Welcome back to Changemaker Q& A, the podcast where we answer all of your questions about anything social change related. I’m Tiyana J, I am your host and the founder of the Humanitarian Changemakers Network. Today, we are going to be answering a very timely question, about what happens now after Australia has voted no in the voice to parliament referendum.
But we are going to be looking at it from the perspective of developing a theory of change and a vision for the future. Which is something that is really important for anybody working on any issue area across the social change space. Now, if you have a question that you would like us to answer on the podcast, definitely ask us.
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And you can ask a question anonymously, you can leave your contact details, and we are more than happy to send you some goodies if your question is answered on the pod. Now, today’s question is a question that I think a lot of us have been asking. And that question is, Australia has voted no to an Indigenous voice to Parliament, what do we do now?
This is a really important topic. This is something that I think for a lot of people who have been campaigning particularly hard for a voice to parliament, it probably feels like a really significant setback. I think that the first thing we need to do is to kind of just retrospectively look at what happened, why things happened the way that they happened, and do this in a way where we’re just making observations not necessarily value statements.
So, you know, for example, I think we know where we stand. We know where Australia stands as a whole when it comes to this issue, whether you were a yes or a no voter, a progressive or a conservative voter, you know, this isn’t a value statement, but we can kind of look at what happened and say, okay, well, we know where Australians stand on this issue. We can look at how different demographics voted. We can look at how people were mobilized how misinformation was spread throughout a lot of the campaigns. And we can kind of say, okay, this is what we know now. And we need to use this information moving forward. Something that I think is a positive thing to note is that this was the largest mobilization of the general public for an Indigenous issue that I think I have seen, at least in my lifetime, which is a really positive thing.
And I think now that the referendum is over, we need to not look at the outcome as a failure. But we need to kind of look at it and say, okay, we’ve got this momentum going, we’ve got the general public and non Indigenous people really mobilized and motivated to kind of take action. How can we keep this momentum going, moving forward?
Now, whatever happens next… It should really look at moving forward towards a vision for the future that aligns with all sides. And I don’t really like to use the term sides because I think that It does create a little bit of an us versus them mentality when we look at dividing populations by, you know, whether they are conservative or progressive, left wing, right wing, indigenous or non indigenous.
Older or younger Australians, whatever it might be, when we see things as having like two sides, I think that we can sometimes inadvertently continue to perpetuate a lot of the division that has led to so many of the problems that we see in our society. And, you know, to avoid this, I prefer to use the term perspectives.
So we want to, I guess, move towards a vision for the future. That aligns with all different perspectives on the issue. Now, a vision is something that is crucial when it comes to driving social change. Our vision, whether we are consciously aware of it or not, is the thing that kind of guides all of our strategy, all of our goals, all of our tactics.
They’re all kind of shaped by this overarching vision that we hold for the future. Now, I think it’s always better to be consciously aware of the vision that we hold. And… I always advocate kind of creating like a tangible vision. Something that you can kind of tangibly see or communicate to others.
Particularly in the work that I do with other organizations and groups working in the social change space. One of the first things that we do is actually create a shared vision. And there’s a number of ways that you can kind of do this very tangibly. One of my favorites is when we run workshops, we use the Lego serious play methodology, and we actually get people to build their vision for the future with Legos.
The great thing about the LEGO Serious Play methodology is that people aren’t building a literal like, LEGO city or, you know, a literal reflection of what they want that future to look like. It’s more about the use of metaphor and storytelling through what they construct with the LEGO bricks. So, people get very creative, even people who don’t consider themselves to be creative.
We’ll use different colored bricks or different shaped bricks and place them in a different way. And the whole point of it is not actually the construction of the Lego model, but it’s the way that you share through story and metaphor what your vision for the future actually is. At an individual level, I really encourage anybody listening to this to…
Create some kind of representation of what your vision for the future is. You can do this by one of my favorites is writing a like diary or journal entry from the perspective of you. One year, five years, ten years, fifty years in the future, whatever the most appropriate time frame is. And you’re writing a diary entry from the perspective of the future that you’re trying to create has manifested, it’s already happened.
You’re living in that desired future and you write a diary entry about what it’s like, how it feels, what you’re seeing, what you’re doing, all of these sorts of things. It’s a really… I think powerful way to kind of tap into our emotional side and really be motivated by those emotions. Another thing, if you are a creative person, is just drawing, painting, creating any kind of visual representation of what that future looks like.
Creating a vision board is another great way. There are so many different things that we can do as individuals and as organizations to kind of create a visual representation of what our vision for the future is. And… I always think that this should be pretty much the first thing that we do when we are embarking on a change making journey, wanting to create change for a particular issue.
