Thursday, 9 March 2023

Bills

Children and Health Legislation Amendment (Statement of Recognition, Aboriginal Self-determination and Other Matters) Bill 2023

Second reading

Debate resumed.

Roma BRITNELL (South-West Coast) (14:43): Before the lunchbreak I was quoting from a series of emails that I have received from a grandparent in my electorate about the care of his grandchild. I will continue quoting these appropriately edited emails:

The child knows the system: this is how we acknowledge and respect the indigenous.

To my mind the child is headed to ongoing drug addiction, violence and crime, jail and very possibly death

It’s all quiet on the western front till all hell breaks out into the open.

Seeming no plans to help this 14 year old

Child in secure accommodation till tomorrow, will be back in insecure and is going to court on over 50 charges in 6 days time …

50 charges plus while “in care”

Child is now super violent and a real danger to self and society

Another quote:

Last three weeks numerous suicide attempts, now a hairsbreadth from high security.

This is a young person that went into care when she was about 11 or 12. She is not even 15 yet, and this is the sort of child that family have, who they write to me about whilst they are in care. These are incredibly disturbing emails.

Victoria must continue to take positive steps to help our vulnerable Aboriginal children. We know Aboriginal children have more than their fair share of disadvantage and are over-represented in the custodial setting and in the state’s care. There is so much more to do, and it is so disappointing that under this government we have seen such a deterioration in the figures of children in care, going from one in 10 children to one in six. It is a blight on this government. We can talk the talk until the cows come home, but for children like this child that I have been talking about, whose grandparent continually writes to me because it is so distressing, we have been to the government and we have been asking for help and nothing really constructive can be done. Legislation like this helps, but it is a missed opportunity, because that child is crying out for our help. That child, as the grandparent says, needs boundaries and support.

Those workers who support the children in care need those resources and need that support and need the policies around that, the legislation, to support them. This legislation is important, it goes where we should be going, but there is so much more to do, and on behalf of that grandparent I urge the government to do more.

Anthony CARBINES (Ivanhoe – Minister for Police, Minister for Crime Prevention, Minister for Racing) (14:46): I am pleased to make a contribution on the Children and Health Legislation Amendment (Statement of Recognition, Aboriginal Self-determination and Other Matters) Bill 2023. I am particularly keen to do that because as a former Minister for Child Protection and Family Services I understand the challenges we face and what we are seeking to address around, particularly, the over-representation of Aboriginal children in our child protection system.

Wungurilwil Gapgapduir, that is particularly the work and the commitment that our government has been able to enter into. The state entered into those agreements with the community services sector and particularly with the Aboriginal community to reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal children in child protection and out-of-home care. Part of the way in which we have been able to work through some of those matters, and I have seen that firsthand, is the Aboriginal Children’s Forum, which I have had the opportunity to co-chair in the past with the remarkable work of our Aboriginal community controlled organisations (ACCOs).

In particular we know that one of the most important factors in what we need to do to improve outcomes for Aboriginal children is Aboriginal self-determination. The way in which we want to do that and the single biggest factor in overcoming some of our Aboriginal children in care is achieved through that work of Aboriginal people who are best placed to lead and inform the responses for Aboriginal children and their families. That is where we get the best outcomes. We have seen that in our data. We have seen that in our work. When we talk about some of that work, some 1500 families, including over 400 Aboriginal families, were connected to the family preservation and reunification response in its first 18 months of operation. That is a response that prioritises the return of children in care to their families, with particular work to pick up on those 400 Aboriginal families being part of that family preservation and reunification work.

This bill also reinforces the Victorian government’s commitment to Aboriginal self-determination in our health and child protection systems and acknowledges the importance of our culturally safe and appropriately resourced services to meet those health and wellbeing needs of Aboriginal people in Victoria.

One of the key components of the bill is enabling some of that effective functioning of Aboriginal children in Aboriginal care through some of our programs that will allow Aboriginal agencies to make decisions and also provide culturally grounded support for Aboriginal families. So how is some of that done? Well, it is about delivering better outcomes for those children and their families, and we know it works in particular through the expansion of the functions of our Aboriginal community organisations that are authorised under this program.

The bill will actually allow Aboriginal decision-making in the investigation of child protection reports, and that is really critical and important. So by providing an Aboriginal approach to those investigations of child protection and the reports by Aboriginal agencies there is a strong potential to reduce the need for further interventions and reduce the number of Aboriginal children entering care. Involving those ACCOs in the child protection process will allow greater opportunity for those organisations to work closely with Aboriginal children and their families. They are best placed to work with Aboriginal families and connect them to the services they need to support and keep children safe.

Some of the work that we need to do is also about more training and more opportunities for the specific and specialised work of our child protection practitioners to provide those opportunities for putting an Aboriginal, a First Peoples, lens over that work but also to make sure that they have appropriate staff trained and are taking up the opportunity to work with Aboriginal families.

As well, the statement of recognition in the bill is critically important, and I did want to touch on that – the Aboriginal statement of recognition that accompanies the binding recognition principles. That statement acknowledges the role the child protection system has played in the dispossession, the colonisation, the assimilation of Aboriginal people, in particular through the separation of Aboriginal children from their families, from their culture and from their country. By compulsion these things were done and we acknowledge that these things were done, and we want to do better.

It is so much more important too that at the front here of the bill, at the start, it is picking up on that statement of recognition, so that everything we look at when we go to this bill – hopefully as it becomes active in Parliament – the starting point is around the statement of recognition and self-determination, so that when we look at the laws we set in this place in relation to the children and health legislation amendments and the work of this bill, we do so through the lens of First Peoples. The work that has been done, in particular in relation to the statement, is historically significant. It will give prominence to decisions that are made where the act is used in the future, when the bill hopefully passes. And that statement of recognition is something that we worked on through the Victorian Aboriginal Children and Young People’s Alliance, representing the ACCOs, Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency, Rumbalara and others across the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing and the like, but it has come from the work of First Peoples and their organisations, and it is critically important that that fronts the bill and is a significant part of it.

The next step with the bill around entrenching Aboriginal self-determination and those decisions about the child protection system is that we need to continue to work to address the overrepresentation of Aboriginal children in care. As I said earlier, the key elements of doing that are about, we know, that the more Aboriginal children we can have in the placement of Aboriginal families, but also in kinship care, where those arrangements can be made, we are going to see better outcomes and also better decision-making when it is First Peoples making the decisions in relation to those families. We have already seen the success of that work – this bill formalises a lot of that work, it encourages that work, it sets out a better framework for how we can continue to do that. Our government has funded something like an additional 1180 child protection practitioners. There are always going to be challenges around recruitment. We have seen that in so many fields across the state and also in making sure we have got the people we need in the places that we need them right across Victoria. Of critical importance is to make sure we are providing the support and the training and the opportunities for Aboriginal people, for First Nations people, to take on this work, to be trained and supported to do this work in their own organisations for people and families that they care so much about and that they have a clear understanding around culture and community and the way in which we want to practice that to support those families.

This is a very significant change. I commend it to members. I want to also thank many of those organisations but particularly our Aboriginal community controlled organisations for the work that they do every day to keep children safe but also the work that they do and the best practice that we have seen through the Aboriginal Children’s Forum, in those forums in Gippsland, across Bendigo and in so many other parts of our state where best practice is shared and there are learnings on how we can do our work more effectively. But they are doing great leadership work in keeping families together, getting families back on track, supporting young people and supporting the children to make sure they are getting the support that they need. We know, as best we can, in supporting families to be together, in supporting families to get through their troubles and difficulties, we are going to get better outcomes for those children more often than not. That starts particularly with the work that we do through our Family Preservation and Reunification Response and those programs, and particularly around a focus that we need to have on our First Peoples.

