VCOSS Interim CEO Juanita Pope speaking at the launch of the Community Sector Joint Statement of Support for the Voice. Watch the full video here.
VCOSS statement in support of the Voice
First published on 27 February 2023.
VCOSS backs First Nations Voice
The Uluru Statement From The Heart contains a clear request for allyship.
It invites all Australians to “walk with” Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people towards a better future.
The Victorian Council of Social Service gratefully and enthusiastically accepts this invitation.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have an unbroken and unbreakable connection to the lands of modern Australia.
They have shaped, nurtured and nourished it for an indeterminate time. With this enduring connection comes knowledge and wisdom. That sovereign custodianship continues today, and forever.
It’s therefore right to formally embed a First Nations Voice in the tapestry of Australia’s social and political institutions.
This is a crucial step towards reconciliation and self-determination for Indigenous people in Australia.
It will be a powerful way for the nation to acknowledge the unique position held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and to ensure First Nations views and aspirations are properly heard in all decision making.
Enshrining this Voice in the Constitution will ensure it is never silenced.
VCOSS will support Aboriginal communities and organisations — where welcome and appropriate — as they work to realise this meaningful change.
We will do so while also supporting Treaty and truth telling in Victoria.
We urge all Victorians to vote in support of the Voice.
— The Victorian Council of Social Service
Open source ‘Yes’ video
We’ve teamed up with VACCHO to make a pro-Voice campaign video for the Victorian community sector.
The video leans into the complicated history of previous First Nations ‘voices’ to Parliament, to underline why it’s critical any new Voice is enshrined in the Constitution.
You are free to use this video in support of the Yes campaign in the lead up to October 14th.
(Various versions and direct download links below this video.)
Authorised by Juanita Pope, Victorian Council of Social Service, Melbourne. (CC BY-NC-SA)
Downloads
Landscape
- Long video — with captions (mp4)
- Long video — no captions (mp4) — (separate caption file)
- Short video — with captions (mp4)
- Short video — no captions (mp4) — (separate caption file)
Portrait
- Long video — with captions (mp4)
- Long video — no captions (mp4) — (separate caption file)
- Short video — with captions (mp4)
- Short video — no captions (mp4) — (separate caption file)
Credits and thanks
The video was produced by the Jasper Picture Company on the sovereign and unceded lands of the Kulin Nation.
Thanks to Gordon Conochie and the VACCHO staff, Matt Jasper, Emel Berdilek, Chelsie Loader, Jeremy Vallence and Taylor Collins.
VCOSS acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country, and we pay respect to Elders and Ancestors. Our business is conducted on sovereign, unceded Aboriginal land. The VCOSS offices are located on Wurundjeri Woiwurrung land in central Naarm.