Jade Appo-Ritchie | Voice to Parliament will help close the gap in outcomes and knowledge

I've spoken to thousands of Australians in towns whether that be in Doomadgee, Darwin or outside a train station in Redfern.

The Australian voices I have spoken to, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, are affirming my belief that while Australia is a truly wonderful country, it is still not whole.

What I'm hearing on the ground more and more, is that there is a huge gap, not just in outcomes, but in knowledge.

There are non-Indigenous Australians who don't know there are remote communities in in our country without running water or that there are towns without safe access to power, where decades old wiring poses lethal risks to children.

When I read the Closing the Gap report, I don't see statistics. I see the faces of loved ones. I understand the gaps because I live in them.

I have lived my little brother's jail sentence - two-and-a-half years for a pound of marijuana.

My auntie's death by her partner, no public outcry or candlelight vigil for her. I don't see statistics, I see the faces of the families at the remote airports waiting for the body of a loved one to be returned from Darwin so they can conduct sorry business.

The last time I saw a gathering like this was for another infant lost to a preventable disease.

I don't begrudge non-Indigenous Australians for lacking our understanding.

I hope no one has to live through the traumas that we have endured to gain it. But this is why we need fellow Australians to hear us when we say the status quo is not working, it's time to make a change.

This generation did not build the systems that harm us, but we can be the ones to dismantle them, if we do it together. We can't change the past, but we can change the future.

That's what has made my work on the campaign trail such an uplifting experience. Through genuine conversation, through sharing our voice, experience and perspective, we're bridging this gap of understanding.

We're filling this gulf between our worlds with truth. And it's working. It's bringing us closer together. In the town halls and lunchtime meetups, I'm hearing Australian stories, Indigenous and non- Indigenous alike.

There's Barry who joined us at one of the Sunshine Coast events. Barry had been in a bad car accident.

He spoke from his wheelchair, his speech laboured but he took the time to share with a room of 200 people how his life was enriched by his time spent working in Arnhem Land in the 70s. He also spoke about the injustices he witnessed, the fact that he was paid more than his Indigenous co-workers and described how different their living conditions were.

In Gladstone, we met Aunty Mabel who was the first Aboriginal woman in the Royal Australian Airforce back in the 1950s.

And then there's Paul, the cattle farmer from just outside of Gladstone. He came up after I'd finished speaking to tell us that he'd been very unsure and came along to find out the truth of the proposal. He excitedly shared that he was now going to vote yes because he understood the how an advisory body could help government make better decisions and in turn change outcomes for Indigenous people on the ground.

In the communities that I visit, Australians of all walks of life are listening and learning about how constitutional recognition through a Voice will bring us closer together.

Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, are starting to bridge the gap in understanding.

They're seeing that a Voice to Parliament makes sense for all of us. It allows us to continue on the path to making a brighter Australian future for all of us.

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What started as me sharing my voice, has grown into me sharing a combined voice. One informed by all the Australians. I've become part of this grassroots movement building understanding, in the hope that it will culminate in a "yes" vote in October.

In the communities that I visit, Australians of all walks of life are listening and learning about how constitutional recognition through a Voice will bring us closer together.

With the Prime Minister announcing the date of the referendum on Wednesday, I urge people to have a conversation with one of the "yes" campaign's 30,000 volunteers that are on the ground, and learn about the importance of a successful "yes" vote to help close the gap in outcomes and also knowledge.