The prime minister has reiterated his commitment to holding a referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament later this year, rejecting suggestions from the opposition that it should be abandoned if success becomes uncertain.
Anthony Albanese says while changing the constitution is always hard, now is the time to put the question to the Australian people.
During a fiery debate in parliament on Thursday, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton called on the government to abandon its plans to stage the referendum if polling suggested the vote might fail.
Mr Dutton argued it was the responsibility of the government to avoid the negative consequences of a No vote, including setting back reconciliation - while he continues to campaign for the No case.
Mr Albanese was asked on Friday morning if he was fully committed to staging the referendum later this year, regardless of polling or community sentiment at the time.
"I'm committed to having a referendum. The legislation has been passed," he said.
"And as I've said now continually, the referendum will take place in the last quarter of this year."
Some published polling has seen support for the Yes campaign slipping, while others have held stable.
Mr Albanese said achieving any constitutional change was challenging.
"Leadership isn't just about doing the easy things, it's about doing things that are hard.
"Changing our constitution is hard. There is no certainty.
"But it requires leadership, and if not now, when? And if not under my prime ministership, whose?"
The opposition leader meanwhile has warned even a narrow victory for the Yes campaign would spur division in the community, rather than bring it together.
"It's going to be lost, in my judgement, and on all of the evidence we see at the moment," he said.
"In the best case scenario for the 'yes' case, it'll be 51-49, which means in effect that our country will be split down the middle.
"Our Prime Minister is making a decision at the moment which is dividing our country, not uniting our country."
The Liberal leader has previously said his party would support constitutional recognition without a Voice, and that such a proposal would comfortably succeed at a referendum.
He said the current approach from the government to the campaign was not working.
"I think the Prime Minister has made a catastrophic mistake here in starving detail from the Australian public," he said.
"I think there are millions of Australians who just want to know what they're being asked to vote for."
Mr Albanese has been highly critical of Mr Dutton's rhetoric and the Coalition's line of questioning in parliament around what the Voice can and cannot provide advice on.
The Coalition has raised questions around issues like Australia Day, the location of defence bases, and Reserve Bank decisions.
The Voice to Parliament would be able to offer advice to government but the final decision-making power would rest with the government.
In parliament on Thursday, the prime minister labelled a speech from Mr Dutton as "devoid of empathy", and restated that criticism on Friday.
He said the purpose of the Voice was clearly not to advise on general issues.
"Tell you what Indigenous Australians don't do - they don't say we want a Voice to decide where a road will be, or a defence base will be," Mr Albanese said.
"They say we want a Voice because we're frustrated by our circumstances. By the gap in education, in health, in housing. We're frustrated by the lack of opportunity for our young people going forward.
"And I think Australians know that's the case."