Wiradjuri man Roy Ah-See views the voice to parliament as a chance to unify the nation.
"Our path is your path. Our future is your future. Our success is your success. Our failure is your failure. Our story is your story," Mr Ah-See, a former government adviser, told a parliamentary committee into the voice referendum.
"Together, it becomes our history."
Mr Ah-See was one of many to passionately advocate for constitutional recognition during an often emotional public hearing in Orange, in central west NSW, on Monday.
Gerald Power told the committee while Indigenous people had been recognised as part of the population since 1967, the voice would begin to address the harms of colonisation.
"My mother died, my ancestors died without having a voice in the constitution," Mr Power told the committee, which is examining issues around the voice ahead of the national vote later this year.
"The voice is simply because we were never identified as humans ... it needs to at least acknowledge that there were humans here. And it's the oldest humans on the face of the planet, continuous and ongoing."
Mr Power, who is Orange's deputy mayor and the town's first Indigenous councillor in more than 150 years, said he had seen the unifying force of a First Nations voice in government.
Many witnesses spoke of ongoing gaps in healthcare, education and housing in rural NSW, while others remembered growing up on missions and being banned from speaking their language and celebrating their culture.
Orange Aboriginal Medical Service chief executive Jamie Newman said the voice was a chance for change after policies to close the gap had failed due to fragmented bureaucracy.
"It'd be remiss of us not to take this opportunity now to say we need a change in direction, if we're going to get services on the ground, going to get outcomes for our people, if we're ever going to close the gap," Mr Newman said.
"It probably won't happen in my lifetime, but I have a responsibility to my children, my grandchildren and the people of this community to ensure that step is taken."
The committee's hearing in Orange is the first to be held in regional Australia, before it moves to Cairns on Wednesday.
Orange independent MP and committee member Andrew Gee, who quit the National Party due to its opposition to the voice, said he pushed for hearings in regional areas.
"I'm hopeful this voice will succeed," Mr Gee said.
"It's important for a number of reasons - to recognise Indigenous Australians in our nation's founding document, but go beyond symbolic recognition and provide a voice to government."
In Hobart, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stood alongside Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff and ex-MP for Macarthur Pat Farmer, who is running across Australia in support of the voice.
Mr Rockliff said the voice was about moving forward together.
"It's high time we took responsibility and found another way ... that we can firstly recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our national constitution but also simply sit down and work through the issues in a consultative way," he said.
A referendum to enshrine an Indigenous voice in the constitution will take place between October and December.
