Bella Swann occupies a somewhat unique space in Australia — she migrated here more than 50 years ago, but she is also descended from First Nations people.
"We migrated to Australia in 1972 and that's where I started to experience racism," she said, saying her fellow students would make "monkey noises" at her and her family.
"The irony of it was, there were certain places where Pacific Islanders could go into because we were regarded quite differently to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people."
That's why Ms Swann, who is Fijian and Tongan, but also has Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage, was heartened to see some 120 organisations sign a joint resolution to "steadfastly support" the Indigenous Voice to Parliament by voting Yes in the referendum to be held later this year.
The joint resolution describes the constitutional Voice as "modest, practical and fair", and has been signed by multiple Indian and Chinese community organisations, as well as Sri Lankan, Italian, Irish, Iranian, Greek, Vietnamese, Filipino, Sikh, Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist and Pacific Islander community groups.
"It's much more than Yes or No, it's much more than the legalities or the political aspirations," Ms Swann said.
"It's about justice versus injustice. It's about hope versus despair.
"It's basically saying, 'Let us decide what is best for us.' And honestly, it's giving us the dignity also to decide it.
"Because, so far, the outcome of other people deciding for us has been tragic."
With almost half of Australians having a parent born overseas, the vote from multicultural Australians could prove significant.
And it is a cohort both the Yes and No campaigns are trying to court with community forums.
The community-led joint resolution is supported by the Radical Centre Reform Lab at Macquarie University Law School, where Shireen Morris, an Australian of Indian and Fijian-Indian heritage, is the director.
"I think the votes of migrants and the descendants of migrants in this country are going to be crucial — it might even be decisive," she said.
"That's why it's excellent to see some of these community organisations being on the front foot and engaging in this conversation."
Dr Morris, a constitutional lawyer, said her own family was able to migrate to Australia, buy land and prosper through hard work, whereas Indigenous people faced structural disadvantages due to discriminatory policies.
Her advocacy for the Voice is informed by her work and interactions with Indigenous communities in Cape York, but also by looking at Indian history in Australia.
Almost 100 years ago, Australian Indian man Mitta Bullosh challenged a law that barred "Aboriginal natives" of Australia, Asia, Africa or the Pacific Islands from voting.
He successfully secured the right to vote for Indian people like himself. But it would not be until several decades later that Australia's Indigenous and First Nations people were allowed to vote across all jurisdictions.
"That sort of made me think, 'Oh, if only that Indian guy had also advocated for his Indigenous countrymen as well.' So that's where I'm coming from, having learnt the history," she said.
"There's a huge amount of goodwill and empathy amongst the Indian community for this cause.
"This is about bringing people together and fixing the exclusion and discrimination of the past."
No campaign working with multicultural groups
The No campaign's Nyunggai Warren Mundine recently told The Australian he would have to have "a hole in the head" to not target the migrant vote, and said he wanted grassroots engagement with communities directly, bypassing multicultural organisations he has described as "elitist".
Speaking with ABC's 7.30 on Monday, he said: "There's not enough information out there."
"I'd say the biggest majority of people are not Yes and No people," he said, adding that most Australians either had not heard of the Voice or did not know what it was about.
Jamal Daoud, a Palestinian Australian from the newly formed Multicultural Voices Against the Voice, said some migrants were reluctant to publicly state their opposition and some felt it was an issue only for Indigenous people.
Other cultural community leaders said everyone should feel free to speak about the Voice and be part of nation-building.
Mr Daoud said some feared being labelled "racist" if they expressed an opposing view, which discouraged them from engaging in the debate or expressing their reservations.
"Community members have some concerns that singling out the Indigenous [people] could be [an] unacceptable precedent of fragmenting the society based on racial background," he said.
The comments echoed remarks from Opposition leader Peter Dutton, who said the Voice would re-racialise Australia and make some people more equal than others — a claim Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney dismissed as "misinformation".
Mr Daoud said his group would work with the No campaign to run public forums, street stalls at community festivals, visits to peak bodies, social media campaigns and grassroots events in a bid to raise awareness and hear their concerns.
"With [us] kicking off campaign activities soon, in the next month, we expect that many migrants will start to voice their opposition," he said.
Gaps in knowledge
But informing everyday migrant Australians about both sides of the Voice debate still has a long way to go.