That is really reflected here in this bill. It is reflected in that statement of recognition that understands and touches on the history of these matters but also seeks to take it forward in the work that we need to do together to support vulnerable families in our community and providing pathways for reunification, pathways to preserve families and provide the supports for people who need it right across the state. So I am really pleased that we are considering these matters in the house today.

I am pleased with the work that we have been able to do together in trying circumstances, often when families are at their most vulnerable, when children are at their most vulnerable and with the obligations of this state. In the history of these matters it is important that we acknowledge the past, but also that we built with First Peoples how we can engage them in making sure more Aboriginal children in Aboriginal care is the way in which we are going to support more families in the future. The work of Wungurilwil Gapgapduir – and the work of the people who are committed to that work both in this place and in our community service organisations around the state and our Aboriginal community controlled organisations – goes a long way to helping and supporting families right across Victoria.

Annabelle CLEELAND (Euroa) (14:56): I rise today to speak on the Children and Health Legislation Amendment (Statement of Recognition, Aboriginal Self-determination and Other Matters) Bill 2023. This bill replaces a previous version, which lapsed within the last Parliament, with some minor changes introduced. Firstly, I would like to acknowledge our local Indigenous communities as I stand proudly today alongside my National Party colleagues, committed to supporting meaningful action to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. I want to particularly acknowledge the Leader of the Nationals and the member for Shepparton for speaking on this bill. They both have high Indigenous populations in their electorates and have built strong, collaborative and meaningful connections with First Nations groups within their communities.

We pride ourselves on our strong connection to community, and I know this is no different when it comes to our First Nations people. Northern Victoria is home to a large percentage of Indigenous Australians, and we are all committed to working to ensure outcomes are improved by listening to and engaging with these important local voices. We are committed to supporting the treaty process for our First Nations people, and while I was not here in this chamber last year, I can imagine how incredibly powerful it would have been to stand in this place and support the treaty process – action that represents the core principle of self-determination. This is outlined in new section 7B, which acknowledges the treaty process being undertaken in Victoria, something which I am glad has bipartisan support. It also acknowledges the aspiration of Aboriginal people to achieve increased autonomy, decision-making and control of planning, funding and administration of services for Aboriginal children and families, including through representative bodies established by the treaty process. The electorate of Euroa is predominately covered by the Yorta Yorta and Taungurung registered Aboriginal parties. Across our region there is evidence of scar trees, rock-shelters, rock art and placenames that all reflect the deep and long-lasting history and connection Indigenous people have with our beautiful part of the world. I am looking forward to engaging and working with representatives of our First Nations people over the next four years.

As outlined in this bill, self-determination is a step towards closing the gap. In this case it is clear the Victorian government is failing in its target to reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal children in the care system by 45 per cent by 2031. Sadly, in Victoria we have the worst rate in the country of Aboriginal children in care, with one in 10 Indigenous kids in care on any given day. Worryingly, the rate of over-representation has skyrocketed since 2014, increasing by 63 per cent. Most Aboriginal children in care within Victoria are in kinship care, an important arrangement that protects connection to culture and family where possible. The majority of these cases are managed by the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing rather than community agencies. This is important to note, given the Auditor-General found that 84 per cent of the time, the department case managers failed to carry out any welfare checks on children in kinship care.

I would like to thank the shadow minister in the other place for the extensive consultation undertaken in regard to this bill, given the Liberals and Nationals have been calling for increased powers for Aboriginal organisations for a significant period of time. This is why it makes sense for Indigenous children to be provided protections that align with children in foster care by increasing the power of Aboriginal-led community agencies. When this bill came before Parliament previously, our support was unanimous. Since then the minor changes made to the bill range from legislating a series of Aboriginal child placement principles to giving Aboriginal community organisations the power to investigate reports rather than having to refer them back to the department, and replacing outdated and offensive language with more modern terms such as ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person’.

Alongside reform to important child protection legislation, this bill includes recognition principles which are to apply in relation to dealings with Aboriginal children, families and Aboriginal-led community services. Like every country across the world, Australia has a complex history, one that is contested and difficult to grapple with at times but incredibly brilliant at others. Without doubt we do live in the greatest nation in the world, the one that is the most free and fair. But as Closing the Gap reports year after year show, there is significant work that still needs to be done to create a society where access to equality of outcomes exists.

Our nation has made statements and important reforms relating to Indigenous Australia over the decades and there are significant landmarks which I would like to make note of. There was the 1967 referendum to count Indigenous Australians within the census and remove race powers from the state. In 1970 Victoria was the first state in the nation to grant freehold title in Indigenous communities through the passage of the Aboriginal Lands Act 1970. In 1971 the first Indigenous man was elected to the Senate. In 1976 we had Aboriginal land rights, the first legislation in Australia that enabled First Nations people to claim land rights for country where traditional ownership could be proven. In 1997 Jeff Kennett moved:

That this house apologises to the Aboriginal people on behalf of all Victorians for the past policies under which Aboriginal children were removed from their families and expresses deep regret at the hurt and distress this has caused and reaffirms its support for reconciliation between all Australians.

Even more recently, in 2010 we saw the election of Ken Wyatt – the first Indigenous man elected to the House of Representatives, the first Indigenous man in cabinet and the first Indigenous Minister for Indigenous Australians. These are all reforms and important milestones that have occurred thanks to this side of politics at both federal and state levels. There is no doubt those opposite have pushed important reforms at both levels of government, but it is important to note that a commitment to closing the gap and improving outcomes for Indigenous Australians is a bipartisan commitment. It is one I hope all members in both houses, now and into the future, are wedded to.

We are in the middle of a national debate that is incredibly polarising. While people may have different views on the way in which we close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, I know everyone is committed to closing that very gap. While this bill does not sit alongside some of the major reforms we have seen throughout history, it is my belief that it is an incremental step in improving the system for Indigenous youth and families and developing a system more attuned to the needs of vulnerable children. We know the importance of children being raised in a loving environment and having the best possible chance at succeeding in life. I think it is pretty devastating the Commission for Children and Young People recently found that there has been a disproportionate increase in deaths of Aboriginal children in care in recent years, including 13 of the 45 deaths in 2021. It is heartbreaking and things are failing.

In summary, the objectives of this bill outlined by the minister – to eliminate the over-representation of Aboriginal children and young people in care; increase Aboriginal care, guardianship and management of Aboriginal children and young people in care; and increase family reunification for Aboriginal children and young people in care – are ones which we can all support. I provide my full support for this bill.

Martha HAYLETT (Ripon) (15:03): I rise to speak on the Children and Health Legislation Amendment (Statement of Recognition, Aboriginal Self-determination and Other Matters) Bill 2023. This bill reinforces the Victorian government’s commitment to Aboriginal self-determination in the health and child protection systems, centralising the importance of culturally safe services. It is an important step in the path to closing the gap, with one of the key aims to reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal children in state care by 45 per cent by 2031. In an Australian first, this bill sets out to expand the role of Aboriginal agencies delivering children and family services to reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal children in care.

It will also complement Victoria’s treaty process as we collectively work towards long-term solutions to right the wrongs of the past. For generations Aboriginal communities across Victoria have called for treaty to acknowledge the sovereignty of First Nations people. We know the Victorian traditional owners maintain that their sovereignty has never been ceded, and they have consistently called for a treaty process that delivers self-determination for Victoria’s First Peoples.

This bill addresses the key aim of reducing the rates of Aboriginal children in the child protection system in quite a few key ways. Firstly, it recognises the importance of retaining close connections to culture and family. We have seen throughout history the effects of separating the ties between Aboriginal children and their community, and we do not have to look far back into our past to see this play out. It is indisputable that the harms and trauma of the stolen generation are still being felt today. This degrading and inhumane policy of forced separation was in effect until the 1970s, leaving a devastating mark on too many families and communities. Last year the Andrews Labor government opened the stolen generations reparations package, but we still have a long way to go before we can truly come to terms with the deep scars left on our community.

