Constitutional recognition and change for the benefit of Australia’s First Peoples has recently emerged as the focus of Indigenous politics.

This article critiques the ‘top-down’ nature of the constitutional recognition movement, specifically the Recognise campaign. It highlights the campaign’s contribution to the‘politics of distraction’ which dominate the mainstream discussion of Indigenous issues, detracting from ongoing calls from Indigenous communities for increased self-determination, land rights, and practice of culture.

This article further argues that the Recognise campaign functions to further Australia’s settler colonial agenda through the ‘politics of distraction’ and that it will ultimately fail to substantively empower Indigenous peoples or affect Indigenous disadvantage.