And it’s really the first step in crafting any kind of theory of change. So I think The thing that is important to note when we’re talking about, you know, what happens in our post referendum is that the best kind of vision that should be guiding us moving forward is one that is going to appeal to as many perspectives as possible.
We don’t want to be alienating any particular group or any individuals. And. It’s always important to remember that most of the time, the people that we see as those who are opposed to us are not really opposed to the future that we want or the things that we want, they are simply uncomfortable and opposed to the fact that we are telling a story, a story about how we think the world should and could be.
And our story doesn’t align, it clashes in some way with their story of how the world is or should or could be. And that’s why it’s so important. That we actually come together and create a shared vision. A shared vision is going to be a shared story that is going to drive us to that desired future together.
It’s about mobilizing and bringing together as many people from as many different perspectives, from as many different backgrounds and experiences towards that shared vision. And if we think about what that shared vision might look like for an Australia that is dealing with different Indigenous issues, as uncomfortable as it might make us, it means that we’re going to have to look at some of the things that came up from this Voice to Parliament referendum.
So, I guess those who were advocating for a yes vote the kind of vision that they have for the future is one where Indigenous knowledge and experience is really put at the centre. The voice sought to, I guess, offer a platform for Indigenous perspectives and Indigenous people to really be the ones having a say about the issues that affect them.
And giving them more agency and autonomy. and not just being these passive recipients of government policy or programs. So our vision for the future needs to include that perspective. It also needs to include the perspective of the progressive no vote. So there was a big push by progressives who wanted treaty before voice.
And so we need to think about our vision for the future as being one that prioritizes treaty. Another example of a criticism of the voice was that it didn’t really address the need for more grassroots funding, even though you could argue that they’re kind of two separate issues, I think it is important to note that the voice referendum, all of the campaigning did actually encroach on a lot of the funding that is allocated for Indigenous community services and projects.
So if we’re thinking about what that means for our vision for the future, it means that our vision for the future really needs to be one that prioritizes funding at the grassroots level for Indigenous communities. Another criticism of the voice to Parliament was that it didn’t have a high enough degree of accountability.
Being an advisory body meant that the voice to Parliament was not going to have enough accountability actually built into it, which risked a lot of the voices being ignored, as they so often are, by our politicians. And, you know, our politicians have a tendency to serve the interests of their political parties rather than their constituents.
And that’s something that we need to consider when we’re thinking about what our vision for the future looks like. There needs to be, I guess, mechanisms in place that will allow for a higher degree of accountability for government. Finally, we have The criticism that the voice to parliament was divisive.
And there was this idea that we want a united Australia, not a divided one. And, you know, that was one of the, I guess, kind of key campaign messages from the no campaign. And. It is something that we need to consider if we want to create a desired future that is, I guess, not going to alienate people, that is going to bring us all together and not further divide us.
We need to consider that. So, with all of these things in mind, this is what our vision for the future is going to need to look like. This is what any kind of actions that we take moving forward are going to need to be guided by. So, This, I guess, vision that we have is an act of what we call story making.
It is the story that we tell ourselves about how the world could be and how the world should be. And we want it to be as inclusive as possible. So one of the things that I personally think is the most important step to take moving forward is We really need to come together and rewrite our collective story of what it means to actually be Australian and looking very critically at Australia’s history.
Now, one of the best ways I think to do this is to obviously learn from experts, uh, learn about the history of Australia, the true history of Australia, the War, and the wars and the ongoing wars that have been taking place on this land since it was colonized. Some great resources I would recommend to check out is the podcast Frontier War Stories by Beau Speerum.
Great podcast, he interviews a whole range of different people who share both lived experience and like experts who share, Research and academic knowledge on the true history of how so called Australia actually came to be. Another great resource is the docuseries, it was originally published on SBS, I believe, and I watched it on Binge, so just have a look at what platforms it might be available on when you’re listening to this, but it is called The Australian Wars.
It was a great three part documentary series that looked at the wars that took place here in Australia. I… I feel like I’m fairly well educated on the history and even I learnt so much I felt deeply moved by the docu series. So I definitely recommend that one. And then finally, I would recommend reading books.
I would recommend reading books about our history. I have one that I recently grabbed. I haven’t started it yet. It’s called Killing for Country by David Maher. He is an ABC journalist. I’m keen to dive into this one, but I am still reading another series. It is called the First Knowledges series. And it is a six part book series that talks to Indigenous people and experts about Indigenous knowledge that was developed on country and how Indigenous knowledge has persisted for over 60, 000 years and just how rich and complex Indigenous knowledge is.
And it does so in a way that… I think makes it quite understandable for most of us who are accustomed to the Western kind of epistemology and ontology of the world. So the first book looks at songlines, the second, design, the third, country, the fourth, astrology? Fifth is plants and the sixth is law. So I still have law to go, but it is an excellent book series for anybody who wants to learn about this Indigenous wisdom.