Secondly, this bill enshrines the importance of self-determination in decision-making. When Aboriginal people and organisations are involved throughout the process it leads to better outcomes. We know this. It is a key binding principle that will be enshrined into the framework of child protective services in this state and will mean decisions are guided by informed and community-led approaches. Keeping Aboriginal families strong relies on a deep understanding of and respect for Aboriginal culture. These principles have been co-designed with the Victorian Aboriginal Children and Young People’s Alliance representing Aboriginal community controlled organisations, which is extremely important.

This bill explicitly incorporates the five aspects underpinning the intent of the Aboriginal child placement principle. This includes prevention, participation, partnership, placement and connection. Our country has an exciting opportunity to live our values when it comes to fairness for Aboriginal people in this country. We are seeing the same conversation about Aboriginal self-determination carry out federally around the referendum which will be held later this year for the Voice to Parliament. I am proud to support the yes campaign because Aboriginal people deserve a greater say in this country when it comes to issues that affect them. It is all about recognition and consultation, and if it is successful it will mean that our country will finally enshrine a Voice to Parliament in our constitution, which will have a say on issues that affect them.

I am proud that Victoria is the first Australian jurisdiction to commit to and action all elements of the Uluru Statement from the Heart: voice, treaty and truth. We are working hand in hand with the Aboriginal community in Victoria to fully realise the potential of Indigenous communities and to support and protect them and recognise past wrongs. I want to particularly mention the co-chairs of the First People’s Assembly of Victoria, Aunty Geraldine Atkinson and Marcus Stewart. In Victoria they have led the way on voice, treaty and truth, making massive progress on all three pillars of the Uluru Statement from the Heart in a very short period of time.

A truth-telling process is underway now, crafted by the community with wide-reaching powers under the Yoorrook Justice Commission, and the Treaty Authority and independent umpire to facilitate negotiations through the treaty process which was passed by this Parliament just last year will mean that we can begin to level the playing field when it comes to fair and frank negotiations between the state of Victoria and First Peoples.

I want to acknowledge and thank the traditional owners and registered Aboriginal parties in my electorate of Ripon. This includes the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation, which covers central Victoria, including what we now know as Creswick, where I live, as well as Clunes, Dunolly, Maryborough, St Arnaud and parts of the Loddon shire. Their connection to country runs deep and spreads across tens of thousands of years. I want to turn to the words of Aunty Fay Carter, a Dja Dja Wurrung elder, who said:

I’d like the rest of the world to know that Dja Dja Wurrung still exist. We are still here as a People. We are proud and value our Culture. We honour our Martiinga kuli, and everything that we do, we are doing on behalf of our Martiinga kuli, who didn’t have the voice that we have today.

I also acknowledge the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation whose CEO and traditional owners I have had the pleasure of meeting with and look forward to working with into the future. Their lands stretch across what we now know as Ballarat, Beaufort, Skipton and everywhere in between. I acknowledge the Barengi Gadjin traditional owners covering areas of the Wimmera Southern Mallee region of Victoria, including Navarre, and the Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation, whose lands stretch far from the coast to as far north as Ararat in my electorate. Each of them represents and fights for Aboriginal children on country, and I am guided by my conversations with them and others when I come to this place. In just August last year I attended the national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children’s day event in Maryborough, organised by Kymberley, Maryborough District Health Service Aboriginal hospital liaison officer. What a beautiful day it was, with art, storytelling, history and dance. I was extremely heartened to see such a wonderful display of connection to country, and I know that the day meant so much to the Maryborough community.

That is what this bill is all about, protecting Aboriginal children and keeping their ties to community, country and family strong. We are recognising that the child protection services have not been fit for purpose for too long, and we are doing something about it. This will be achieved in part through the statement of recognition, which will highlight the impact of past policies on Aboriginal people and was designed in partnership between Aboriginal stakeholder groups. It also furthers key promises and strategic directions under the Wungurilwil Gapgapduir:Aboriginal Children and Families Agreement 2018. This agreement, meaning ‘strong families’, between the Aboriginal community, Victorian government and community service organisations is designed to address the issue of over-representation of Indigenous children in care. Since 2018 the Victorian government has invested over $160 million of new investment to implement the initiatives that came out of this agreement. No-one is saying this is easy, but it must be done. We cannot expect different results without delivering the necessary reforms to strengthen the relationship between the Victorian government and Aboriginal people in Victoria.

When thinking about what I wanted to speak about today, my mind turned to the inaugural speech of Mutthi Mutthi and Wamba Wamba woman Victorian senator Jana Stewart, who is a dear friend of mine and an incredible person. When she came to Melbourne she began working at the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency before becoming a family therapist. She spoke of her experiences during this time which cemented her understanding of the impact of trauma and secure attachments developed by children, and she learned how fundamental it is to a child’s success in life to have a healthy and happy childhood. I think of those children across my electorate whose connections to country, to family and to community are being developed at such a young age, including the 66 kids out of 1000 students at Maryborough Education Centre that proudly identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and the many others at Wedderburn College, St Arnaud Secondary, Beaufort Primary School and everywhere in between.

It is no secret that we still have a long way to go in closing the gap for Aboriginal children. Whether it is housing, education, health, employment or so much more, we must be doing better as a state and as a country to afford Aboriginal people the same opportunities and rights that we all enjoy. That is what makes this bill so important: it is part of a broader story of Aboriginal self-determination, justice and equity. Protecting cultural heritage, improving justice outcomes and strengthening Aboriginal organisations to deliver for their communities is not the whole picture. We must reimagine the way we work together for a fairer, more just and more equal society, working across coalitions of Aboriginal organisations, First Nations people and communities. We are on the path to achieving this, but we must continue to pursue every opportunity to secure Aboriginal self-determination in Victoria. It is clear what can be achieved when the community, working with Aboriginal community controlled organisations, demands better outcomes for Aboriginal children. I am thrilled to be part of a government that is genuinely coming to the table time and time again on these issues. I commend this bill to the house.

Kim O’KEEFFE (Shepparton) (15:13): I rise today to speak on the Children and Health Legislation Amendment (Statement of Recognition, Aboriginal Self-determination and Other Matters) Bill 2023. This is an incredibly important bill that addresses the many issues facing Indigenous people and their broader communities. The electorate of Shepparton district is home to a large percentage of Indigenous people, and in fact we have one of the largest populations outside of Melbourne. If you come into the Shepparton district you will see such an incredible history of Indigenous people, our street art, our celebration of the Indigenous history and such a strong connection to country. I do not think there is anywhere else in the nation that celebrates and expresses the reasoning behind this bill and the opportunity for change, which is what I need to express today.

Whilst there are only some minor changes to the bill, the bill will give direction, and it acknowledges the need for change to achieve far better outcomes. As outlined in the bill, self-determination is a step towards closing the gap. The Victorian statistic of having the highest rate of Aboriginal children in care is alarming and continues to increase. It is something we must work harder to change, and that is what we are here really wanting to achieve with this bill today. Alongside reform to important child protection legislation, this bill presents an opportunity in addressing the way we deal with Aboriginal children, families and the varied Aboriginal services. There is an opportunity for some really great work to be done through this bill and a way of moving forward that hopefully will achieve far better outcomes and opportunities, in particular protecting the Indigenous and Aboriginal children within the broad communities.

I have proudly worked closely with many of our Indigenous communities and community leaders, tirelessly trying to help bring about far better outcomes. I am so inspired by the commitment and the want for their people. With challenges also come an opportunity for change – more support, more guidance, more legislation that will give clear direction but also empower the Indigenous community to really play a part in what that should look like.

