Want to know about a working Indigenous Voice? The ACT Elected Body says 'If you don't know, ask us'

Australia's first First Nations advisory "Voice", which has been advising and challenging the ACT government since 2008, is here to say, in the critical time in the run-up to the likely October referendum, "If you don't know, ask us."

"It breaks my heart more than it makes me angry that people are not telling the truth about the issues that are going on with Aboriginal people," Paula McGrady, the deputy chair of the ACT's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body, told The Canberra Times.

"We don't care about the submarines. We don't care about the parking fines or whatever.

"I pay my taxes like everybody else. We care about the people. The Voice has to be about the people."

In an extended interview with this masthead, the elected body's chair and the deputy chair have outlined the Indigenous-focused results attained for local people, how it is the ear on the ground for both sides of politics, and how they would like the advisory body to be strengthened.

The two women, who also work separately in sexual and domestic violence support, admit it is not perfect and they have decried the ACT's status of having the worst rate of Indigenous incarceration in the nation.

But they insist having a voice in the ACT is making a difference and they want this real territory version to be a stepping stone to a constitutionally enshrined national one, particularly for remote communities.

"If you don't know, ask us. I want my "yes" vote to go where it's needed the most and that is with the voiceless," Ms McGrady said.

"We live a quite privileged life in the ACT. We live a quite privileged life in the sense that our basic needs are met. We still have struggles but people have a lot less than what we have.

"We can't do this without the support of the rest of Australia. We want to matter to the rest of Australia."

The elected body is a few years into a 10-year agreement, guided by closing the gap targets, with the ACT government to 2028.

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The ACT Audit Office this month found the government has failed to properly oversee the implementation of the agreement and government directorates have not done enough to address about a quarter of 99 priority actions in the plan. The office found support for the local community is at risk through part-time membership and low voter turnout.

Only a mere fraction of the 9000 First Nations population in the ACT have taken part in the triennial vote for the members, but the members insist it is democratically elected and their mindset is full-time.

"When we stop doing our elected body work is when we close our eyes at night and go to bed," Ms McGrady said.

"The community know we're there if they need us."

The elected body is set up to challenge and hold to account the government through the heads of each directorate, not ministers, at estimates-style hearings which can be watched live online. It has, according to chair Tanya Keed, helped to avoid bad decisions. Ministers, including the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Affairs Rachel Stephen-Smith, actively seek the body out for advice.

"Oh yeah, we make her accountable," Ms Keed said. "We're her voice to community as well. When we sit down and have a conversation with her, she's also asking us our advice about what is happening with the community. She's very open to it."

Ms McGrady adds the minister is on the "same page" as the elected body.

"We're not coming in to have an issue to be argumentative. We're coming in with an issue to affect change. And her ears are always open to that change."

The body sees support from the Canberra Liberals as well. "We got access to the minister and the Liberals also seek out our feedback as well," Ms Keed said.

They insist they are not in competition with the Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal health clinic. Earlier this year, chief executive Julie Tongs called for an overhaul of the elected body.

"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and we work together. We work together and value the diversity of opinion," Mr Keed said.

The seven part-time members have portfolio areas of interest such as transport and health. They insist it is about issues important to the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

"We live in a very unique jurisdiction but there are still a lot of issues around child protection, out-of-home care, justice, health, all of those things," Ms McGrady said.

The chair and deputy chair cite improvements in education including five Koorie preschools, transport including advocating for bus timetable changes to assist travel between communities, a cultural advisor overseeing work on improving employment outcomes, and better career pathways for year 11 and 12 students.

There are also three units for elders that are based around the ACT and there is "the negotiation for more" culturally appropriate housing.

And mindful of the Closing the Gap Target 2 that "children are born healthy and strong," they are working with ACT Health to bring in "birthing on country" support for mothers attending Canberra hospitals

"The expansion of the Canberra Hospital. It's like the stuff they are doing there is so Aboriginal-focused. I would just want to go there and just sit in the presence of the beautiful work they got there," Ms Keed said,

But there is no sugar-coating the high ACT Indigenous incarceration rates.

Aboriginal prisoners comprised 25.2 per cent of the ACT's prison population last year, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. At the 2021 census, Indigenous people represented 2 per cent of the territory's population.

This is the worst rate of Indigenous incarceration in the nation. All the states and territories have high rates for First Nations people, but according to the ABS, Indigenous people are locked up in the ACT's one jail at 21.7 times the rate of non-Indigenous people. A very slight dip from the 2021 figure.

"We need to do cultural awareness training with police, face to face," Ms McGrady said. "I think the introduction of online cultural awareness training doesn't impact our message to the seriousness of what it deserves to be heard."

There's a push for more culturally appropriate engagement and rehabilitation for prisoners and assistance with post-sentence housing. And also for employing Indigenous probation and parole officers. An Indigenous face.

"I know they got two community engagement officers in [Alexander Maconochie Centre], but it's never enough," Ms Keed said.

"It's getting in there and it's changing the mindset on their roles. I used to be a probation and parole officer. I'll never do it again."

The chair and deputy chair want the elected body to be stronger as they "can't cover everyone", and they want a "safe place" to build the relationship with government and "do it with respect."

"The elected body can be utilised for that national space because we've proven with our track record, and being around for such a long time, that it can work," Ms McGrady said.

"There are bumps along the way, but we have mechanisms there to talk about those bumps. And we want to get stronger because there's a lot of things happening. A lot of awesome things happening."

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