The Indigenous Voice referendum was a constitutional referendum held in Australia on October 14, 2023, to recognize the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. The proposed law would have inserted a new section into the Constitution, Chapter IX Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, which would have established the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. The Voice would have been a formal body for Indigenous people to give advice on laws and make representations to the Parliament and the Executive Government of the Commonwealth on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
The referendum did not pass, with a majority "no" vote nationally and in all states, except for the Australian Capital Territory, which voted in favor of the amendment. The proposal was rejected nationally and by a majority in every state, thus failing to secure the double majority required for amendment by section 128 of the constitution.
The Voice was recommended by a historic document in 2017 called the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which was drafted by more than 250 Indigenous leaders and is considered the best call to action for reforms that affect First Nations Australians. The Voice proposal is the subject of fierce debate, with both support and opposition across the political spectrum. Advocates say the Voice needs to be enshrined in the constitution rather than legislated, and such a change cannot happen without a referendum. Opponents argue that the Voice would be the biggest change to the constitution since the 1967 referendum, which recognized Indigenous Australians as citizens, and that it would create a third chamber of parliament.