Continuing to advocate for the implementation of the Uluru Statement's message of Truth, Treaty and Voice will be forefront on the agenda for the new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner.
Appearing at Senate Estimates on Friday for the first time with the Australian Human Rights Commission, Kaanju and Birri/Widi woman Katie Kiss said she was "intending on conducting a listening tour" across the country over the next six months to ascertain the priorities of the communities and receive their input.
Asked by Labor Senator and Mutthi Mutthi and Wamba Wamba woman Jana Stewart what her priorities in the role were, Commissioner Kiss said a "key priority" was progressing the three pillars of the Uluru Statement of the Heart, by providing guidance on the implementation of Truth, Treaty and Voice.
"While we may have lost the referendum and been defeated in that, those pillars still stand are still relevant to achieving better outcomes for our people," she said.
On truth-telling, Commissioner Kiss said it was a necessary step to increase understanding, and to create opportunities for Australians and First Nations people to "get to know each other better".
"We need to have some national-focused dialogue around what that looks like and help to build on the conversations currently happening at the state and territory level, but also ensure that those processes are secured going forward so they're not subjected to challenges by political pressure," she said.
The Voice referendum was defeated last year by a 60-40 margin, and it remains unclear if Federal Labor remains committed to the Uluru Statement.
The government has also repeatedly declined to comment on their commitment to the Makarrata commission at the federal level, which highlights the role of Truth, Treaty and Voice.
They have been criticised by some for allegedly delegating regional voices and Treaty commitments to the states.
In response to Senator Stewart asking where the "listening tour" would go, Commissioner Kiss said they were currently "mapping" this to decide which communities would be visited.
"Obviously, that will be determined by the availability of resources — both personnel and financial," Commissioner Kiss said, noting they were currently in conversation with the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) to secure funding for the tour to progress.
Overall, Commissioner Kiss outlined six priorities in her role.
These includes implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) including progressing the declaration as outlined in a report by former Senator Pat Dodson; to increase access to justice for First Nations communities; and to implement real action on many of the outstanding reports surrounding deaths in custody and child removals for First Nations people.
"We need to move beyond the ever-building pile of reports and recommendations and actually move to some action that result in better outcomes for our people," Commissioner Kiss said.
"That includes addressing the unfinished business of implementation of the outstanding recommendations of the royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody, the Bringing Them Home report, and Productivity Commission reports, but also the 30 years of social justice and Native title reports that have gone effectively unanswered."
Highlighting the current focus on youth justice nationwide, Commissioner Kiss said she hoped to "be able to work with government and our community sector to change the current narrative and trajectory of our children being funnelled through the youth justice system and ending up in adult incarceration."
She was also asked by Senator Stewart about the racism experienced by First Peoples in the aftermath of the referendum defeat.
Commissioner Kiss said she had heard from Indigenous communities about experiencing an increase in racism — both "overt" and "covert".
"[It is] an absent of understanding of our culture, and of our position in this nation, and of the historical impacts of colonisation on First Nations people," she said.
