Uluru Dialogue co-chairs Pat Anderson and Megan Davis have marked the start of National Reconciliation Week continuing with their call for constitutional recognition of Indigenous people.
They say despite the loss of the referendum to provide a voice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in parliament, they stood with the 6.2 million 'yes' voters who voted for change.
The Uluru Statement issued on May 26, 2017 urged a voice to parliament, constitutional recognition of Indigenous people, treaty making and truth-telling about the colonial past.
It argued structural reform was needed to achieve self-determination to tackle Indigenous disadvantage such as high rates of incarceration and child removal from families. Â
The Uluru Dialogue is the group of First Nations leaders who led work on the Uluru Statement, issued nine years ago as "an olive branch to the Australian people to move forward as a nation".
"What has become increasingly clear since the referendum is that the problems and issues facing communities have not disappeared but are further entrenched and, in some respects, have become drastically worse."
The Closing the Gap reports show no progress, Ms Anderson and Ms Davis said in a statement.
Governments continued to announce policies, reviews, inquiries, and programs without proper consultation with Indigenous communities, they said, showing the need for a voice had not diminished.
Marking Reconciliation Week, the St Vincent de Paul Society said many people it supported were Indigenous, reflecting the impact of intergenerational disadvantage in housing, income and access to essential services.
The charity's president, Mark Gaetani, said in line with this year's theme, "All In for Reconciliation", the society urged Australians to listen to Indigenous voices and support solutions shaped by their communities.
"This is the only way that we as a nation can close the gap that exists between most Australians and our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sisters and brothers," he said in a statement.
"If we are serious about change, we need to trust community elders and fund what they know will work."
Aunty Munya Andrews, of Evolve Communities, a group providing cultural awareness and reconciliation training, warned Australia was entering "a dangerous new phase of division".
"The recent public backlash against Welcome to Country ceremonies should concern all Australians," she said.
"We recently saw Welcome to Country ceremonies booed at Anzac Day services."
Aunty Munya said she was concerned by a growing narrative that Welcome to Country was divisive when it was an act of reconciliation inviting people to come together through a shared love of Country.
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