Yan Ling, 29, has lived in Australia for more than a decade. She said she knew "zero" about the referendum and she had barely discussed it with her friends.
She said she had also seen little about the Voice on WeChat — the main Chinese-language social media platform she uses — and had been let down by sub-standard translations about COVID-19 information in the past.
"For the Chinese community, we need a fair, impartial and objective viewpoint to say Yes and No, and then we can make our own decision," she said.
"Can we make the referendum information easier and more accessible to everyone in a more relaxed and interesting way?"
More than 1.3 million people in Australia are of Chinese ancestry, and their votes have been seen as having a significant impact on recent elections and by-elections.
The Chinese Community Council of Australia (Victoria) said its members were translating information to share on social media platforms.
Dai Le, independent MP for the seat of Fowler in Western Sydney, did not say how she would vote in the referendum but said she respected First Nations people and was "a passionate advocate for inclusivity, acceptance, and diversity".
"I see my role in the upcoming referendum as a leader who encourages everyone in my multicultural, multi-ethnic and multi-language community here in Fowler to actively seek out the available information relating to the referendum (available in multiple languages) on the yes and no case," she said.
Bridging the generational divide
Yanni Jiang, who was born in Australia to Chinese parents who migrated in the 90s, spoke of a generational divide.
"My mum doesn't speak too much English," they said, adding that a lot of media content on WeChat appeared to promote a "stereotypical view on Indigenous affairs or focusing on social problems and casting not a positive light".
Having completed an Indigenous Studies degree at university, they want their parents to understand the nuances and both sides of the debate to inform their decisions — and they plan to have more conversations with their parents as the referendum draws closer.
"To be able to access [information] in their language in an accessible way, I think, will help a lot," they said.
Sunil Vyas, from the United Indian Association, which has signed the joint resolution, said many migrants had information filtered to them through the younger generation.
"I'll be the first to admit that I've actually learned a lot from my children," he said.
"I wasn't as aware of all the injustices and difficulties that our First Nations have faced."
He said while official information in translation was important, people-to-people interactions could be more effective.
"I think reaching out to one person can actually have a ripple effect," he said.
Denis Yengi, chair of the African Communities Council of South Australia, said many Africans came from countries with a colonial history and sympathised with the need for an Indigenous Voice.
But he said the campaigns needed to do more to reach multicultural groups, who were also focused on cost-of-living issues or unfolding crises in their home countries.
"Traditionally, Africans come from a background where word of mouth is really very important," he said.
"They would trust someone that they know.
"From there, it will just easily spread, we say, like a wildfire."
'We can no longer be ignored'
Many members of culturally diverse communities told the ABC they were broadly in favour of the Voice, but several felt they did not have enough information in their language on platforms they used, or they were not being engaged at a grassroots level.
Dr Morris pointed out there were resources people could access: SBS has translated the Uluru Statement from the Heart into many languages, and there are websites such as Multicultural Australia For Voice.
There is also a new government website, voice.gov.au, with information translated into 16 languages along with an explanation of the referendum's details and time line.
She added it was also very important for the community to "step up" and proactively seek the information.
Fethi Mansouri, director of the Alfred Deakin Institute for citizenship and globalisation, said any confusion, uncertainty or lack of understanding would benefit the No campaign, with voters deferring to the status quo.
"We know from the Australian Electoral Commission that usually the highest proportion of the informal votes tend to be in places like Western Sydney, where they have high proportions of migrant communities and usually the older generations," he said.
He said many migrant communities would be "natural allies" with Indigenous people as they shared struggles with marginalisation, lack of representation, racism and inclusion, while also recognising the deep and spiritual connection Indigenous Australians had with the land.
"Multicultural Australia is extremely diverse and there is no one single strategy that would work for all of them."
The Yes23 campaign said it was working with multicultural communities to help people more deeply understand Indigenous history ahead of the referendum, joining in celebrations and community festivals, and translating fact sheets into 50 languages.
Campaign director Dean Parkin said the joint resolution was "an important and powerful sign of support from organisations who represent the spectrum of our diverse nation".
"These organisations will play a crucial role within their own communities in educating people about this important issue and ensuring they are part of the conversation."
For Mr Yengi, "the voice of the emerging communities can no longer be ignored".
"The political landscape in Australia is changing," he said.
