The final Yoorrook report delivers unapologetic truths
The final recommendations of the Yoorrook Justice Commission call for fundamental change across nearly every major area of public policy in this state.
From how the water and land is managed, to the administration and governance of critical services in health, education, criminal justice and family violence and down to the number of houses built through existing government programs, the Yoorrook recommendations offer a radical blueprint for Aboriginal self-determination.
They also make clear this can only be done at a significant cost to the state, with unquantified money needed to redress past and ongoing injustices and fund Aboriginal control over their own affairs into the future.
The projected cost of redress includes economic loss and non-economic, cultural loss, plus interest owed on both. Given it is 174 years since Victoria was declared a colony, that will amount to quite a tidy sum.
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To finance greater self-determination, including an expanded role for the First Peoples' Assembly currently negotiating a series of treaties with the Allan government, the commissioners recommend the establishment of a new fund, taken as a share of land, water and natural resource related revenues.
How much might such a fund hold?
Amid the bleak familiarity of statistics showing that Aboriginal people are nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed with cancer, three times as likely to die by suicide, 10 times more likely to access homeless services and far less likely to finish high school, another figure stands out.
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"I am not going to respond to the individual recommendations or the report as a whole through individual questions at a press conference. "That would not do justice to the years and years of work and evidence." Yoorrook held 67 days of public hearings, gathering the testimony of Stolen Generations survivors, elders, historians, experts and non-Indigenous advocates. It found there were at least 50 massacres across Victoria by the end of the 1860s, with eight colonists killed compared to 978 First Nations people. The mass killings combined with disease, sexual violence, exclusion, eradication of language, cultural erasure, environmental degradation, child removal, absorption and assimilation brought about the "near-complete physical destruction" of Aboriginal people in Victoria. The "decimation" of the population by 1901 was the result of "a coordinated plan of different actions aimed at the destruction of the essential foundations of the life of national groups". 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"Genocide has not just occurred in Victoria, but has been perpetrated against all First Peoples of this continent," she said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised to set up a "Makarrata Commission to oversee a national process for treaty and truth-telling" in 2021. His government allocated $5.8 million to commence work on establishing the independent commission, but it has not materialised after the failed voice to parliament referendum in 2023. 13YARN 13 92 76 Lifeline 13 11 14 A landmark truth-telling inquiry's call for redress for the post-colonisation pain and suffering of Aboriginal people has not been ruled out. The Yoorrook Justice Commission's final reports feature 100 recommendations across five volumes and an official public record of Victoria's history since colonisation in 1834. The Australian-first Indigenous truth-telling body calls on the Victorian government to provide redress for injustices. It suggested redress could take the form of restitution of traditional land, monetary compensation, tax relief or other financial benefits. Other recommendations include shifting prison healthcare from the justice department to the health department, more cash to First Peoples-led health services and establishing independent funding streams for the state's self-determination fund. Premier Jacinta Allan indicated none of the ideas were off the table, refusing to rule in or out any of the recommendations. "We're going to take our time to consider and respond to the report," she told reporters on Wednesday. "I am not going to respond to the individual recommendations or the report as a whole through individual questions at a press conference. "That would not do justice to the years and years of work and evidence." Yoorrook held 67 days of public hearings, gathering the testimony of Stolen Generations survivors, elders, historians, experts and non-Indigenous advocates. It found there were at least 50 massacres across Victoria by the end of the 1860s, with eight colonists killed compared to 978 First Nations people. The mass killings combined with disease, sexual violence, exclusion, eradication of language, cultural erasure, environmental degradation, child removal, absorption and assimilation brought about the "near-complete physical destruction" of Aboriginal people in Victoria. The "decimation" of the population by 1901 was the result of "a coordinated plan of different actions aimed at the destruction of the essential foundations of the life of national groups". "This was genocide," one of the documents read. Ms Allan said the findings made for "tough reading" because they "tell the truth" about how the state was colonised. The recommendations will inform treaty talks between the state government and the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria, with enabling legislation expected to be introduced later in 2025. Ms Allan said reparations were not up for discussion as part of treaty talks amid backlash over Yoorrook's findings and recommendations. "I'm not focused on people who want to divide people," she said. First Peoples' Assembly member Nerita Waight warned Ms Allan not to let Yoorrook's work go ignored, as politicians have done with previous major Aboriginal-related inquiries. "The truth has been told and now the government has an obligation to act," the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service chief executive said. Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe called on the federal government to press on with national truth and treaty processes. "Genocide has not just occurred in Victoria, but has been perpetrated against all First Peoples of this continent," she said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised to set up a "Makarrata Commission to oversee a national process for treaty and truth-telling" in 2021. His government allocated $5.8 million to commence work on establishing the independent commission, but it has not materialised after the failed voice to parliament referendum in 2023. 13YARN 13 92 76 Lifeline 13 11 14 A landmark truth-telling inquiry's call for redress for the post-colonisation pain and suffering of Aboriginal people has not been ruled out. The Yoorrook Justice Commission's final reports feature 100 recommendations across five volumes and an official public record of Victoria's history since colonisation in 1834. The Australian-first Indigenous truth-telling body calls on the Victorian government to provide redress for injustices. It suggested redress could take the form of restitution of traditional land, monetary compensation, tax relief or other financial benefits. 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