Local Voices and the State Voice need to meet between 4 and 6 times each year. This is outlined in the First Nations Voice Act 2023.

To meet more than 6 times a year formally, the State and Local Voices need to ask the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs for approval.

Once a year the State Voice will call an Annual Meeting of all Local Voices. The procedures of that meeting will be decided by the State Voice.

Meeting schedule

Regular Local First Nations Voice meetings are important for sharing views gathered from community members, discussing matters of interest to SA First Nations people and elevating matters to the State Voice.

Regular State Voice meetings ensure that matters raised by Local Voices are properly considered at the State Voice level. At State Voice meetings decisions are made that enable the State Voice to have impactful interactions with the SA Parliament and Government on behalf of South Australian First Nations people.

Running meetings

Presiding Members run the meetings together. If one Presiding Member is not at a meeting, the other will lead. If both are not there, another Member chosen will step in to run the meeting.

Questions that need decisions will be dealt with by each Member casting one vote. The outcome will be decided by a majority of these votes. Voices will need to establish their own procedures for what to do if votes are equal. Decisions cannot be made if there is not a quorum of Members present at the meeting.

Attending meetings and proxies

Local Voice Members cannot nominate proxies for meetings. This is because only a person elected in the Voice process can act as a Member at the meeting.

A State Voice Member can appoint another Member of their Local Voice to act as a proxy if they cannot attend a State Voice meeting. The proxy must be of the same gender (or identify as non-binary) and can receive the same payments that the State Voice Member would have got for attending.