Adam Bandt, the leader of the Greens party, is urging the federal government to initiate a ‘truth-telling’ initiative for Australia’s First Nations people, taking inspiration from the progress in Victoria.

Victoria is often seen as a trailblazer in advancing treaty discussions with Indigenous communities within Australia.

The state is progressing toward a treaty through the Yoorrook Justice Commission, which operates independently of the unsuccessful Indigenous Voice to Parliament national referendum that occurred in October 2023.

Formal treaty negotiations are anticipated to start in early 2024, with any resulting agreements requiring approval from the state parliament to become law.

There are ongoing steps toward treaty through the Yoorrook Justice Commission, in a completely separate process to the failed Indigenous Voice to Parliament national referendum in October 2023

The Indigenous Voice to Parliament was voted down during a referendum in October, despite Linda Burney (right) and Anthony Albanese’s (left) best efforts

This week, Mr. Bandt emphasized, “A nationwide truth-telling process could and should be initiated immediately.”

He noted, “Victoria’s ongoing efforts have already made a significant impact and are setting the stage for transformative changes in the future.”

In Victoria, the state government has committed to working toward a treaty which ‘acknowledges the truth of Victoria’s history’.

According to the government website, the Yoorrook Commission ‘is investigating historical and ongoing injustices committed against Aboriginal Victorians since colonisation, across all areas of social, political and economic life’.

The commission was formally established in 2021 – prior to Mr Albanese’s own commitment to hold a Voice referendum.

Supporters were devastated by the outcome of the Voice referendum in October last year

Greens leader Adam Bandt this week argued: ‘A truth-telling process across the country could commence now and should commence now’

Yoorrook is the Wemba Wemba word for ‘truth’. The commission is independent from the government and funded until at least June 30, 2025.

It has all the same powers as a royal commission – meaning it can hold public hearings, compel people to give evidence, call witnesses under oath and make recommendations to the government.

In addition to ongoing investigations into historic massacres of First Nations people, the commission is also focused on the legal system in Victoria, the policing of First Nations people and child protection.

The Yoorrook Commission can recommend institutional and legal reforms are agreed upon during future treaties, as well as ‘appropriate redress for systemic injustice’.

The most recent interim report was published in 2022 on the back of a series of hearings with First Nations communities, and detailed findings of ‘systemic injustices, both historic and ongoing’.

‘Elders consistently tied ongoing injustices to past injustices as a continued impact of colonisation,’ the report found.

‘While Yoorrook’s truth-seeking processes are still at an early stage, the evidence gathered so far is substantive.’

The commission has committed to throwing resources at the ‘state-sanctioned removal of First Peoples’ children from their families’ and the ongoing ‘injustices experienced by First Peoples in the criminal justice system’.

Additionally, the commission will keep promoting and assisting in truth-telling discussions, and Victoria’s progress toward treaty.

The treaty push initially had bipartisan support but in late January, state Opposition leader John Pesutto revealed the Coalition had withdrawn support.

He said internal conversations had been ongoing ‘for many months’ and expressed concerns that treaties could ‘make the community feel more divided’.

Victoria’s First People’s Assembly – a democratically elected group of people who act as a ‘Voice’ for Indigenous people – said the announcement was ‘disappointing’, but stated there was a ‘clear path toward treaty’ in the state, regardless.

‘A national process of truth-telling will allow people to share their experiences of what colonisation has meant for them,’ Mr Bandt said.

‘Our priority… is Labor should recommit to that process of truth-telling and treaty.’

Labor has been criticised for dragging its feet after the Voice failed, despite having $27.7million set aside from the last Budget to tackle a Makarrata Commission – which could essentially act in a similar fashion to Victoria’s Yoorrook Commission

Labor has been criticised for failing to move forward on Indigenous policy after the failure of the Voice. That’s despite having $27.7million set aside from the last Budget to tackle a Makarrata Commission – which could essentially act in a similar fashion to Victoria’s Yoorrook Commission.

The Uluru Statement from the Heart – which Labor committed to in full during the last election campaign – called for three pillars of reconciliation: a voice, treaty and truth.

The Makarrata Commission was designed to progress both treaty and truth-telling at a federal level, but was stalled during the Voice campaign amid concerns about what a treaty – or treaties – could look like in practice.

In the four months since the failure of the Voice proposal, Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have both shied away from explicitly revealing their future plans for the portfolio.

Work on the Makarrata Commission remains paused while the government recalibrates and seeks advice on the next steps. 

Last month, the PM addressed criticism he was being slow to act head on, insisting he and his government are ‘taking action’.

‘We want to do what we can to Close the Gap in education, in health, in housing, in all of these issues, which is what the referendum was about. 

‘We accept the result, though, so we have to go about it in different ways.’

Mr Albanese took responsibility for his role in the referendum, but said he was responding to a request from the First Nations community through the Uluru Statement from the Heart for constitutional recognition.