Wodonga Wiradjuri elder Liz Heta in favour of national voice in parliament

That would come if a proposal to create an Indigenous advisory board to lawmakers, known as the Voice to Parliament, succeeded at the upcoming referendum.

Mrs Heta was in favour of the proposed constitutional change as it was based on the Uluru statement, something said with heart and which was "very powerful".

"I believe we've got to start somewhere," she said. "What that platform looks like we can't tell, but if it's done (constitutionally) it can't be changed."

Mrs Heta said it was important, especially for young leaders in the community, to keep the conversation happening on the issue because "that's what will make change".

"I think a lot of people, including Aboriginal people, are struggling with what it means if we put the voice in and put ourselves in the constitution," she said.

Mrs Heta trained and worked as a nurse and was now an Aboriginal Liaison Officer at Nolan house. She co-founded the Mungabareena Aboriginal Corporation and the area's Aboriginal Education Consultative Group.

As far as the Voice, Mrs Heta said some people felt it might stop progress on other issues such as a treaty with Indigenous people or sovereignty.

"But whatever happens, if another government comes in they can't pull it apart," she said.

"Once we have this voice then we can work on how people are elected, we can work on where the next five years is going to take us and we can work on where our young people are heading."

Mrs Heta said it was equally important to continue to support people in the Indigenous community.

"It doesn't cost any money to just make an extra phone call and support somebody," she said. "That to me is so important. When you work in this community, you can't just look after one group or one family.

"You must work for everybody. Sometimes we get it wrong and you make mistakes, but it's important to get back up and learn again."

Mrs Heta grew up in Junee with her late mother and her biggest inspiration, Nancy Rooke. She was told at her Catholic school that she wouldn't achieve anything, which dampened her ability to see her self worth.

But Mrs Heta said that was why she now loved being able to give back to the community.

"Growing up I always wanted to be a nurse but I didn't get the subjects that were required, so I ended up becoming an enrolled nurse and went to Alice Springs to work," she said.

This was when her advocacy for Indigenous people began, "because I was so raw, I was so naive, I had no idea about the extent of racism".

Mrs Heta said a turning point was when she and her family moved to Albury in 1981. At the time, her "so inspiring" mother was working in Indigenous education at Albury TAFE.

"She said to me, 'come on Liz, you need to start stepping up'," Mrs Heta said.

"And that fascinated me because we were disconnected so much from our culture growing up. My nana never spoke about her Aboriginality, to protect us."

Ms Heta copped a lot because she was fair skinned, but felt privileged to hear stories of past and present elders. Her advice now to younger generations was to "listen to your elders".

"Learn from the stories. Don't just listen, but learn," she said. "Gain your own wisdom."

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