This week marks National Reconciliation Week – framed by two
significant dates, May 27, the anniversary of the 1967
referendum which saw aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people recognized in the census for the first time, and June 3,
the date the Australian High Court delivered the native title
Mabo decision in 1992. The week signifies the importance
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have had on our
past and the influence they will have on the direction Australia
takes in the future. Australia’s constitution defines us as a
nation, but a lot has changed since it was first drafted in the
late 1890s. While aboriginal people were recognized in the
document until the late 1960s as not being worthy of being
counted in the federal census, but eligible to fight for our
country in times of war, there remains currently no formal
recognition of the country’s indigenous people in our founding
document. To talk to us about the proposal for constitutional
reform and to have aboriginal people recognized in