Recognising Indigenous Australians in the constitution will mean little for Aborigines, Illawarra Local Aboriginal Land Council chief executive officer Derek Hardman says.
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Prime Minister Tony Abbott is hosting a summit to discuss wording of a referendum question to recognise Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders as the first inhabitants of Australia.
Also under discussion is a section which outlaws racial discrimination.
There is no reference to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the constitution.
"I don't see much benefit in it," Mr Hardman said. "It still allows the government to have control over Aboriginal people, the people of this land. They are not our laws or documents. It is something that is being forced on us. That is my personal opinion."
Mr Hardman also criticised the consultation process which involved 40 Aboriginal leaders and politicians negotiating a way forward for constitutional recognition.
"The consultation process needs to be broader. These people have been hand-picked," he added. "They don't truly represent us."
Support for recognising Indigenous Australians in the constitution has reached 85 per cent.
"This is just another system, another campaign. It will recognise Aboriginal people as this country's first inhabitants, but where does it go from there? It's a tokenistic gesture. We know this land was ours already. We've had cultural belonging and knowledge to this land prior to colonisation. We have our own system, identity and belonging. They want to control us. They want to do things on our behalf. The fight continues for self-determination."
About 50 angry protesters from the Sovereign Union of First Nations and Peoples in Australia jostled with police on Monday as they chanted at those gathered at the summit in Kirribilli.
To change the constitution a referendum needs a double majority - support from the majority of states and an overall national majority.
Of the 44 referendum questions posed to Australians since the country became a nation in 1901, only eight have been successful.