Sydney (AFP) โ Instead, a referendum aimed at raising the rights of indigenous Australians has unleashed a torrent of racist insults and abuse, and a toxic debate has spread online and in the media.
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The Oct. 14 vote will decide whether First Nations people are finally recognized in the constitution.
Their ancestors were in Australia for 60,000 years before British colonial rule began in the late 18th century.
The reform would give indigenous communities the right to advise parliament - the so-called "Voice" - to help address entrenched inequalities, such as poorer health, poorer education and higher rates of incarceration.
But recent polls indicate that support for the referendum has plummeted over the past year and will likely fail.
The debate has generated uncertainty about the scope and impact of the reform. It has also stoked racial tensions.
"This has involved personal attacks, labeling people as 'un-Australian' and perpetuating racial stereotypes," Australia's Racial Discrimination Commissioner Chin Tan told AFP.
"I am disappointed that the way some people have engaged in the debate has stoked racial tensions and caused harm to First Nations people."
Racist behavior had gone largely unchallenged in the public domain, he said.
"Racism should never be accepted as part of the exchange of ideas in public debate."
Voters have to choose between one side and the other, and recent polls indicate that the "yes" side has just over 40 percent and the "no" side almost 60 percent.
It is almost a reversal of the situation from a year ago.
Opponents have criticized the proposal for its lack of details and for creating unnecessary bureaucracy.
But opposition leader Peter Dutton, a leading campaigner against Voice, also warned it would "re-racialise" Australia.
Supporters of the referendum accused Dutton of misinformation and scaremongering.
"Catastrophic breakdown"
Reports of Indigenous-related racism have increased since July, according to Chris Cunneen, a professor of criminology at the University of Technology Sydney, who runs a project documenting such incidents.
The proportion of racism complaints on the "Call It Out" registry related to the referendum has risen to about 30 percent since July, he said.
In previous months, the rate was eight percent.
"We have also seen an increase in reports of online racism on social media and in the media over the same period," Cunneen said.
"Together, these represent approximately more than half of all reports."
A national mental health helpline for First Nations people, 13YARN, painted a similar picture.
There was a 108 per cent increase in calls reporting abuse, racism and trauma between March and June compared to the previous year, a spokesperson said.
University of Queensland communications professor Timothy Graham examined thousands of Voice-related posts on X, formerly Twitter.
It found a "catastrophic breakdown of public communication about the referendum across the Australian media ecology".
"X/Twitter is invaded by confusion, misinformation and incivility; this occurs in what can only be described as a vicious feedback loop between politicians, partisan media and social networks," he told AFP.
online abuse
Samala Cronin, an Indigenous woman of Butchulla descent in Queensland, knows what it feels like.
In August, an old video of her went viral.
It showed her in a heated fight with an elderly couple over a plot of land over which Aboriginal people have "exclusive native title".
"I got about 3,000 Facebook notifications and I thought, 'Oh my God,'" he told AFP at the time. Since then, he has racked up thousands more reactions on the platform.
The comments were filled with racist insults.
The country's online safety watchdog, the eSafety Commission, said it had recorded a small but notable increase in the proportion of reports of adult cyber abuse by First Nations people in the first half of this year .
"We are also hearing from community stakeholders that online abuse is increasing as we get closer to the referendum," eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant told AFP.
He urged all Australians to "discuss and debate this issue respectfully, without resorting to insults, racist comments, hate speech or abuse."