I want to share some amazing stories that are happening within my community to show the Indigenous leaders that are really wanting to drive change. For example, the soon-to-be-built Munarra Centre for Regional Excellence will be located beside the Rumbalara Football and Netball Club. It aspires to achieve and enhance Aboriginal culture and identity and will work towards creating education and important employment pathways for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities. It will combine education, culture, the arts and sport to create healthy people and healthy communities and the leaders of tomorrow, which will be inclusive of our Indigenous people. The Kaiela Institute, the University of Melbourne and the Greater Shepparton City Council are working very closely, and this is one of many examples of what they are trying to achieve. It is an example of creating opportunities for Indigenous people led by, as I said, Indigenous leaders.

I also acknowledge Uncle Bobby from the Shepparton reconciliation action group and many others within his formation within that group that tirelessly are working and progressing better outcomes for Indigenous people. We have had many conversations about what that should look like. I know this legislation is going to be something that we can all work together with, not only within my community and in this place but across our state, our country and hopefully more broadly, so that the future of young Indigenous people is not only safer when it comes to their housing and their family’s environment but also their opportunities. I often ask: why don’t we have more Indigenous children, teenagers, involved in more community activities, particularly employment? We go to McDonald’s, KFC, the many places that we see teenagers and young people employed and we do not see enough Indigenous people. How can we improve those outcomes? How can we improve engagement to make it a culturally safe experience and place? Hopefully we will create much better interaction and opportunities as we move forward.

The safety of children is paramount, but it is also about making sure that families have the support that they need so that we can improve on this legislation so the outcomes are so much better than what we have seen. Closing the gap – it has not worked. It has not worked to the capacity that any of us had hoped. What can we do differently? We know that this legislation will be that driver, along with many other things.

My close friend Aunty Fay Lyneham from the stolen generations tries so hard to make a better life for her people. We have so many conversations about her experience. She does not want to see those experiences still happening today, and in some cases they still are to the same extent that happened many years ago. Why have we not progressed to the point where we are now having a much different conversation and much better statistics? There is so much work to be done. I think it is so important the collaboration of the different service providers but also as we say the empowerment of Indigenous people. We want their voices to be heard. We want to support them in the ways that they need support, whatever that looks like. Let us have those conversations. Let us work together as communities. Let us work together as a state. I really, really hope that we can achieve an inclusive environment where they feel heard.

I am surrounded, as I said, by incredible First Nations people who are leading the way for their people, and I know that the people that I have mentioned today and many others and all of us here collaborating and driving change and working with this legislation and this new bill will give hope, but that word ‘hope’ is an easy one. It is an easy one to throw out. We have always had hope, but that hope for change is why we need to do things so much better. I support this legislation. I support this bill, but more than anything it has got to be more than words.

Paul EDBROOKE (Frankston) (15:19): I am so glad I sat down to hear that. That was a fantastic speech. Thank you for that. It is amazing to be in this chamber for some of the brightest and best times in Parliament, and that is when we agree to a bipartisan approach to a bill, especially something as important as this, and especially on a bill that so many people require, probably, some education on. People in my generation did not have education about First Nations people. It was, ‘There’s a didgeridoo, there’s a painting and that’s a culture.’ We had no idea about what happened to that culture. We had no idea about the rich nature of that culture and how long that culture had actually been around – indeed, the longest ongoing living culture in the world.

I would like to start by paying my respects to the Indigenous community and those that identify as First Nations and traditional owners in the area of the Mornington Peninsula. For those who are not from the lovely Mornington Peninsula but would love to live there or love to visit there, you are welcome –

Members interjecting.

Paul EDBROOKE: Come on, mate. Well done. It is actually the home of the largest community of people that identify as First Nations people outside of Alice Springs, and we are pretty proud of that. We have got Uncle Mik and Uncle Shane, who are regular visitors to events in Frankston, and we have got the amazing Karinda Taylor, CEO of First Peoples Health and Wellbeing, which as well as being in Thomastown has a clinic in Frankston. The work they did during and after COVID – to see that data is absolutely amazing. They worked their butts off for their community. It is people like those people and their community down on the peninsula – I bring them up because can you imagine the patience, the resilience and everything they and their families have gone through to get to a stage where we have finally got a government that says that having a First Nations voice at a state level and now a federal level is important? Having that truth-telling, having that Voice to Parliament as well is so important – and that self-determination. That is the only way we are going to get self-determination – by allowing people to actually feel like they have got the confidence that, yes, they have a voice, they have always had a voice, but it is finally being listened to. So to these people that I work closely with in my community I say: this is for you, about you and by you as well, because this bill is a result of some of the findings of the Yoorrook Justice Commission, and as we have heard from the previous speaker there are quite a few clauses in this bill to do with Indigenous children that came out of recommendations from the Yoorrook commission as well.

As I have said, we do have a proud Indigenous traditional owner population on the peninsula, and it would be wrong for me not to mention the folks at Nairm Marr Djambana, our local gathering place. They again have been patient. They have been resourceful. They have always had a voice, but to know now that their voice is being listened to I know means a lot to them, and we have spoken about this for a long time.

This bill essentially reflects on the government’s commitment to that Aboriginal self-determination that we have spoken about and progressing that through a range of mechanisms, including legislative reform through this house and the other place. The bill proposes amendments to embed recognition of Aboriginal self-determination across child protection and health and also makes technical amendments to improve the operation of four other key regulatory schemes. We have heard from other speakers about some of the facts, but nothing hits you in the face more than knowing that Aboriginal children are 22 times more likely than non-Aboriginal children to be in out-of-home care. At that stage, once you hear that fact – and it is an undisputed fact – you have got to start thinking, ‘Well, how does that affect those children? How does that affect those families, and what can we do about it?’ It is why we are sitting in Parliament now. It is why we are legislating bills, and to some extent there is always to and fro during question time, but certainly to stand here today and hear people from both sides of the house and indeed crossbenchers, the minor parties and the Greens political party, too talking about this in a fashion where we are actually passionate about forwarding this is quite amazing, because as I touched on before, my generation were not educated on what actually happened in the history of our country. We just were not. My children at 14, 16 and 18 – they are, and they question things.

I think it is great the curriculum has changed, because now we have a generation of people that accept that there are a lot of things we need to do to make it right, and it starts with that self-determination. Now, for those who have read Dark Emu, there are disputed facts and whatnot if you read your history books – I know that. It is a sad fact that – what am I now, 43? – at about 40 years of age I started reading these books and really digging into our history, digging into why the name John Batman made people who I care about in my community cringe. I am not going to get into the debate about statues and whatnot here in this place at the moment, but where we introduced this legislation and where we are talking about and debating this legislation today was a meeting place – on this hill – and basically people were cheated out of it. It was going to be called Batmania, and even the British colonies at the time could not stomach that. That says a lot about some of our explorers and the way they went about things.

To take that one step further, knowing that the signature from one tribal leader or one clan leader on this part of the peninsula is pretty much the same as the signature from a clan leader on the other side of the peninsula where John Batman acquired his land just does not quite make sense today. I think it is great that we have got people in this chamber that are educated. We have got a generation coming up that is educated about things that have happened in the past, the point of the matter being I guess that they realise that we are the only commonwealth nation without a treaty with its First People.

I joined in the Treaty of Waitangi anniversary only a month ago with members of our New Zealand community, and it was a great conversation. It was heartwarming to see former politicians stand up at a Treaty of Waitangi anniversary and actually speak in Māori, actually sing songs in Māori, and be proud of the people that were here before us. Because if you look at this like a book, if you look at this like an encyclopedia, our First Nations people are the first two inches of that book, and the 200 years that we have been here is but one paragraph, if that.

