Members of the referendum working group for the Indigenous voice say the establishment of the body will be a defining moment for the country.

“We’re here to draw a line in the sand and say, ‘This has to change, people’s lives have to improve’,” working group member Marcia Langton told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.

“We know from the evidence that what improves people’s lives is when they get a say and that’s what this is about.

“The truth burns, and truth is very much an Aboriginal value and the Torres Strait Islander value across the country. So that is … very much a part of our thinking.”

The referendum working group stood alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Parliament House to outline the constitutional change Australians will be asked to approve later this year.

Voters will be asked: “A proposed law to alter the constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?”

Co-chair of the Uluru Dialogue Megan Davis described the announcement as a significant day.

“There is still a long way to go, but today we must pause and reflect on this historic achievement,” she said.

“We have never tried in this country to empower our people, to empower our voice. This is about the right to be consulted on laws and policies that are made about our communities, to be heard on laws and policies about our lives.”

An emotional Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney said the voice would be a big step forward to recognise Indigenous people in the country’s constitution,

“(It) will be a simple, but powerful, act. It will move Australia forward for everyone,” she said.

“A voice that will make practical difference. A voice that will work for you. And so today the starter’s gun has been fired.”

West Australian Labor senator Pat Dodson said the voice gave hope, reversing tyranny against Indigenous people.

“This requires all Australians. We need your help, all Australians, to see the significance that this moment, with this level of unity here, this level of magnanimity,” he said.

“We as Australians can arise to a better relationship with our First Peoples, one where we are liberated and when our hearts and minds are clean from the tyranny of the oppression and suffering and shame that we have lived with.”

-AAP