Yes, no, maybe? Dungog considers the Voice

At polling booths in Dungog, and across the nation, voters will answer the following question.

"A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?"

Owner of the Flower Shop Dungog Tom Christie believes that the answer is yes.

"It seems like the right thing to do," he said.

"There's not a major change, it's not something that's really going to affect most of us but hopefully it'll do something to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians.

"It's important because of the historical injustice basically. It's about time we really addressed that."

Mr Christie also said that he's been disappointed with the fearmongering that is inherent in the conversation.

"It would be nice if we could avoid a lot of the scaremongering around it. For most of us it's not going to affect our lives but hopefully will improve the lives of a lot of Australians," he said.

On the other side of the debate, operator of Dowling's Corner Store and councillor in the Dungog Shire Council Michael Dowling has a number of issues with the proposal which will lead him to vote no.

Specifically, Mr Dowling doesn't think that the referendum will have the desired effect and that not enough detail has been released.

"I don't know whether it is the right way to go about the change in treatment of Aboriginal people," Mr Dowling said.

"The referendum, I don't believe, has all the finer details that we truly need to know prior to going and voting for something.

"I think that we can do better. I don't believe that the voice is going to end all the problems that we're experiencing."

Similarly to Mr Christie, Mr Dowling has serious issues with the political polarisation that conversations around the referendum often brings.

"Regardless of whether the vote goes yes or no, what do we do then? There'll be people disappointed from both sides depending on how it goes," Mr Dowling said.

"If yes ,then what will be the details? If no, how can we do things differently to close the gap that some people are concerned about?

"Unity is a very key word. I would like to see a unified Australia. An Australia that we are patriotic towards, we should be proud of what we've achieved together. We can respect the past atrocities that have occurred. We can ensure that it doesn't happen again."

Owner of Dungog's Antique and Collectables shop, Jackie Bane, isn't sure which way she will vote.

"I don't think I'll vote either way because it's not very clear," Ms Bane said.

"From what I understand I don't think it's that important. It could cause more problems than it fixes."

Early voting began in NSW on Tuesday, October 3. The referendum will be held on Saturday, October 14.