenous peoples to access their lands, cultural sites and protection of their heritage. Further that
the Australian constitution is reviewed no less than every five years to ensure it keeps pace with
future developments regarding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Submitted on behalf of the staff, families and board of Newcastle Family Support Services.
P O Box 629 Newcastle NSW 2300 info@nfss.org.au Ph. (02) 4926 3577
(02) 4926 3577 Fax (02) 4929 5502 info@nfss.org.au ABN 37 539 393 582