Uncle Mick, down in Frankston, says something that is very poignant. He says it a lot, and I have said it in this house before. He often says to people when he is educating, when he does his welcome to country, ‘Be careful everywhere you step. Be gentle, step gently, step with respect, because everywhere you step is somewhere where an Aboriginal baby was born. We have been here for 60,000-plus years.’ I think there is absolutely no better signal to our First Nations people, our First Nations community and our First Nations friends that their battle has been worth it. Their battle for so many years has been worth it. We are listening to their voices, and in the highest legislative house in Victoria we are now talking about their issues, we are now talking about how to right the wrongs of the past. That makes me very proud, because we often sit here and, as I said, exchange a few blows over the dot-dash kind of tax bills and whatnot, but this actually really matters. This changes lives. This will change lives in my community, and it will change lives in the communities of everyone in this legislative chamber.

I think there is a realisation of that today. I was watching in my office, and I came in and could actually feel the respect. I could feel that people are in the mood for change and people want to see this legislative change, and I hope that that sends a signal to some people that have been very patient and that led protests in the 1970s. Some people in their community do stand on the shoulders of giants, and we have heard some of those names mentioned by the member for Ripon. I think they know that they are now being listened to and importantly it is being acted on. As the previous member said, words are cheap but actions cost money. I commend this bill to the house.

Sam HIBBINS (Prahran) (15:29): I am pleased to speak on behalf of the Greens to the Children and Health Legislation Amendment (Statement of Recognition, Aboriginal Self-determination and Other Matters) Bill 2023. This bill is about one of the very important things, one of the most important things, we can debate in this Parliament, which is addressing the ongoing trauma and injustice caused by colonisation.

First Nations people were violently dispossessed and had their families separated, children taken and land stolen and destroyed. Too many of the harms of colonisation remain in this land. We see in the laws and the policies that led to entrenched disadvantage, deaths in custody and children being taken from their families the trauma and impoverishment of many First Nations people. There is systemic racism embedded in laws, in policies and in organisations, and it does continue to affect the lives of First Nations people.

In Victoria we have recently begun the steps towards justice and healing. We have begun the treaty process and embarked on truth-telling with the Yoorrook Justice Commission. This process of truth-telling is fundamental towards the journey of justice and healing, as is the Voice and as is a voice. Certainly I support the Voice to Parliament and the upcoming referendum, because we need to understand and reckon with the horrors of colonisation and the ongoing impact it continues to have on First Nations people and their cultures. It is timely that we are debating this bill at a time when the Yoorrook commission is considering the child protection system, the lasting impacts of the stolen generations and the continued harms caused by the current system. We are hearing that there is so much more to do to close the gap and to secure true justice for First Nations people. We do need systemic reform to address entrenched health and educational disadvantage, to stop the over-policing of First Nations people, to keep kids out of prison and to stop deaths in custody, and particularly much-needed reform to address the continued removal of First Nations children from their families and their homes.

The Greens are pleased that the government has committed to reform early in this term of government. We had two pieces of child protection legislation before the previous Parliament. Disappointingly, the government failed to progress either of them before Parliament was dissolved prior to the election. This work should be a priority of all governments. Too often the child protection and family services portfolios and issues are overlooked and underfunded. In the last 18 months in Victoria we have had five different child protection ministers. The system has been steadily descending into crisis. We have been failing our First Nations children by failing to address the rising rates of removal from their families and homes.

The facts are extraordinary. Victoria has the highest rate of First Nations children in out-of-home care – 103 per 1000 children, which is double the national rate. One in 10 First Nations children are in care. One in three are known to child protection services, and that has been getting worse. First Nations children are currently 20 times more likely to be removed from their families and placed in the child protection system than their non-Aboriginal peers; this is more than a doubling of that rate in the past 15 years. We know that the separation of children from their families has many harmful and long-term effects for children. It causes entrenched social and economic disadvantage, long-term impacts on physical and mental health and increased contact with the justice system. We need to start reversing this upward trend in numbers of First Nations children removed from their families, so we are supportive of measures in this bill that aim to reduce the number of First Nations children in out-of-home care.

This bill, in detail, will expand the role of Aboriginal community controlled organisations in the child protection system, allowing agencies to be authorised for any specified child protection functions following the receipt and classification of a report. It will allow for earlier intervention and targeted support for First Nations families. It will introduce a new statement of recognition of the impact of past government policies on Aboriginal people and a recognition of principles that must be considered by decision-makers like judges and child protection workers. It enshrines in legislation five elements of the Aboriginal child placement principle, adding prevention, participation, partnership and connection to the legislation alongside the existing placement. We know and the Greens know that continued over-representation of First Nations children in care and the increasingly widening gap must be addressed as a priority, and we support measures that empower Aboriginal controlled community organisations to manage the care and protection of First Nations children and to offer early intervention and support prior to any interaction with the justice system.

Now, we do hold some concerns with the development of the bill and the impact of some of these reforms in practice. As noted by some of the key stakeholders, aspects of the reforms are largely symbolic and must be implemented hand in hand with major systemic reform. While the government’s commitment to all elements of the Aboriginal child placement principle is welcome, we note the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service’s (VALS) concerns that these changes will mean little in practice and differ little from current legislation. While the statement of recognition acknowledges harmful laws, policies and practices of governments past, it does not include a full admission that many of these practices still continue today. And most concerning, it has been incredibly disappointing to hear that the government has not fully consulted with all relevant stakeholders.

Both the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service and Djaara, two incredibly important Aboriginal controlled community organisations, have expressed frustration at the limited amount of consultation offered on both this bill and its previous iteration in 2022. Both have highlighted concerns with aspects of the bill and requested that the government and department work with them on addressing concerns on a full redesign of the child protection system so it works better for First Nations women and children.

The Greens raised these concerns last year with the then minister and asked him to urgently meet with both Djaara and VALS to undertake genuine consultation on proposed changes in the bill. It is incredibly disappointing to discover that on the introduction, or reintroduction, of the bill this did not occur, even though it has been six months, and it is even more important because this is a bill that seeks to empower entire the First Nations community through self-determination. It is absolutely critical, and it cannot be achieved unless all First Nations organisations and groups, critical groups, are included in that consultation. Their views need to be considered and incorporated in this reform.

As VALS noted, it is impossible to properly design a child protection system for Aboriginal children without involving the Aboriginal legal services that represent them and have the legal expertise required to understand the impact of legislation on children and parents in practice. We will have more to say on the bill in the other place, but I would certainly urge the government to consult properly with VALS and Djaara and genuinely engage with them on their concerns. The Greens will be supporting this bill in this place, and we wish it a speedy passage.

Will FOWLES (Ringwood) (15:38): Indeed it is a humbling honour to be able to make a contribution today on the Children and Health Legislation Amendment (Statement of Recognition, Aboriginal Self-determination and Other Matters) Bill 2023. Much has been said in this chamber about many of the challenges facing our First Nations Victorians, and I want to commence my contribution today by just rolling back a fraction to the 2017 national constitutional convention, where the Uluru Statement from the Heart was written and endorsed by Indigenous leaders from right around the nation. It is neatly summarised as truth, treaty and voice. Those leaders sought, in particular in relation to the federal government, that there be a truth-telling commission, that treaty be negotiated with First Nations peoples and that we enshrine a voice to the Commonwealth Parliament. The Uluru Statement from the Heart is not a particularly long document, and I would encourage people to read it. I just want to quote from part of it, if I can. It says:

We, gathered at the 2017 National Constitutional Convention, coming from all points of the southern sky, make this statement from the heart:

Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tribes were the first sovereign Nations of the Australian continent and its adjacent islands, and possessed it under our own laws and customs.

