Businesses get to work to support Indigenous voice

For Bangarra Dance Theatre, supporting the 'yes' campaign for a First Nations voice is about truth-telling.

Bangarra – which means "make fire" – has been sharing stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures since its formation in 1989.

Bangarra chair Phillipa McDermott, a Wakka Wakka and Mulinjali woman, said as an Indigenous arts company, the performers, other staff members and board had been talking about voice, treaty, truth since the Uluru Statement from the Heart in 2017.

"The truth-telling part really is where the rubber hits the road for Bangarra, that's what we do," Ms McDermott said.

"Through our stories and on stage, we do a lot of truth telling. 

"We started to understand why and why it should be a 'yes' for Bangarra."

The big end of business has been declaring its support for the 'yes' campaign too, with Lendlease an early supporter of the Uluru Statement and NAB, the Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, BHP, Rio Tinto, Wesfarmers and Woolworths all indicating their support.

Coles Group is one of the largest private employers of Indigenous people in the country, with more than 4000 workers identifying as Indigenous.

"We strongly endorse the Uluru Statement from the Heart and its call for a voice to parliament enshrined in the constitution," a Coles spokesperson said.

Not-for-profit ANTAR (Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation) is co-ordinating Allies for Uluru, which represents more than 180 civil society organisations including the Fred Hollows Foundation, Oxfam Australia and the Australian Council of Social Service.

ANTAR chief executive Paul Wright said they had been working with organisations who want their employees to have accurate information in the lead up to the referendum later this year.

"The voice has never been put up as a cure-all, it's a step in the right direction," he said.

"If you go back to the origins of constitutional voice as it's been proposed by the Uluru statement, it comes in a reform package of three specific things.

"It's not just voice but it's a voice that leads to agreement making and truth telling. 

"It's the three together and it's when you get to the point of truth telling and agreement making that you'll see a lot more practical change but they need a voice to actually negotiate those things.

"That's why it's so important."

Ms McDermott said Bangarra didn't usually get involved in politics.

But because of its unique position as an arts company with deep ties to Indigenous communities and the education programs it does travelling around the country, Bangarra has seen the benefits to communities having a say in issues that affect them.

"And we know that place-based solutions work because we're not a homogenous people," she said.

"Everybody's got a different challenge in a different community. What happens in Sydney is different to what happens in Alice Springs or Tasmania and you need different solutions. 

"And that's why we know that it works when people have a say in their own solutions and their own future because it's different, and for too long it's been one size fits all."