South Australia has become the first state to pass legislation enshrining an Indigenous voice in parliament. 

“Who knows how we might benefit from drawing on 65,000 years of wisdom,” SA Premier Peter Malinauskas said over the weekend, hailing the move as a powerful show of respect towards Australia’s First Nations people.

He also acknowledged that for over 200 years, Indigenous people have been largely excluded from sharing in the country's prosperity. 

Mr Malinauskas said the legislation is an invitation to walk with Indigenous people on a new path towards inclusion and reconciliation. 

“There are no more powerful deeds than South Australia becoming the first place in our nation to pass a law enshrining an Indigenous Voice to our parliament,” he said.

The legislation allows for the establishment of six regions across the state, each with directly elected representatives. 

Two members from each group will form the State First Nations Voice, which can address either house of state parliament on legislation of interest to Aboriginal people. 

The system is expected to be operational by the end of the year.

South Australia’s Commissioner for First Nations Voice, Dale Agius, said the passage of the legislation was the start of an exciting chapter in both the state’s and nation’s history. 

“For too long our voices have been excluded or dismissed. From today we have the right to be heard, at the highest level of decision-making in this state," he said.

The Governor of South Australia, Frances Adamson, stated that the founders of the state had good intentions towards Aboriginal people, but history shows they did not come to fruition. 

“Today, I restate my commitment to supporting the process of reconciliation in our state and to working side by side with Aboriginal people and non-Aboriginal people to achieve this goal,” she said.

Meanwhile, on the federal level, vital bipartisanship on the issue is yet to emerge. 

The federal opposition has repeatedly called on the government to release more details of its proposed Voice to parliament. 

However, the Albanese government is focused on the first move - acknowledging the traditional ownership of Australia in its constitution. 

Experts note that a change to the constitution could very well last a century or more, so it must be worded in a way that can continue to fit changing contemporary needs. 

Specific details of how members of the Voice are selected or how it operates in the parliamentary system should not be added to the constitution, some say, because this would bind the country to a single model that would need another referendum to be adjusted. 

The government says that exactly how the Voice will work is a matter for later, and should involve deep consultation with Indigenous communities, legal experts and others. The first step is to change the constitution. 

But the opposition is stuck on the details, most recently calling on the government to release legal advice it has received on the proposed Voice.

It is the latest matter that Opposition Leader Peter Dutton wants more detail on before deciding the party’s stance on the issue.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus says the advice will not be released publicly.

“It would be inconsistent with long-standing practice that successive governments, including the government for the last nine years in which Mr Dutton was a part, to release solicitor-general advice,” he said. 

“This has been a very comprehensive and rigorous process. The solicitor-general’s been closely involved in the process. Many other constitutional experts have been involved in the process.”

A bill setting up the referendum will be introduced to parliament on Thursday.