This our ancestors did, according to the reckoning of our culture, from the Creation, according to the common law from ‘time immemorial’, and according to science more than 60,000 years ago.

It goes on to talk about sovereignty as being a spiritual notion and outlines what is described as the torment of powerlessness. It is a profound document. As I say, it is not a long document, and I do encourage members to read the Uluru Statement from the Heart, because it really is one of the most significant steps I think we have taken on the journey towards reconciliation with First Nations peoples. They go on to say that they:

… seek constitutional reforms to empower our people and take a rightful place in our own country. When we have power over our destiny our children will flourish. They will walk in two worlds and their culture will be a gift to their country.

‘When we have power over our destiny our children will flourish.’ They are powerful words, and it is that exact sentiment that sits at the heart of the bill we are considering today.

We know the evidence tells us that there is a massively disproportionate incidence of Aboriginal children being in out-of-home care. It is 22 times more likely than for non-Aboriginal children – 22 times. We risk standing on the precipice of another stolen generation. This is a set of circumstances that is equally horrifying as it is challenging, but it is a challenge this government is up for and a challenge this Parliament is addressing in part today through this bill. I could not be prouder that we are taking those steps, because the evidence is clear that the single biggest factor in improving health and social outcomes is self-determination. It is not just about the respect that you confer by saying self-determination is the principle that we are going to enact. It is not just about the inherent decency of determining that that is a guiding principle. It is also the evidence base, the data, that tells us you get better outcomes when you do it that way. That is why this bill provides these significant reform opportunities to achieve that self-determination and self-management for Aboriginal people and to strengthen provisions that uphold the importance of culture for the safety of Aboriginal children.

We know that if parental care is not available, kinship care is way, way, way better than out-of-home care and state care for Aboriginal children, and what we must do is ensure that those opportunities are made available wherever possible and empower those communities to take charge of that process, to be both the instigators and the deliverers of a process that respects the traditions of that community, the culture of that community and often the familial and kinship ties of that community. So the bill progresses key commitments and priority strategic directions under what is known as Wungurilwil Gapgapduir, and I am sure I am not the first person to have mangled the pronunciation of that today. At the heart of that strategy is a commitment to the reduction of the over-representation of Aboriginal children in child protection and out-of-home care. The question then is: how to do it? We are saying that by enabling the advancement of Aboriginal models of care and by transferring decision-making for Aboriginal children to Aboriginal community controlled organisations we will just get much, much better outcomes, and it is not a great leap into the dark to do so. We do have a genuine evidence base to support this proposition, and in some respects some of these reforms are overdue, but I am very proud to be part of a government that is nonetheless tackling these reforms head-on.

I want to talk for a moment a little bit about the importance of truth, treaty and voice and the way in which it is being enacted in the Victorian context. The Uluru Statement from the Heart was directed principally towards the commonwealth government, the national government, but nonetheless the principles enunciated in that very powerful document are ones that have been picked up by the Victorian government, and I am delighted that Victoria is the leading jurisdiction in the nation in delivering all three of those things. We have a truth and justice commission, we have an Indigenous Voice to Parliament through the First Peoples’ Assembly and we are in the process of negotiating treaty. In every respect we are nation leading on these things, and I think that is something which the entire Parliament ought be proud of but, I have to say, most particularly the government ought be proud of.

This bill, in terms of its relationship with treaty, acknowledges that process and our shared aspiration to achieve increased autonomy in Aboriginal decision-making, including greater control of planning, funding and administration of services, including through those self-determined Aboriginal representative bodies established through treaty. It is broader in terms of the principles than just the matter of out-of-home care for Aboriginal children, because it enshrines now, in a very practical way, the importance of making sure that decisions that affect the health, wellbeing and welfare of Aboriginal communities and their members are first and foremost dealt with by Aboriginal-controlled organisations. As I say, that is not just about decency, it is about the outcomes. The outcomes are important here, and we are falling well short of where we need to be.

The bill is an acknowledgement that Aboriginal children achieve better outcomes and the over-representation of Aboriginal children in care is reduced when Aboriginal people and organisations are involved in making decisions for Aboriginal children. It is a pretty simple premise. To afford that dignity and that respect is not only right and proper, it is ultimately something that will result in those better outcomes and have us begin to put serious downward pressure on these frankly horrifying statistics about the gap between the proportion of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care versus non-Aboriginal children.

The bill also amends the act to expressly include all five elements underpinning the intent of the Aboriginal child placement principles: namely, prevention, participation, partnership, placement and connection. By adding that word ‘connection’ it gives prominence to the principle and clarifies that it is to be applied to all decision-making regarding Aboriginal children, not just in relation to a placement decision. This is important because we recognise that these decisions, though vexed and enormously challenging, occur in context – in cultural context, in family context and in geographic context in some respects, because that connection to country is so important. I wish I had more time, and I do wish this bill a speedy passage.

Steve McGHIE (Melton) (15:48): I rise today to speak to the Children and Health Legislation Amendment (Statement of Recognition, Aboriginal Self-determination and Other Matters) Bill 2023. Firstly, I want to acknowledge the traditional owners of our land and pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging.

Despite Aboriginal people making up only 3 per cent of the overall Victorian population, Aboriginal children and young people constituted 21 per cent of child protection cases as at December 2021. Service delivery and systems designed to specifically prevent Aboriginal children coming into contact with child protection are certainly failing us.

I am pleased that those opposite are supportive of this bill, and I acknowledge the contribution from the member for Shepparton. She said that it is not just about words, and she is absolutely right. It would be great if those opposite, both at the state and federal level, would commit yes to the Voice campaign well before the referendum later this year. It is not just about words, it is about actions, and I wish they would act on that prior to the referendum later this year.

This government has made a vow to overhaul Victoria’s child protection system. Too many First Nations children are being taken away from their families at the hands of the state, and obviously that must be so traumatic for those children and the families when those things occur.

We acknowledge the impact of colonisation to this day and seek ways to rectify our past wrongs, including through truth-telling and the development of treaty. I am pleased to be part of a government that is well in advance with regard to a treaty for the Victorian state. It is fantastic to see that process in motion. We are deeply committed to Aboriginal self-determination and to supporting Victoria’s treaty and truth-telling processes, and that requires a systemic reform of the whole system. The harmful effects of colonisation and the subsequent disconnection of First Nations people from Aboriginal culture has led to the alarming and distressing statistic where Aboriginal children are 22 times more likely to end up in out-of-home care compared to non-Aboriginal children. The bill seeks to address this issue by providing guidance to decision-makers, using the statement of recognition principles. Assisting Aboriginal children and their families by working with them to preserve their culture, their community ties and their connection to the land will be instrumental in breaking the cycle of intergenerational trauma that resulted from past policies.

The Victorian government has new areas of focus that will help to deliver inclusion and access and uphold rights, focusing on important areas of co-design with people with disability, Aboriginal self-determination, intersectional approaches, accessible communications and universal design, disability-confident and inclusive workforces and effective data and outcomes reporting. Treaty is the embodiment of Aboriginal self-determination, and it provides a path to negotiate the transfer of power and resources for First Peoples to control matters which impact their lives, much as our friends in Canberra are working to progress.

In 2023 all Australians will have their say through a referendum, as I raised earlier, that asks to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the national constitution through an independent, representative advisory body, to give them the voice that they so richly deserve, to speak to the matters that affect them – and again I say and reiterate it would be fantastic if those opposite at both state and federal levels would come forward and support the Voice to Parliament with a yes vote and acknowledge and be bipartisan in regard to the outcome of that referendum – a body that will be in a position to provide independent advice to Parliament and government, that will be chosen by First Nations people based on the wishes of local communities and that will be representative of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. It will empower, it will be inclusive and it will be community-led. It will be respectful, culturally informed and gender-balanced, and also it will include their youth. That will be accountable and transparent, and it will be able to work alongside existing organisations and traditional structures – and it will not have a program delivery function and it will not have a veto power. So a lot of the noise and movement around the concerns that people are raising or the questions that need to be answered is really just dredging up some mud and trying to confuse people with regard to the way that they might vote.

