Three years after the Voice referendum, the conversation about Indigenous representation in Australian institutions has not died. It has, instead, become quieter and more local — moving from federal constitutional politics into state legislatures, local councils and individual workplaces.

State by state

Three states have, since 2023, established advisory bodies of their own. Two more have legislated truth-telling processes. One, conspicuously, has done neither and has indicated it will not.

The pattern is uneven, but the direction is consistent: the state-level work has continued where federal momentum stalled.

What it has not changed

The data on Indigenous health, education and incarceration outcomes has not, in the period since the referendum, shifted meaningfully. The mechanisms through which that data is now being addressed look different. Whether different mechanisms produce different results is the question of the next decade.