It has been six years since the landmark gathering of Indigenous leaders in Australia's red centre, known as the Uluru Dialogue.
It was the event that led to the Statement from the Heart which called for Voice, Treaty, and Truth to advance the rights of First Nations people.
Ahead of the referendum that could deliver the constitutional change the Uluru Statement called for, by recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the First Peoples of Australia and enshrining an advisory body called an Aboriginal Voice in the constitution, those behind the landmark gathering have returned to Uluru to mark the anniversary.
Co-convenor of the Uluru Dialogues Professor Megan Davis said it is an important milestone in the campaign for constitutional recognition.
"Today is an emotional day for many of us who have been part of the process for so many years.
"But I am as confident today as I was when I read the Statement at Uluru in 2017, that the Australian people will embrace its sentiment and support the overwhelming majority of First Nations Peoples who simply want to have a say over the decisions that impact our lives," Professor Davis said.
In 2017, more than 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people gathered on Anangu country at the foothills of Uluru for the First Nations National Constitution Convention, and after three days of talks reached consensus on the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
Aunty Pat Anderson, also a co-convenor of the Uluru Dialogue, says the anniversary of the Dialogue is about remembering the work that has been done to advance the cause for Indigenous recognition to this point.
"We are grateful to the women and men of the Regional Dialogues who paved the way for this reform. And the many advocates before them upon whose shoulders we stand,"
"The words of the Uluru Statement are still felt deeply by First Peoples. We heard their calls for a better future then, and we hear them now.
"This must be the year that Australia makes the words of the Statement a reality and ends the torment of our powerlessness. Our people can't wait any longer," Ms Anderson said.
Removing unnecessary bureaucracy
Nira illim bulluk man Marcus Stewart was not part of the Uluru Dialogue six years ago, but he did attend local dialogues in Melbourne.
"There's just something significant [about] getting off the plane and actually feeling, you know, the sacred country that you're walking on.
"The history here, the importance of this place, and it's amazing to be here," he said.
Mr Stewart has started looking to the future, and what will happen if the Voice passes at a referendum.
He has called for a review of the National Indigenous Australians Agency to remove unnecessary bureaucracy if the Voice passes.
"What we heard through the dialogues, what we've heard consistently through my time at the assembly, is our communities want to see less bureaucracy than more," he said.
"On the back of a successful Yes vote, we'd have an expectation that they would see a review of any existing bureaucracy, reflection of what role that plays in a world where there is a Voice, we'll have got rural and remote communities and grassroots communities at the table. And then we'd see a removal of that bureaucracy because it'd be unnecessary," Mr Stewart said.
The Uluru Statement also called for a Makarrata process for Treaty and Truth-telling, but so far there has been little movement on that part of the statement with most of the focus on progressing the Voice proposal to a referendum.
The government did commit $5.8 million of funding to the Makarrata process in the October budget last year, which rolled over to the May budget because it has not been spent.
Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy said the government remained committed to all elements of the Uluru Statement.
"We've always embraced the Voice, the Treaty, the Truth of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, what we have to do first is embark on the referendum," Senator McCarthy said.
"We made a promise to the Australian people that we would follow through on the Uluru Statement from the Heart with Voice, Treaty, truth. And here we are on the anniversary six years later, saying that this is the journey that we're still continuing on."
The government has committed to holding the referendum by the end of the year, earmarking dates between October and December for the vote.
It comes after a week of debate on the Constitution Alteration Bill in the lower house, the legislation that will allow the referendum to happen.
The bill will return to the House for a vote next week and is expected to reach the Senate by June.
