Constitutional reform: recalibrating Australia’s voice

In this episode we talk to Professor Kim Rubenstein about what Constitutional change means for Australia and how the Voice to Parliament is the first step in recalibrating for modern times.

She discusses how the Australian Constitution is structurally caught in the 1890s and we need to evolve our constitution so it represents who we are today.

Professor Rubenstein also criticises the unreasonable expectation that the Voice should have unanimous support in Indigenous communities. She points out that there is never 100 per cent agreement from the population on any issue and that there is a wide consensus on the Voice among First Nations people.

Kim Rubenstein is an Australian legal scholar and lawyer, and ran for the Australian senate in the most recent federal election. She’s a Professor of Law at the University of Canberra. In 2020 she became the inaugural Co-Director, Academic of the 50/50 by 2030 Foundation. Previously she was a Professor of Law at the Australian National University.

Sharon Bessell is a Professor of Public Policy and Director of both the Children’s Policy Centre and the Poverty and Inequality Research Centre at ANU Crawford School of Public Policy.

Arnagretta Hunter is the Human Futures Fellow at ANU College of Health and Medicine, a cardiologist, physician, and a Senior Clinical Lecturer at ANU Medical School.

Executive Producer: Hannah Scott

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