On 11 April, the Australian National Centre for Latin American Studies (ANCLAS) and the ANU First Nations Portfolio, supported by the Embassy of Ecuador, co-hosted the first in a series of conversations with experts from Latin American countries - beginning with the case of Ecuador - to compare and contrast approaches to Indigenous issues. The series is intended to contribute to the discussion in the lead-up to a referendum to amend the Australian Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

The former Foreign Minister of Ecuador, Nina Pacari, explained how Constitutional reform in Ecuador in 2008 resulted in a fundamental shift in the political paradigm. From a centralised unitary state to a “plurinational” state – a state that expressly recognises and protects the rights of Indigenous communities, Peoples and Nations.

Ms Mary Spiers Williams, Associate Dean for Indigenous Studies at the Australian National University, contrasted Ecuador's case with the First Peoples' experience in Australia, from their unique connectedness to Country to the injustices wrought by colonial occupation and settlement, to what she described as their “irrecognition” in the Australian Constitution of 1901, to decades of marginalisation and disenfranchisement, to the very gradual path towards reform since then.

A full recording of the discussion can be viewed here.