Now, the reason I say all of this is because obviously it’s great to kind of learn about all of these things, but I really do think that in order to kind of rewrite our collective story about what it means to be Australian is we need to start seeing Indigenous history. and Indigenous knowledge, not as Indigenous history and Indigenous knowledge, but we really start, need to start viewing it as our shared Australian history and our shared Australian knowledge.
It’s… It’s so crucial to have decisions being made and perspectives about this country that come from a knowledge system, a knowledge source, an ontological view that was actually developed on this country. I think it’s, you know, how lucky are we in Australia to have The oldest continual culture, like that is unfathomable.
How many other parts of the world can say that they have 60, 000 years plus worth of knowledge and wisdom and culture accessible to them about their country? Like. That is one of our biggest assets as a nation, and I think it is such a shame that more people don’t recognize that and more people don’t want to learn about it and actually, I guess, apply that to their lives and the way they think about the world.
So I really do think that that is one of the first things we need to do moving forward. The more Australians that can recognize our true history. And recognize it as our shared Australian history and not just an Aboriginal history. And the more people that can actually look at this knowledge and say, Hey, how cool is this knowledge that we have, that our indigenous people are more than willing to talk about, to share, publish books about, you know, this knowledge is there for all of us to not appropriate as our own, but to take and to apply to country.
So I think that is one of the first steps. I am a big advocate for place based learning. If you listened to the previous episode, you would know that I think that actually getting out and experiencing the world is one of the best ways to learn about it. So I always encourage you if you are traveling around Australia or even just in your hometown, experience indigenous culture and history, it really is one of the best ways to learn about it and do so from.
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander peoples. Now, A great resource is something like Get Your Guide. Get Your Guide is the platform that I use to make sure I’m always getting the most out of my travel experiences. I recently used Get Your Guide to book a scenic flight over the Great Barrier Reef with my grandma.
She told us that seeing the Great Barrier Reef was the final thing on her bucket list. And because she can’t swim, the scenic flight was definitely the best way for her to experience it. Now, I think that
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If you listened to our previous episode of the podcast, you would know that I strongly believe that experiencing the world is one of the best ways to learn about it and to grow as a change maker. So whether you are traveling Australia or based in your own hometown, I really recommend getting out there and taking advantage of place based learning.
So there are incredible platforms like Get Your Guide that can help you. to find and book tours that are led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to teach you about their culture and their history and their country. I have been using Get Your Guide for years and I recently used the platform to book some tours when I went to the Great Barrier Reef with my grandma.
She has been living in Australia for a very long time, since the 70s I think. And she told us that the one thing left on her bucket list that she hadn’t done yet was to see the Great Barrier Reef. So my sister and I took her, and because she can’t swim, we used Get Your Guide to find the perfect tours to take her on.
So we took her on a scenic flight over the Great Barrier Reef. We did a tour of the Daintree Rainforest and it was, Such a wonderful trip, definitely something that I will cherish forever, long after my grandma is gone. Now, Get Your Guide is a great platform to help travellers discover things to do. They have heaps of niche offerings that you won’t find anywhere else.
So, if you’re wanting to book an experience an experience Indigenous culture and history and learn a little bit more, whether you’re travelling or whether you’re in your hometown, definitely head to the link in our episode description. Now, We have this vision for the future. Okay, we have this vision for what an Australia that recognises our shared Indigenous history and culture looks like.
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We have a vision for the future that appeals to as many perspectives and different experiences as possible. Now what do we do? Well, now we need to develop a theory of change. A theory of change is going to tell us the different ways that we might approach working towards that vision for the future.
Now, the most simple approach to developing a theory of change is to use our basic framework for change. If you have not read The Changemaker Renew or you have not taken our Social Change 101 course, then you can access both of those for free in the episode description. But basically what they do is they use our framework for social change, which looks at two different variables to determine the different types of social change that can be brought about for an issue.
So if we are to use our social change framework, which categorizes the outcomes of social change that we want according to whether it is an individual collective change or whether it is a systemic change. And then it looks at whether they are formal. Tangible changes or those kind of informal and less tangible changes.
So based on those two different variables, we have four possible outcomes and what our social change framework allows us to do is say, okay, with this vision for the future that we have, what might some tangible examples of change. B and the outcomes of change B in each of these different categories.
So if we were to start with the first type of change, which is informal, individual and collective change. Now that is changes to people’s knowledge of and commitment to social issues. And it’s all about our kind of collective consciousness. So that’s informal. Individual and collective change. If we think about the changes that we might see based on this vision for the future that we have, some examples might be an increased public awareness and understanding of Aboriginal cultures and histories through different grassroots education initiatives, through storytelling, through cultural exchange programs and experiences.
