An Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice to parliament is still needed, say Yes campaigners one year on from the referendum defeat.

More than 60 per cent of Australians voted No in the referendum on October 14 lst year, with every state and territory aside from the ACT rejecting the proposal to establish a permanent advisory body and constitutional recognition of First Nations people.

One of the architects of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, Megan Davis, said there was still a need for a voice whether constitutional or statutory.

“The vote for no was effectively a vote for no change and consequently there’s been no change,” she said.

Davis said structural change was needed to make a difference in people’s lives, and state-based treaty and truth-telling processes would not be enough.

“Any state-based process whether it is voice, treaty or truth are vulnerable to political shifts, as we’ve seen with the Northern Territory abandoning truth-telling after their recent election,” she said.

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“Without a coordinated national Voice, we’re stuck with fragmented approaches that won’t deliver the lasting change First Nations People need across the country.”

Despite the defeat, Thomas Mayo, who was among the leading Yes vote advocates, said constitutional change could still take place down the track.

“There’s still a future that includes Indigenous people in the constitution. Sure, in reality it’s not going to happen again for a while,” he told ABC radio on Monday.

“We don’t always get things right in a democracy. If we accepted the ‘no’ answers that we got about equal wages or about our right to vote as Indigenous people ... things would be worse today.

“Because more than 60 per cent of young people voted Yes between 18 and 24, that tells me that we’ve got a future, and what we tried to do last year will be achieved.”

AAP