Closed for business: The Voice is not a registered company

^{By Eiddwen Jeffery}

A raft of social media users have posted and shared information from the Australian Business Register (ABR) to falsely claim the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice is a registered private Australian company. 

In multiple posts on Facebook and Twitter, users claim two companies, registered in New South Wales, with names similar to the proposed Indigenous Voice prove the body already exists and the upcoming referendum is a “scam”. 

“So you reckon you are going to get to vote on The Voice. Take a look at this screen shot, its been in the pipeline for years. The Voice is a registered company with an ABN and was formed way back in June 2019,” one user posted along with registration details for a company called Indigenous Voice Pty Ltd taken from the ABR’s public database.  

Another user captioned their post, “this is the trickery that is being used against us, already registered with an ABN, three years later a referendum, guess it's coming in, if we all say no anyways.” The post includes a screenshot of a company called The Indigenous Voice to Parliament taken from the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) website. 

But the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice is not a private company. Rather, it is a proposed constitutional amendment that would enshrine a new body to advise the federal government on policy affecting Indigenous Australians.

Commonly referred to in the media as an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, Australia will vote on the proposed advisory body in a referendum expected to be held sometime between October and December. 

RMIT FactLab spoke to representatives from both companies, who confirmed they did not have any connection with the proposed Voice or referendum. 

The first company, Indigenous Voice Pty Ltd, has been registered on the ABR and with ASIC since June 2019, listing its business trading name as Mob Voice. 

Troy Kelly, a company representative from Mob Voice told FactLab the company is a digital platform for Indigenous Australians. It is still in the process of community consultation.

The company was formed “independently and without connection to early work by other groups forming a voice to parliament” Mr Kelly said.

“It is important to emphasise that our company’s registration and appearance in government registries do not signify our status as a federal body,” Mr Kelly said, inviting the public to read a statement on its website.

The second company, called The Indigenous Voice to Parliament, was registered on the ABR and ASIC in February this year.

The company’s sole proprietor and audio engineer, Americo Simoes told FactLab in a phone interview that he was working on a music project with Aboriginal musicians, but it was “nothing political in nature” and had no connection with the proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament.  

Mr Simoes said he did not believe the referendum would succeed, but he wanted to capitalise on the phrase by modelling his company name on The Voice singing contest.

“In the same way The Voice is a TV show, The Indigenous Voice would be a great name for a record label,” he said. 

“It's a popular phrase. It’s out there, no one is trading with that name. It hasn’t been trademarked. It’s up in the air at the moment so I am, well, first in, best dressed. 

Neither Mob Voice nor Mr Simoes’s company match the name of the proposed advisory body, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament.

If the referendum for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice succeeds, the advisory body will be required to register for a government organisational ABN, as is mandatory for all federal statutory authorities for tax and superannuation purposes.

The referendum for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament is expected to be held between October and December this year, but no date has yet been set.