Proud Badimaya Yamatji woman, podcaster and budding lawyer, Sharlene Baloch says the concept of reconciliation has lost some of its meaning post the Voice to Parliament.

One the eve of Reconciliation Week, National Indigenous Times spoke with Ms Baloch about what reconciliation means for First Nations people.

"A lot of our Elders and a lot of our mob talk about how reconciliation was meant to be a milestone in our country and instead it's turned into something that is rooted in the lack of healing," she said.

"Now, reconciliation should be about that healing and letting us heal from every traumatic event we've suffered - whether it's families having to grapple with the effects and trauma of the Stolen Generation up until now, because we are still healing from the referendum on October 14.

"I think it's time First Nation communities had time to properly heal then we can demand more action, because I feel that has been lacking since forever."

The 21-year-old, who has already garnished a reputation as a powerful public speaker, said the broader non-Indigenous community needed to be more empathetic post-referendum.

She also said the federal government needed to pick up the pieces after the failure of the Yes vote.

"I feel like people before the referendum had high hopes and the non-Indigenous community were fighting for us but that has died down a little," she said.

"If you look at when Anthony Albanese was elected his first words were I'm going to implement a Voice to Parliament.

"So, there was a lot of that hope but after the referendum the need for reconciliation isn't just about legislation or policy reform, it's about fostering genuine relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

"It's about listening to the voices of the community and learning from our experiences but to be frank I'm not seeing a lot done by the government regarding this."

Ms Baloch, who is just about to finish a law degree at the University of Western Australia, said First Nations people suffered racism and prejudice daily.

She said some of the bigotry was "hidden" in small talk.

"Unfortunately, that is something First Nations people have to go through their whole lives," she said.

"It wasn't always necessarily racism, or hatred or prejudice but I feel like people's intentions are always a little askew.

"Like, where are you from? Where do you work? We get scrutinised quite a bit, and it can be hard to navigate.

"There are some people that don't want us to succeed, and we saw that with the vote."

Ms Baloch said she always wanted to do a podcast to elevate First Nations issues.

In September 2023, she got the chance to start up a podcast with her friend IJ McKenna called Sovereign, after working as an assistant producer on RTRFM Radio's show Moorditj Mag.

It wasn't long before the RTRFM-produced podcast was ranked number three in Australia on Spotify's art category.

"I have had the vision to create a First Nations podcast to talk about First Nation issues but also subtract from the issues and talk about anything and everything under the sun," she said.

"To see a First Nations women's podcast on the chart was insane. The responses are always so positive, and we refer to our listeners as our third best friend because they are engaged in the conversation the whole time with us."

Ms Baloch hopes to use her law degree to shake up the judicial system when it comes to Indigenous rights.

"I've always wanted to study human rights law, whether it be through native title or whether it be through the criminal justice system, as I've always been interested in the Indigenous rights space," she said.

"And I want to use that to the best of my abilities to hopefully encourage other First Nations people to get into the law space.

"I want to get into that area and change it all up because people are not ready for the power that First Nations people bring to any institution."