A First Nations-led review will consider the future of the ACT's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander elected body in the wake of the territory voting to endorse a Voice to Parliament.
Ngarra Group, led by Dhunghutti and Biripi man Craig Ritchie, has been appointed to lead the first part of the review of the elected body.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the review would consider how a contemporary elected body should function and whether the existing system delivered on the needs, priorities and aspirations of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.
Ms Stephen-Smith said the government needed to hear from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Canberrans on how they want to be represented through their voice to government and the Legislative Assembly.
"This consultation will ensure that the elected body continues to connect community to government in the best way for future generations. This work gives us the opportunity to redesign something for Community with Community," Ms Stephen-Smith said.
The ACT government said Mr Ritchie was an independent advisor and researcher who had held several key government roles and had served as the chief executive of the peak advocacy body for Aboriginal community-controlled health services.
Elections for the body were held in July, with Maurice Walker, Billy T. Tompkins, Deanne Booth, Helen Wright, Kaylene Mcleod, Vicky Bradley and Bradley Bell elected.
But turnout fell from 267 formal votes in 2021 to 198 formal votes this year, despite the government's hopes it would increase in light of the attention on the body during the Voice to Parliament referendum in 2023.
Ms Stephen-Smith said she hoped the First Nations-led review of the body would lead to a higher proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Canberrans voting in future elections.
"In previous elections, major community events including the NAIDOC Ball, NAIDOC Family Day and NAIDOC Community Services Day were held during the voting period and providing eligible people an opportunity to vote," Ms Stephen-Smith said in July.
"This year, these events either sat outside of the election period or were cancelled at short notice, and it's likely that this affected voter turnout."
An independent secretariat will support the work of the body this term, the first time that support has been separate to the functions of the ACT government.
An Auditor-General's report in August 2023 which warned the part-time body risked being an ineffective support for Indigenous self-determination in the territory.
"Improved diversity and participation in elections for the elected body could better support self-determination," the audit said.
The elected body is made up of seven part-time members, elected every three years in a poll open to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults living in the ACT. It was established in 2008.
