A Yes vote will prevent future heartache, says Aunty Tracy Roach

Aunty Tracy Roach, 59, was taken away from her her family and put into foster care at a young age.

She said she experienced racism as the only Indigenous student at a school in Melbourne.

Aunty Tracy said she was taunted and called names by students and treated differently by teachers.

"I didn't have the opportunities at school other people did," she said.

Aunty Tracy said her foster mother made her leave school at age 15 and get a job.

Even when at school, her efforts to take in as much as she could in class were often thwarted.

"I would sit at the front of the classroom and the teacher would make me sit at the back," she said.

"It's disappointing I didn't have the chance to get an education."

Aunty Tracy said she believed The Voice was a step forward for Australia.

"I think it's wonderful to give Aboriginal people a voice," she said.

"I never had anybody stand up for me."

Aunty Tracy said she also hoped it would help stamp out the racism that still exists in Australia.

"Be proud of your First Nations people - we have a lot to offer," she said.

Aunty Tracy said she was deeply affected by the trauma she endured in her childhood.

"I don't understand why people wouldn't want to vote yes," she said.

"It will open the door to a new partnership."

Her comments come as Deakin University was revealed as one of 23 universities that had publicly backed the Voice referendum.

There are 18 which have not issued an official stance and three that were considering their position.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported Deakin's stance as "strongly supporting a yes position is an extension of our support for the Uluru Statement."

Australians will go to the polls to decide whether to enshrine an Indigenous voice in the constitution on October 14.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the date for the country's first referendum in 24 years in a speech in Adelaide on Wednesday.

He was joined at the event by Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney and South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas

The announcement marks the start of a six-week campaign on the proposed constitutional change.

The referendum will ask Australians to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first peoples of Australia by enshrining an advisory body known as the voice.

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