A model for the Voice that enables self-determination is therefore critical for promoting strong and safe communities where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are better able to transcend challenges and cycles of powerlessness. Bringing into line the federal constitution with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People and creating self-determination principles that are robust and can operate independently not only encourages participation of Indigenous peoples in matters that affect their rights and lives but ensures that here in Victoria our pursuit of treaty and truth is front and centre of our agenda.

We have led the way to action with the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Truth-telling recognises the incredible strength and survival of Aboriginal people, ensuring their voices are heard and certainly respected. Reviewing the funding arrangements, implementation and governance through the Aboriginal Children’s Forum – and look, in December last year Aunty Eva Jo Edwards told her story to the Guardian, and she said that she cannot remember life before institutions. She was five when she and her sisters and her brothers were taken into state care. Her earliest memory is a torch being shined in her face, waking her in the middle of the night, and then the next day they were removed from their home. She was separated from her brothers and her sisters, and she knows that it was because of the colour of her skin. For 13 years she was in institutions and in family group homes. She said that she was never told that she was loved or needed or given any hope for a future and – it is hard not to think consequently – struggled with abandonment issues and addiction for much of her life. Her brother took his own life, sadly. These are some of the traumas that Indigenous youth go through when being removed from their families. I would make an assumption that most of us in this house would never, ever have experienced any such traumas in our families, and I hope it never happens to any other families.

Organisations like the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency, VACCA, will be empowered to investigate child protection cases and connect families with support before a court order is made. Early intervention and culturally grounded support will reduce the number of Aboriginal children entering care. Certainly I agree with the CEO of VACCA, Muriel Bamblett, when she points out that the legislation highlights exactly what can be achieved when Aboriginal-controlled organisations demand better outcomes – that it helps to break the cycle of higher rates of Aboriginal child removals and also makes inroads in addressing family violence and that strengthening the whole family is important and the way forward.

Since the Mabo case our legal system can no longer hide behind terra nullius. We have unfinished business to resolve, and through agreement-making we can do this. We can capture the aspirations of the country for a fair and honest relationship between government and all communities and create a future infinitely better for our children based on self-determination and justice. Self-determination builds cultural strength, reassigns control and agency and makes practical changes to daily life for First Nations people. It is through these negotiations at the highest levels that First Nations sovereignty becomes the law.

The proposed bill in the house reflects the government’s dedication to Aboriginal self-determination and seeks to advance it through various means, including legislative reform such as this. The bill proposes amendments that embed recognition of Aboriginal self-determination across child protection and health and makes technical amendments to improve the operation of four other key regulatory schemes. This bill seeks to incorporate recognition of Aboriginal self-determination in child protection and health through the introduction of these amendments and aims to enhance the functioning of other significant regulatory schemes through technical amendments, including the removal of some outdated terminology.

This is a really important bill. As I said before when I started my contribution, I am pleased that those opposite are supportive of this bill. I go back to what the member for Shepparton said and I reiterate that it is not just about words, it is about actions, and I hope those opposite will take the strong action and support us in the yes campaign and certainly in supporting this bill. I commend the bill to the house.

Vicki WARD (Eltham) (15:58): I thank the previous speaker for his speech and his words. I also acknowledge the Wurundjeri, the traditional owners and custodians of the land on which we gather and the traditional custodians of the beautiful environment where I live, and I express my gratitude for being able to live in such a beautiful place.

Earlier this week I took some young people on a tour of our Parliament, and we went into some of the different buildings, such as the library, which as we know is amazing and beautiful, and spoke to them about the development of this building, the building of the two chambers here, the causeway connecting the two chambers – which I imagine was pretty muddy at times – and how then as gold rush upon gold rush occurred more and more things were added to this building. I reminded them of how quickly this all occurred. We have Batman rock up from Tasmania with his bits and pieces and have a bit of what he calls a negotiation. I am really still not sure if the Wurundjeri know exactly what it was that Batman was talking about, but we had this immediate dispossession and disempowerment of people that happened in such a quick period of time. Melbourne is settled so quickly. Gellibrand comes up and he just starts slicing and dicing huge tracts of land to give to treasured friends. It is quite astonishing that within 20 years we start building this Parliament. Within 20 years of Batman’s very dodgy deal we end up with a whole community being dispossessed and disempowered.

I commend our government for the work that we are doing in redressing this systematic disempowerment that has happened to First Nations peoples in this state, and I do recognise along with so many others how long it has taken us to get to a point of this recognition, of this acceptance, and attempts to make amends and attempts to be more inclusive and respectful of First Nations cultures. I am especially pleased that we are continuing to do this with such honourable intentions and for the consultation that has gone in across our government, the work that is happening with First Nations peoples to really have that sovereignty of self.

This bill progresses key commitments and priority strategic directions under Wungurilwil Gapgapduir: Aboriginal Children and Families Agreement from 2018. At the heart of this is a commitment to the reduction of over-representation of Aboriginal children in child protection and out-of-home care, and every speaker today has spoken about their horror at the numbers of Aboriginal children who are so grossly over-represented in our out-of-home care. It is really terrible, and we need to do something to ensure that these kids have got the best opportunities in their lives, have got the best care but are also in an environment where they feel trusted and where they feel loved and where they see themselves reflected in the environment in which they are living. We need to enable the advancement of Aboriginal models of care and transfer decision-making for Aboriginal children to Aboriginal community controlled organisations, and this bill is a really important part of achieving that vision. I think that that sense of, again, self-governance, of being able to have custody – and I mean that in the sense of administration – of a process to work out where a child is best placed, who is the community that can best support that kid, by the people who are living in that community is paramount. We know how important it is to belong and to see yourself reflected in others. We know how important it is for kids to feel safe and to be in an environment where they, as quickly as possible, can develop a sense of trust. We know how much easier that will be for Aboriginal kids to do in families where they see themselves reflected. So wherever possible Aboriginal kids need to be with culture and faces, voices and language that is familiar to them. We know that this is how we will get the best outcomes. We need to have Aboriginal people and organisations involved, absolutely, in making decisions for Aboriginal children, and that is how we will get the best outcomes for these kids.

Yesterday I spoke about Aunty Pam Pedersen, who is an amazing woman who for many years lived in my community. She has been an elder on the Koori Courts for many years, and she has used her role as an elder to support kids who have made wrong decisions and who have made wrong life choices. Her voice, her face, her compassion is important in helping kids understand their actions, understand the consequences. But also her genuine compassion and caring is equally important for these kids – to have somebody that they know they need to respect because she is an elder. Having her talk to them around their transgressions, around how they can be better, and give them, in language that is familiar to them, instructions on how to be better is incredibly important. I am not suggesting that kids in care are going through the same process as being managed by an elder, but knowing that you have innately got to have that respect for someone, which is so important in traditional culture, should be reflected in how our kids are looked after in care and how our kids feel that they are also being respected in care.

This bill reinforces the Victorian government’s commitment to Aboriginal self-determination in health and child protection systems and acknowledges the importance of culturally safe and appropriately resourced services to meet the health and the wellbeing needs of Aboriginal people in Victoria. You will not be surprised to know this, and I am sure other speakers have commented on this as well, but we will be the first jurisdiction in this country to do this. This is not the first transformative and important change that this government has made, and it certainly will not be the last, because as you know we are a government of reform and we are a government that is not afraid to be the first to do anything. In fact we celebrate it – we absolutely celebrate it.

