Delivering treaty & truth: fulfilling the promise of Uluru

Labor is the only party to support the Uluru Statement in full: a constitutionally enshrined Voice to Parliament; and a Makarrata Commission to oversee a national process for Treaty and Truth-telling.

An Albanese Labor Government will establish a Makarrata Commission as a priority.

This sits alongside Labor’s commitment to a referendum on a constitutionally enshrined Voice to Parliament in the first term of an Albanese Government.

As called for in the Uluru Statement, the Makarrata Commission will have responsibilities for overseeing processes for Treaty-Making and Truth-Telling.

The Makarrata Commission will be independent and have responsibility for truth telling and treaty making. It will work with a Voice to Parliament when it is established.

The terms of reference for the Makarrata Commission’s truth telling responsibilities will be finalised after consultation, and will include:

• Establishing an effective model of local truth telling, to support local communities
• Inquiring into matters of overarching national significance, including the causes of inequality from colonisation to present day
• Supporting and funding local truth telling projects, in partnerships with other levels of government, First Nations organisations and the community
• Recording and telling positive stories of survival and culture, as well as making an official record of colonisation, massacres discrimination and resistance

The Makarrata Commission’s treaty responsibilities will initially include:

• Recommending a framework for federal treaty-making, taking into account state and territory processes
• Initial consultation with First Nations communities
• Reporting within the first term of a Labor Government

The process for appointing Commissioners will be open, transparent and involve the community. The majority of Commissioners will be First Nations Australians.

Open nominations will be sought, followed by public consultation, before Commissioners are appointed.

The cost of the Makarrata Commission will be met from within existing departmental resources. $26.5 million will be allocated in the first two years of operation to support truth-telling projects, including at a local level. It is anticipated that state, territory and local government will match this funding.