'The time is now': calls to accept Uluru Statement from the Heart
The Uluru Statement from the Heart may still not be recognised in the Australian Constitution, but for her work on it, Indigenous lawyer Teela Reid has been recognised as a global emerging leader by the prestigious Harvard University.
Following the historic constitutional dialogue that culminated in the 2017 statement from Central Australia, the 33-year-old Legal Aid solicitor was selected to attend the American university's Kennedy School of Government.
The Wiradjuri and Wailwan woman was raised by a single mother in the western NSW town of Gilgandra, where she was better known for her sporting ability.
After attending local state schools, the sports star went on to become a high school PE teacher and was selected as Australia’s female Indigenous youth delegate to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous issues.
"This experience inspired me to become a lawyer," Ms Reid, a human rights advocate, said.
"My grandfather Trevor ‘Tootie’ Reid introduced me to black politics and the NSW land rights movement when I was about 3-years-old. He would march me off to my local lands council meetings. Looking back, this really shaped my advocacy and inspired my passion to continue the struggle for my people’s right to self-determination."
The advocacy lessons her grandfather taught her also gave her the courage to walk out of preschool because she told her mother she wanted to go straight to “big school”.
After her teaching degree, she obtained her postgraduate juris doctor from UNSW Law Sydney. Ms Reid also became involved with the constitutional law dialogue process when she was a tipstaff to Justice Lucy McCallum of the Supreme Court of NSW.
Designed by constitutional lawyer and Cobble Cobble woman Professor Megan Davis, the talks which lead to the statement involved 1300 civic debates in 13 regions. Ms Reid was a group leader.
Its final report on May 26, 2017, called for a referendum to embed a "representative body" in the Constitution giving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people "a voice to the Commonwealth Parliament". In November 2018, a report endorsed this and the Coalition government allocated $7.3 million to co-design this “voice” and $160 million for a referendum.
"The Uluru Statement changed the game," Ms Reid said. "It rejected symbolism ... it was profound. The proposal is reasonable, Indigenous Australians are simply asking for a say in the laws and policies that affect our lives.”
"I believe the most important issue for all Australians is to implement the Uluru Statement from the Heart reforms ... it invites all Australians on a journey to address unfinished business. The first step is to put a First Nations Voice to the people in a referendum.
"The time is now."