INDIGENOUS leaders remain confident Australia will enshrine an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice to parliament in the constitution, one year on from the referendum defeat.

More than 60 percent of Australians voted ‘no’ in the referendum on October 14, 2023, with every state and territory – aside from the ACT – rejecting the proposal, which would have established a permanent advisory body and constitutional recognition of First Nations people.

Despite the defeat, Indigenous campaigner Thomas Mayo, who was among the leading ‘yes’ vote advocates, said constitutional change could still take place down the track.

“There’s still a future that includes Indigenous people in the constitution. Sure, in reality it’s not going to happen again for a while,” he told ABC radio on Monday.

“We don’t always get things right in a democracy. If we accepted the ‘no’ answers that we got about equal wages or about our right to vote as Indigenous people… things would be worse today.

“Because more than 60 percent of young people voted ‘yes’ between 18 and 24, that tells me that we’ve got a future, and what we tried to do last year will be achieved.”

One of the architects of the Uluru Statement from the Heart Megan Davis said once it became clear the referendum was unlikely to win public support, it should have been delayed.

But Mr Mayo said despite the polls, the government was right in pursuing the referendum.

“I don’t think it was a mistake and the reason is because… we would still be wondering if we didn’t do it,” he said.

“We had to press on, because it might not have been another chance.”

Opposition Indigenous Australians spokeswoman Jacinta Nampijinpa Price said the referendum remained a waste of time and money.

“It was a task that ended up dividing our country, and at a time we don’t need to be divided, and unfortunately, the Albanese government put all their eggs in one basket,” she told ABC TV.

“The Albanese government hasn’t implemented any methods to improve the circumstances or change things on the ground.”

Following the referendum result, Indigenous leader and academic Marcia Langton declared reconciliation was dead.

But Senator Nampijinpa Price said supporters of the voice needed to move on.

“The ‘yes’ campaigners need to let go, accept the result, because Australia’s made that determination and move forward,” she said.

“There are marginalised, Indigenous Australians whose lives need to be impacted in a positive way right now.”

Workplace Minister Murray Watt said the government made the right decision to keep going with the referendum despite signs it was heading to defeat in polling.

“This was a proposal about enshrining rights of First Nations people in our constitution and we didn’t think it was appropriate to ignore their wishes, either at the beginning of the campaign or as the campaign went on,” he told ABC radio.

“This is going to be a pretty painful day for First Nations Australians, there were a lot of hopes invested in the voice to parliament proposal.”

By Andrew BROWN and Tess IKONOMOU