The Executive Council of Live Performance Australia (LPA), the peak body for Australia’s live arts and entertainment industry, has announced its support for the ‘Yes’ case to amend the Constitution to establish an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.
The Executive Council is an elected body drawn from the LPA membership which includes organisations and businesses across the breadth of the arts and entertainment industry, including commercial and independent promoters and producers, performing arts companies, theatres, venues and performing arts centres, arts and music festivals, and allied industries and suppliers.
LPA President, Richard Evans AM, said: ‘The referendum is an important opportunity to continue the work of reconciliation through recognising and listening better to First Nations people.’
Mr Evans said as the national industry body, LPA was also reviewing how the voices of its First Nations members can be better heard within the organisation.
‘The Executive Council believes it has an important role to play in showing leadership on behalf of the Australian live arts and entertainment industry on an issue that is important to many of our members and their people.
‘Support for the referendum proposal is a practical way of demonstrating our commitment to listening to First Nations people and an important step in building a better future for all Australians,’ Mr Evans said.
Supporting the First Nations Voice to Parliament
The Executive Council of Live Performance Australia accepts the invitation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart to walk with First Nations people to create a better future.
As part of this journey, we support the establishment of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice enshrined in the Constitution so that the experiences, concerns and aspirations of First Nations people and communities are heard by Parliament and the Government.
We believe that the upcoming referendum is a unique opportunity for national reflection upon our past, and the creation of a new and respectful shared future through consultation and actions taken in the present.
As the national body which represents arts and entertainment companies that employ and collaborate with artists, performers, creative and technical workers across the breadth of our industry, Live Performance Australia is itself taking time to consult and contemplate how the voices of our First Nations companies and people can be better heard within our own organisation.
We acknowledge there is a diversity of views around the specific referendum proposal, including among First Nations people themselves. We encourage and support our members to engage in open and respectful conversation to make a personal, informed referendum decision.
We are privileged to continue a tradition of story telling through theatre, dance and music which is part of a continuum on the country of the world’s longest surviving Indigenous cultures.
We encourage our members to take up this historic opportunity to walk together towards a better future.
Executive Council, Live Performance Australia
July 2023
