“But when a reshuffle was happening today,the decision was made that I would step back to the backbench and continue my work from the backbench.”

Andrews said there was no single factor that led her to quit politics altogether but said she was very comfortable with the decision.

Asked about her position on the Voice,Andrews said she did not support Labor’s proposed wording of the constitutional amendment to enshrine the body in the Constitution but would not actively campaign for the No case.

“I’m open as my party is to working with the government on a proper set of words for the constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders,but I think that the words that are proposed are not words that I can support,not words that I can advocate for,” she said.

“I won’t be out there wearing a shirt that says vote No. When people speak to me I will go through what my concerns are,but I want to do that in a very neutral way so that people are in a position that they can make their own mind up.”

The reshuffle was triggered by Berowra MPJulian Leeser’s decision to quit shadow cabinet last week in order to campaign for a Yes vote in the referendum after the Liberal Party resolved to oppose the Voice.

South Australian Liberal senator Kerrynne Liddle –the party’s only Indigenous MP – will move into the outer ministry as opposition spokeswoman for child protection and prevention of family violence.

The decision to promote two Indigenous women to his frontbench as part of a broader reshuffle,ahead of the referendum on the Voice to parliament later this year,wasfirst reported byThe Sydney Morning Herald andThe Age on Monday evening.

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news,views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletterhere.