A COMMISSION to investigate historical and ongoing injustices committed against Aboriginal Victorians will be established, backed by the State Government and the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria.
What will be known as the Yoo-rrook Justice Commission, after the Wemba Wemba/Wamba Wamba word for ‘truth’, the Commission will formally begin its work in the coming months.
The Yoo-rrook Justice Commission will investigate injustices committed against Aboriginal Victorians, across areas of social, political, cultural and economic life over the last 233 years.
The Commission, which is seen by the First Peoples’ Assembly as a prerequisite to any Treaty negotiations, will be given the full powers of a Royal Commission and be run independently of government.
With the establishment of the Commission, Victoria will be the first jurisdiction in Australia to institute a formal truth-telling forum.
“Only through a full and honest process can we reset relationships between Aboriginal people and the wider community, based on honesty and a knowledge of actual events, not just one part of the story,” First People’s Assembly co-chair, Aunty Geraldine Atkinson, said.
