NATIONAL NATIVE TITLE COUNCIL CEO NAMED INDIGENOUS VOICE CO-DESIGN MEMBER

The National Native Title Council (NNTC) welcomes Minister Wyatt’s announcement yesterday of the 15 members of the Indigenous Voice Co-design Group, which includes its own Chief Executive, Jamie Lowe.

The Co-design Group will be co-chaired by senior Indigenous leader Dr Donna Odegaard AM and is responsible for developing models for a national voice to government.

Mr Lowe said the pace at which the voice to government process is moving is admirable but that there is a long road ahead.

“Minister Wyatt and his government have made significant progress on the voice to government. In just a few short months we’ve seen the advisory and co-design groups formed. The momentum is remarkable,” said Mr Lowe.

“Obviously we have an enormous task in front of us and the hard part is yet to come. We have hundreds of nations on this continent with many voices, many concerns and many challenges. It is up to the Co-design groups to ensure all of those voices are heard, because for so long they haven’t been.”

“A priority from my perspective is ensuring Traditional Owners have a stake in this process. Traditional Owner groups are well versed in agreement-making, and they often already possess the culturally-appropriate organisational structure and know-how when it comes to collective negotiation and representing the interests of their communities.”

“We know that Indigenous policies are exponentially more successful when they are designed and implemented by Indigenous communities. I am committed to ensuring that whatever model we land on will place our communities firmly in that decision-making role.”

-ENDS-

For more information please contact Megan Giles – megan.giles@nntc.com.au or 0433 028 567

Note to Editors: Jamie Lowe is Chief Executive of the National Native Title Council and a Djabwurrung/Gunditjmara man. He is also an elected representative on the Victorian Treaty Assembly.