We might see a increased recognition of Indigenous history and culture as Australia’s shared history and culture. We might also see a greater number of non Indigenous people engaging in respectful conversations about things like reconciliation. We might also see increased participation and support for cultural events and celebrations.
The next type of social change Is in formal individual and collective change now formal individual and collective change is changes that will lead to increases in some of the resources and the tools and the things that people actually have access to that we use kind of in our everyday lives as communities.
So, some examples of changes that we might see include things like the implementation of inclusive and culturally sensitive education curriculum in schools that teach our true history and Aboriginal perspectives on different topics. We would probably see the formation of more grassroots community support networks that promote cultural.
exchanges and understandings, we would see more cultural competency training. We would see more resources in workplaces and public institutions that aim to reduce racism and promote inclusion. We would probably also see things like affirmative action programs that aim to increase the representation of Aboriginal Australians in leadership roles and decision making positions.
Moving to formal systemic changes, we We are talking here about those kind of like legislative or policy changes, all of those changes that are kind of the written rules that dictate what business as usual is in our society. So we would see things like constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia.
We would probably see, you know, a formal treaty in place. We would probably see legal reforms that are going to compensate for the stolen generations. And we would see comprehensive land rights recognition. We would see the development and implementation of Indigenous self determination policies.
We would probably see more policy and legislation that really prioritizes Aboriginal health and educational outcomes to close the existing gaps. And then finally, we have our informal systemic change, which is changes to those kind of practices and systems and the conditions that are a bit more hard to measure and see, but they still kind of dictate how our society functions and works.
So we would probably see the development of more community driven initiatives that address local challenges. So things that are focused on health and wellbeing, more economic opportunities and land management. We would probably see initiatives that are aimed at reducing the over representation of Aboriginal Australians in the criminal justice system, and we would probably see a lot more.
Efforts to strengthen or preserve indigenous culture. So things like language revitalization programs and the protection of sacred sites. So, this is just some examples of what our theory of change might look like. We’re starting with our vision for the future. So we’re taking our shared vision for the future that is based on different perspectives towards how we might move forward to address Indigenous issues as a nation, and we’re taking that shared vision forward.
And we’re thinking about what the tangible outcomes within that future might look like for different types of social change. So we’re looking at how the changes would affect individuals and our collective society. We’re looking at how these changes would affect our social system. We’re looking at what formal changes might be and what informal changes there might be.
So, that is how we would use our basic framework for social change that we teach here at the Humanitarian Changemakers Network to say, okay, what happens next? Where do we go moving forward post referendum? Of course, it’s…
And think about what we might do next. It’s another thing to actually do it and take action. And on that note, I would say that as individuals, it is great to look at the things that we can do. It is great to create our own vision for the future and develop our own theory of change for the issues that we are passionate about.
But at the end of the day, this should be a collective action. This should be something that we are doing together. And so I would recommend that anybody listening to this who is maybe beyond the stage of really learning about Australia’s history and culture and learning about Indigenous perspectives and, you know, checking out all of those resources I recommended before, then I would say, okay, what are people doing already in my community?
Where is my particular skill set and knowledge most needed? Who is already out there taking action? Towards one of these outcomes within our shared vision for the future that I really want to contribute to. And this is important particularly for any allies listening because this should be led by Indigenous voices, Indigenous people and Indigenous groups.
And our job is to support them, not to lead them. So I hope that kind of answers the question of what we do now that Australia has voted no in the referendum. I really did try to keep things as solutions focused as possible. I know that that might seem a little bit overwhelming for anybody listening, but I really do believe that it can be really easy for us to want to just keep going and taking action and keeping the momentum going.
But… As one of my high school teachers always used to tell us, failure to plan is a plan to fail, and if we don’t have a solid vision that is going to guide as many Australians as possible, if we don’t use that vision to develop a really strong theory of change and actually guide the actions that we’re taking, then we’re probably not going to be as effective, we’re probably not going to see as many positive outcomes, and we’re probably going to end up in the same position that we’re in.
Again and again, which is what we don’t want. So, I really thank you for your time listening to this episode. Again, if you have any questions about anything social change related that you would like me to answer, you can ask them On our website, which is linked down below or directly on YouTube or Spotify.
If you enjoyed this episode or enjoy the podcast, I would really appreciate it if you gave us a five star rating, left us a review and definitely connect with us on our socials. We are humanitarian change makers on Instagram. And I personally am on Instagram at tiyana and then the letter J (tiyanaj).
And I really look forward to connecting with you all, answering your questions, and seeing the incredible things that you’re all doing out in the community to make change happen.
