By Callum Godde
WHAT WAS THE YOORROOK JUSTICE COMMISSION?
* Victoria’s Indigenous-led truth-telling inquiry, the first of its kind in Australia
* Led by five commissioners, of whom four are Aboriginal
* Established with royal commission powers
* Independent of the Victorian government and the elected First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, the body tasked with leading statewide treaty talks
* Yoo-rrook means “truth” in the Wemba Wemba/Wamba Wamba language
WHAT WAS ITS PURPOSE?
* Create an official record of the impact of colonisation on Indigenous people in Victoria
* Support the treaty-making process, including through recommendations for reform
HOW DID IT COME ABOUT?
* The Victorian Labor government committed to a truth and justice process in July 2020
* The commission and its mandate was unveiled in March 2021
* It officially launched in March 2022 following COVID-19 lockdown-related delays
* The government granted a 12-month extension for its work to the end of June 2025
WHO APPEARED AT YOORROOK?
* Public hearings began in April 2022 and lasted 67 days in total
* Aboriginal elders such as Uncle Jack Charles, Uncle Johnny Lovett, Aunty Alma Thorpe and Aunty Eva Jo Edwards were among more than 200 witnesses
* Premier Jacinta Allan and other government ministers also gave evidence
* Then Victoria Police chief commissioner Shane Patton apologised for police treatment of Indigenous people
* The commission also received more than 1300 submissions and 10,000 documents from the state
WHAT ARE ITS FINAL REPORTS?
* Yoorrook for Transformation – Yoorrook’s third and final report containing 100 recommendations over five volumes
* Yoorrook Truth Be Told – a official public record that includes a detailed account of the history of Victoria since the start of colonisation and story of the commission
WHAT ARE ITS KEY FINAL RECCOMENDATIONS?
* The government must fund the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria to set up a permanent truth-telling group to keep collecting stories and build a public record
* Decision-making powers, authority, control and resources must be transferred to First Peoples to give full effect to self-determination
* The government must shift prison healthcare from the Department of Justice to the Department of Health
* The government must provide redress for injustices caused by the colonial invasion and occupation of First Peoples’ lands, as well as damage and loss
WERE THERE ANY CONTROVERSIES?
* Three commissioners quit within the space of six months in 2022, and another resigned in 2023
* Commission chair Eleanor Bourke slammed the government in 2023 for delays in producing documents
* Only four of Yoorrook’s 46 recommendations from an interim report on Victoria’s child protection and criminal justice systems were accepted by the government in full. Twenty-four were accepted in principle and three rejected outright
* Yoorrook later said it was “beyond disappointed” with the government’s inaction
* Three of the five commissioners did not endorse the inclusion of the key findings in the Truth Be Told report
HOW HAS THE GOVERNMENT RESPONDED TO THE FINAL REPORTS?
* It has acknowledged the final reports and will “carefully consider” its response to the findings and recommendations