2021-22 Uluru Statement from the Heart

Pat Anderson AO is an Alyawarre woman known nationally and internationally as a powerful advocate for the health of Australia’s First Peoples. She has extensive experience in Aboriginal health, including community development, policy formation and research ethics. She has served as co-chair of the Referendum Council and served as the Chair of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT), and the CRC for Aboriginal Health from 2003 to 2009. Ms Anderson is the inaugural Patron of WoSSCA, the Women’s Safety Services of Central Australia. She was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2014 for distinguished service to the Indigenous community as a social justice advocate. Ms Anderson has also received a number of medal for her contributions, including the Human Rights Medal in 2016. Ms Anderson currently serves as Co-Chair of the Uluru Dialogue and in 2022 she was appointed by the government to the Referendum Working Group and Referendum Engagement Group. She is also the current Chairperson of the Remote Area Health Corporation, and the Chairperson of the Lowitja Institute.

The Uluru Statement was issued as an invitation to the Australian people to walk with us First Nations people, and to compel the politicians we elect to embrace change and not be afraid of change. As Australians we walked together once before, in 1967, and it was the highest ‘yes’ vote in Australian constitutional history. We are going to have another run at it.

Professor Megan Davis is a Cobble Cobble woman, Pro Vice-Chancellor Society and Professor of Law at UNSW.  She is a renowned constitutional lawyer, and public law expert focusing on advocacy for First Nations people. Professor Davis is the Co-chair of the Uluru Dialogue and Acting Commissioner of the NSW Land and Environment Court. She is also the Balnaves Chair of Constitutional Law, a Professor of Law, and Director of the Indigenous Law Centre UNSW Law. She was a member of the Referendum Council, an expert member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (2011-2016) and is currently a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous peoples. In 2022 she was appointed by the government to the Referendum Working Group and Referendum Engagement Group. She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences. She is also an Australian Rugby League Commissioner. Most recently she was nominated for the NSW Australian of the year for her ongoing work.

The Uluru Statement was the culmination of a dialogue process designed to take agreement and disagreement and elicit a pathway forward on the vital question of recognition. This is a tribute to the men and women of the dialogues who crafted a roadmap to peace for the nation. We are accepting this prize on behalf of all of the First Nations that participated in the Uluru Dialogues and the National Constitutional Convention at Uluru in 2017.

Noel Pearson comes from the Guugu Yimidhirr community of Hope Vale on south eastern Cape York Peninsula. Mr Pearson is a lawyer, Founder and Director of Strategy of the Cape York Partnership and Founder and Co-Chair of Good to Great Schools Australia.  He also co-founded the Cape York Land Council, and helped to establish Apunipima Health Council, Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation and Indigenous Enterprise Partnerships. Mr Pearson served as a member of the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Australians and the Referendum Council. In 2022 he was appointed by the government to the Referendum Working Group and Referendum Engagement Group.

As long as First Nations peoples remain unrecognised, then Australia is missing its most vital heart. The Uluru Statement was the answer to the Commonwealth’s desire to recognise First Nations in the Constitution. The evidence four years later is overwhelmingly that Australians will support giving us a Voice. It’s time.