The state of Victoria's Voice to Parliament

SBS Australia

07-07-2025

A permanent Indigenous voice to parliament is on its way for Victoria. It makes Victoria the second state in Australia - after South Australia - to establish a state-based, democratically elected body to provide advice on laws and policies related to Aboriginal people. The agreements comes at the same time as the handing down of the final report of the Yoorrook Justice Commission, after four years of hearings. "We stand here with our feet firmly on the lands of the Kaurna people. I pay my respect to their elders past present and emerging, but the way we pay our respects first and foremost is not with our words but in our deeds. And there are no more powerful deeds than South Australia becoming the first place in our nation to pass a law enshrining an Indigenous voice to our Parliament." says Peter Malinauskas, the premier of South Australia, when the state passed groundbreaking legislation for a state-based Voice to Parliament.
Now, Victoria is set to follow South Australia's example.