Legal experts have backed calls by the Prime Minister's top indigenous adviser to set a date for a referendum on the constitutional recognition of indigenous Australians as soon as possible to avoid a loss of momentum.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But they are divided on whether it is feasible to hold the referendum as early as the next federal election in November 2016, or even before.
Warren Mundine, who chairs Tony Abbott's indigenous advisory council, said on Sunday he feared momentum for constitutional change was waning.
Constitutional law expert Professor George Williams, from the University of NSW, said he did not detect a drop in support for change but if the referendum was "put off for too long then interest will be likely to wane".
"You can't maintain momentum for a number of years," Dr Williams said. "My view has been that next year would be a good year to hold it, but certainly running it concurrently with the election could work."
An expert panel headed by former deputy prime minister John Anderson recommended last month that the referendum be held no later than the first half of 2017, which would coincide with the 50-year anniversary of the 1967 referendum in which voters overwhelmingly supported changing the constitution to count indigenous Australians in the census.
Dr Williams said if the government opted for 2017, more money would have to be spent to keep the campaign for change in the public eye.
Sydney Law School professor Anne Twomey, also an expert in constitutional law, said it would be a "challenge" to reach agreement on the words to be inserted in the constitution and the nature of any amendments to provisions before the next election.
"Most importantly it needs to be something that comes from the people upwards rather than coming from the top down," Dr Twomey said.
She agreed with Mr Mundine that there was "a risk of people running out of steam on this, but that's mainly because it's a bit directionless at the moment".
"I think once we have a date set, regardless of whether it's with the next election or whether it's after the next election, I think it will be easier to get the momentum up," Dr Twomey said.
She said it made sense to hold the referendum at the same time as an election if there was "rock-solid" support from all parties for the proposal. It meant the "heat" of political debate would be directed away from the referendum.
The expert panel said there was "unequivocal support" for repealing section 25 of the constitution, which contemplates state governments disqualifying people from voting on the basis of race.
The panel also recommended section 51 (xxvi) of the constitution, which allows "special laws" to be made for people of a particular race, be reworded so that it could not be used for "perverse outcomes".
A sticking point with the federal government is whether the constitution should also be changed in a more substantive way to provide protection from racial discrimination.
Mr Abbott said last week that he was "determined that we will have this referendum" and a date would be set soon to help "crystallise the debate".
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said: "The most important thing is to get this right. We can't rush it, but we can't take too long either."
