Women’s Environmental Leadership Australia (WELA) is a community connecting, training and funding generations of women and gender diverse changemakers so that together we transform Australia’s response to our environmental and climate crises. Our vision is for a world transformed by women and gender diverse people leading change.
We recognise the essential leadership and advocacy of First Nations women in caring for Country for millennia, and that their knowledge, expertise and decision making is critical to address the environmental challenges we face today.
Following close discussions with WELA First Nations alumni and environmental leaders, we support writing ‘Yes’ in the upcoming referendum to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Constitution and establish an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.
We see this referendum as one step towards implementing the full Uluru Statement from the Heart, which includes the establishment of a Makarrata Commission to oversee national truth telling and treaty processes.
We believe that writing ‘Yes’ this referendum is a critical step towards supporting First Nations people to have a say on matters and policies that impact their lives addressing all elements of the Uluru Statement.
Around the country, First Nations communities are at the frontline of impacts caused by climate change and environmental destruction. There is no climate or environmental justice without First Nations justice.
We say ‘Yes’ to First Nations recognition, representation and self determination, which will benefit all Australians and the environment we share and care for.
– The Uluru Statement from the Heart
– Voice to Parliament: Online Learning Resource – (Uluru Dialogue/From the Heart)
– Yes23
