In 2023 Australians participated in a historic referendum on enshrining a First Nations Voice to Parliament in the Constitution.

Read the Academy’s statement on the Voice Referendum here.

The Academy encouraged and supported an evidence-informed national conversation on the Voice; allowing time and space for questions and collective reflection. You can view the Academy’s Statement on the Voice Referendum, released 5 April 2023, here.

The Academy is proud to have been one of the 150+ Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) partner organisations that signed a statement of support for a Voice to Parliament and a ‘Yes’ vote in the Referendum.

As an organisation embarking on our Reconciliation Action Plan, we have also responded to the call from Reconciliation Australia to educate and reflect on our own governance structures in light of the Voice principles.

For National Reconciliation Week 2023, the Academy, in collaboration with the Australian Academies of Technological Sciences & Engineering and of the  Humanities released a video of an impassioned speech by Joint Fellow The Hon. Dr Barry Jones AC FAA FAHA FTSE FASSA, exploring Australia’s complex history, why we need to come terms with it and why he will be voting ‘Yes!’ in the Voice to Parliament referendum.

Scroll down to find Dr Jones’ video and information from other Academy Fellows and panels discussing the Voice to Parliament.

You can also find more information about the Academy’s commitments and actions towards reconciliation here.

In 2021, the Academy released its State of the Social Sciences in Australia report, which included an analysis of the challenges, opportunities and priorities for advancing reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people within the social science fields. The report outlined the building blocks for genuine reconciliation in the social sciences: 1) reckoning; 2) learning; 3) investing; and 4) holding space.

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