Indigenous Australians Minister Ken Wyatt has said in a speech that a vote on changing the constitution to include Aboriginal people must not be rushed or it would fail like the nation's last referendum 20 years ago.
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That was in 1999 when the referendum on Australia becoming a republic was comfortably defeated, despite opinion polls suggesting the electorate wanted it.
Mr Wyatt, the first Indigenous person to hold the portfolio, has been widely praised for pledging to hold a referendum on Indigenous recognition within three years.
However he has also been criticised for following Prime Minister Scott Morrison - and Malcolm Turnbull before him - in not committing to a voice to parliament through a permanent Indigenous advisory body.
"On eight occasions, the Australian people have voted to change our founding document," he said in delivering the 19th Vincent Lingiari Memorial Lecture in Darwin.
"On 36 other occasions they've been lost - and there are 36 issues that have not come back to the Australian people to consider again in a referendum."
The lecture commemorates the Wave Hill Station walk-off led by Gurindji man Vincent Lingiari in 1966 - which became a catalyst for Aboriginal people over land rights.
The 1999 republic vote "saw a rift in our nation's fabric", Mr Wyatt said.
"But it is important that we learn from the 1999 Referendum, and reflect on how challenging it can be to translate good will into a positive outcome.
"The question we put to the Australian people will not result in what some desire, and that is an enshrined voice to the parliament - these two matters, whilst related, need to be treated separately.
"This is about recognising Indigenous Australians on our birth certificate."
Mr Wyatt said he felt the weight of expectation but also optimism to "shape a better future for all Indigenous Australians and continue the healing of our nation".
He described his vision "to advance: local truth-telling; constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians; giving voice to local communities; and addressing disadvantage in Indigenous Australia".
Truth including telling people about the massacres that occurred of Aboriginal people.
"It is not about guilt, it is about acknowledging that there were events that occurred," he said.
He said the biggest failures to address for Indigenous Australia were the right to an education; the value of a full-time job and access uniformly to health care - and addressing alarming rates of suicide and mental illness.
Australian Associated Press
