With just over a month until Australia goes to the polls to vote on the referendum to provide an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, business is playing an increasingly more visible role in their advocacy for the concept.
Here's the National Indigenous Time's comprehensive list of the companies and leading organisations backing the Voice to Parliament.
- AFL Commission
The Australian Football League Commission was widely considered an important community leader when they announced that they would be backing the Voice in May. At the time the Commission stated they were "proud" to support the Voice. Earlier this week it was confirmed, however, that there would be no public banners displayed at the upcoming Grand Final later this month. - AMA
The Australian Medical Association formally resolved in June 2023 to support the Voice and in 2018 endorsed the Uluru Statement from the Heart. - ANZ
The bank has said they have "accepted the invitation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart" and the Voice to Parliament. - Australian Banking Association
The ABA confirmed in April that its council had resolved to support the Voice, but recognised that not all banks would provide public endorsement. - BHP
The Big Australian has donated $2 million to the Yes campaign and has been a long-time supporter of the Uluru Statement, lending its endorsement for the reforms back in 2019. - Bendigo Bank
Bendigo Bank’s CEO and Managing Director Marnie Baker announced in April that the Bank would be supporting the Voice. "We believe that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples should be enabled to have input into policies and decisions that impact them,” Ms Baker said. - Business Council of Australia
On 3 August, the BCA announced their support for the Voice. In the announcement jointly made by President Tim Read, Chief Executive Jennifer Westacott and board member Danny Gilbert, the BCA said that business "hadn't always got it right" and had a "responsibility to do better". - Commonwealth Bank
CBA has been a long-time supporter of the Voice, reaffirming support from the bank during National Reconciliation Week in 2023, CEO Matt Comyn, spoke to an audience of hundreds of employees and reiterated the bank’s full support of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and its call to enshrine a First Nations Voice in the Australian constitution. - Coles
The largest private sector employer of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia announced that they would be supporting a Voice to Parliament and has taken to printing Acknowledgment of Country at the bottom of physical receipts from their supermarkets. - Lendlease
Calling the Voice "essential for genuine reconciliation", Lendlease has been a long-standing supporter for over eight years for constitutional recognition. - NAB
In 2022 NAB called on the business community to back the Voice. “It is time to recognise the rightful place of Indigenous Australians as the First People of this country and enable and empower them to participate in shared decision-making that impacts their communities through the Voice,” NAB CEO Ross McEwan said at the time. - Qantas
With a lot of public attention on the national carrier, Qantas has been very visible in its support for the Voice, adoring a number of its Qantas and Jetstar aircraft with special 'Yes' livery, in one of the last public appearances by now former CEO, Alan Joyce. - RACGP
"The Voice to Parliament will help drive changes to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and address the inequity in our health system," said the President of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners in announcing the College's support for the concept. - Rio Tinto
With over 1,500 Indigenous employees, Rio Tinto has been a strong public supporter - and donor - to the Yes campaign. "We welcome the additional lens that an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice would bring to Government decision-makers as they consider all important matters before them,” said Kellie Parker, Chief Executive at the time of the announcement by Rio. - South32
The resource company has been a consistent and vocal supporter of the Voice since it first lent its support back in 2020. Most recently in the company's 2023 Annual Report, Chair Karen Wood said " It is in our interests that the communities that support our operations are thriving and, in our view, this will be supported by First Nations Peoples having a say on matters relating to them." - Telstra
Vicki Brady, the new Telstra CEO personally endorsed the Voice in the telco's latest Reconciliation Action Plan and the company has been a long-standing supporter of the Uluru Statement. - Westpac
In March 2023 the bank announced that it would be supporting the Voice to Parliament. CEO Peter King announced at an event to celebrate the bank’s partnership with the Jawun Indigenous engagement program. "I’m proud to let you know that Westpac will be supporting the Voice,” King said at the event. “We’ll be helping our employees to understand what the Voice is, and what it’s not.” - Wesfarmers
Supporting the Uluru Statement since 2019, Westfarmers has also donated $2 million to the Yes campaign. Chairman Michael Chaney and his daughter, Kate Chaney, were featured in a controversial newspaper ad that attacked the two and was described by NSW Liberal MP Matt Kean as "a racist trope (and) a throwback to the Jim Crow era of the deep south". - Woolworths
The Woolworths Group has set ambitious Indigenous employment targets and has been a vocal supporter of the Voice to Parliament as part of its reconciliation action plan. - Xero
The New Zealand tech company announced its support for the Voice, stating "Xero supports the establishment of a Voice to Parliament in Australia to enable First Nations peoples to have a say in policies and decisions that affect them and their communities and to help close the gap."
Let us know if your business or organisation has endorsed the Voice by emailing the Business Editor, Zak Kirkup at [email protected].
