New Zealand Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples on Wednesday applauded Australian lawmakers for passing an Act of Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the first peoples of Australia.

The unanimous move by the House of Representatives committed the next Parliament to holding a referendum with the intention of recognizing the indigenous status of the peoples in Australia's constitution.

The passage of the Bill came at a time when New Zealand was in the process of reviewing its own constitutional arrangements with a view to including Maori interests, Sharples said in a statement.

"It is timely, and it is relevant to our own discussions here. I applaud the Australian House of Representatives, and extend my warmest congratulations to our Aboriginal relatives," he said.