Canberrans gather to learn about Voice to Parliament

Speaking on Friday at an information night organised by independent ACT senator David Pocock, Ms Sheridan said it would empower Indigenous communities.

"It will give us a chance to re-elect people, to sit at the table, to negotiate, to advise the government," she said.

More than 1000 people registered for the event in Canberra, which sought to answer questions and tackle misinformation on the issue.

It was held the day after Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus introduced the constitutional alteration legislation that, if passed, would trigger the Voice to Parliament referendum later this year.

Australians would then vote on whether to enshrine in the constitution an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, which would provide the government with advice on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

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While various polls show more than 50 per cent of Australians support the Voice, the proposal has also sparked an opposition campaign, which includes several prominent Indigenous representatives taking diverging stands.

Member of the Referendum Working Group Aunty Pat Anderson said it was "a bit much to expect that every blackfella in the country thinks the same".

"When those first boats came, there were like 700 languages, doesn't that tell you that there might be some 700 different types of people?" she said.

"This is a long history here. And it's a bloody one and it's a cruel one. And that's what we're trying to fix ... so we can get on with a mature and sophisticated nation."

Ms Anderson said Indigenous communities were still plagued by disadvantages.

"I'm from the Northern Territory and we have problems like you wouldn't believe," she said.

"We have a couple of generations who can't read and write. We've put 10-year-old boys ... in jail in a cell where they've had paedophiles and murderers."

Advocates of the Voice believe it will help close the gap in life outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

Ms Sheridan said through the Voice, Indigenous Australians would be able to advise the government "where they've been going wrong for many, many years."

The event also sought to tackle public concerns on the proposed referendum, which is set to be held between October and December.

Among them were concerns flagged by some legal experts, who fear the powers to provide advice to "executive government" could spark court challenges.

Working group member professor Megan Davis said it was necessary to include this in the legislation because a significant part of decision making was done not just by Parliament but by government.

"If you don't have the executive ... you're misunderstanding the reason why the Voice needs to be created in the first place," she said.

"And that is the lack of accountability of the executive in relation to its decisions and the impact of those decisions on our communities."

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese earlier called talk of legal challenges a scare campaign.

Senator Pocock agreed that executive government had a "huge" amount of power.

"I think it is right and proper that the Voice would be able to make representations to them, and that the executive can seek advice on various issues, various funding, ideas or budgets," he said.

Ms Anderson said the decision on the Voice would ultimately be left to the people.

"You have the power ... that's why the Uluru Statement was gifted to you," she said.

"You have to decide what kind of a nation we are."

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