So we will be cementing into law our recognition that Aboriginal people are best placed to make the decisions and lead the services that keep Aboriginal children and families safe and strong. What is great about this bill is that it is our next step towards overhauling the child protection system for Aboriginal children, and we look forward to working with the Yoorrook Justice Commission and the Victorian Aboriginal community to drive genuine and real change – change that will make a difference, change that will help kids have better lives, better outcomes and better choices but also better opportunities.

We talk a lot about opportunities on this side of the house. We talk a lot about equality; we talk a lot about fairness. We have got to make sure that we as a government are extending that hand of opportunity to every single person in this state, particularly every single child. For any child who needs to have additional support or needs to have a framework put around them to help them grasp those opportunities, this government needs to implement those, and that is exactly what we are doing. I share the comments of others on this side of the house that have been grateful for the support of those on the other side of this chamber who are supporting this bill and this amendment, because it is important to do this as one voice. It is important for us as a chamber to be united on issues like this, which are so important. It is a very important message to send to our First Nations communities that in this Parliament it is not political, it is not just the ALP, it is not about pointscoring, it is not about collateral damage and it is not about one-upmanship, but it is a genuine commitment by this Parliament to make things better, to improve things for the lives of First Nations people and to work collaboratively to create outcomes that help create those opportunities for our First Nations kids, because it is important. It is really important, and it is our responsibility. We owe this to our First Nations people to do everything that we can to give them the best opportunities to improve their life expectancy, to improve their health outcomes, to improve their education outcomes, to close the gap that we as a non-First Nations community in Victoria and across our nation have been promising for decades.

Those of us on this side of the house well know Paul Keating’s famous Redfern speech. We well know how long the commitment to improving the lives of First Nations people has been on this side of the chamber and across politics for decades, yet we are still struggling to make inroads. This government, however, is making genuine change. We are making genuine change that will matter to people and will show how much they are respected but will also show how willing we are to create opportunities and supportive frameworks that help those opportunities to be grasped and be realised. I am very pleased that this government is taking this step. I am very pleased that we as a government have got a commitment to doing everything that we can to improve the outcomes for First Nations people but most especially that we are focusing on First Nations children and doing everything to give them opportunities so they know that they are cared for.

Darren CHEESEMAN (South Barwon) (16:08): Today I rise to make my contribution on the Children and Health Legislation Amendment (Statement of Recognition, Aboriginal Self-determination and Other Matters) Bill 2023. I must say right from the word go in my contribution that I very much wish to acknowledge the Wadawurrung people, the traditional owners of the land that my seat sits on and the home of the community in which I reside. Over the years as a representative of the Geelong and Surf Coast communities I have got to meet and got to hear firsthand the stories from Corrina Eccles – a Wadawurrung woman and a traditional owner of those lands and seas in and around Geelong – and I have got to hear firsthand the trauma that her family and her community have experienced since white settlement. I think we very much need to take every opportunity to recognise that their lands were stolen from them. Their culture and their practices were taken from them by white settlers in that period of time. Their community in so many ways was displaced from their lands, and they were in so many ways exceptionally brutally treated by white people.

I had the opportunity to hear one of her stories at an event over the summer period, where they were able to record the first child in their nation that was stolen back in the 1860s from them. Over the years I have very much got to hear that story. The reality is that the child protection system that we have in place continues to see our Indigenous people treated very poorly. We continue to see young people in harm, and we continue to see that First Nations people have been isolated from the opportunity of putting in place self-determination mechanisms to provide much, much better outcomes for our First Nations people.

I very much want to commend the journey that Australia has gone on over the last few years and very much commend the work of this government in coming to treaty. I think we have got some way to go, but we have started that journey. In delivering that journey, ultimately there are a whole lot of things that we can expect to see where self-determination and government support in that self-determination will be very much a feature, I hope, of our political landscape. Indeed we have the opportunity as Victorians through the course of this year to participate in that debate on the Voice, providing that opportunity for our First Nations people to be engaged in our political debate and have that opportunity to have their views heard in a way that is meaningful and opportunities for legislators to be able to respond.

Our First Nations people have suffered horrifically as a consequence of European settlement in this country, and that very much of course extends in some ways in a very brutal way to our First Nations children. I would like very much to be on the record saying that we need to in a much more meaningful way engage our First Nations people, including in the health and safety of our children throughout the Victorian community. This bill I am hopeful will pass through this chamber and will pass through the Legislative Council. I am hopeful that with its implementation we will start to see much, much better outcomes. Our Indigenous people are a proud people. They have and should expect that opportunity to determine their own future, and they have very much said to me, certainly in a local context, that they want to have and want to be at the heart of decision-making around their own circumstances.

It is disappointing, on such a serious bill as this, that the opposition cannot sit there quietly and listen to the contributions, to be frank, that are being made. We have a long way to go as a society, though I think the actions of the Andrews Labor government and the partnership that we have with our First Nations people are such a tremendously strong platform on which to build a stronger way forward. I look forward to that.

As I said, I have had over many years the opportunity to hear from Corrina Eccles, a proud Wadawurrung woman, about her family and her culture and the challenges that they have had since European settlement. I look forward to continuing to learn from her about those challenges and her thoughts about a new way forward where our Indigenous people are consulted and are at the heart of decision-making around their families and around their kids and the way that they interact with government. I think this is a profoundly important journey. It will not necessarily be an easy journey, but I look forward to engaging with her, engaging with her community and building a stronger foundation as we move forward.

I very much look forward to either a treaty or treaties being negotiated through Victoria and, I hope, through the Commonwealth that build a more important and profound partnership and a way forward that recognises the injustice and recognises what European settlement has done to such a proud and important culture. This bill is an important way forward. It is only one of a huge number of ways that we need to address the history of European settlement and what it has meant for our proud traditional owners. I look forward to going on that journey with them. I look forward to arguing with those that might have a different way forward, because I think this is such an important thing that we do. Self-determination is so important. When you look at countries similar to Australia that have proud traditional owners, treaties have played an important role, and legislation like this plays an important role in self-determination.

I look forward to the bill passing and I look forward to us establishing a much stronger relationship that at its heart recognises our traditional owners, the role that they play and their continuous, ongoing living in our landscape for up to 70,000 years. I commend the bill to the house, I look forward to its speedy passage and I commend the minister for this important work.

Peter WALSH (Murray Plains) (16:18): I rise to make a contribution on the Children and Health Legislation Amendment (Statement of Recognition, Aboriginal Self-determination and Other Matters) Bill 2023. This bill does a number of things. It sets out a lot of principles, which I will go through in a minute. I suppose, as the shadow minister and as a local member of Parliament who has a significant Indigenous population in their electorate, aspirations and statements of intention are good, but what I find day to day as a member of Parliament is I want issues resolved, and that is one of the challenges we have.

We are supporting this bill because we hope that it does deliver real outcomes for our Indigenous community, but too often we – me and other country MPs – find through our offices issues with Aboriginal people that cannot get the services they need, particularly younger women, single mums, that need public housing. We have had some real challenges in my office getting those people housing. One of the first tenets of solving disadvantage in the community is making sure people have a house to live in, making sure they have a job or an income and making sure they have an education and have the aspiration of improving their lives compared to their forefathers and foremothers. This has a lot of aspirations built into it. I hope that we can come back here in a number of years and see that things have changed for the Indigenous community into the future. I preface what I say around the fact that we support the aspirations and hope with all hope that they are achieved, but if history is repeated, it would say that this bill and these changes will not necessarily make the changes the government is aspiring to unless they make a real effort to actually achieve something.

Having put that caveat on what I am saying, this bill includes an Aboriginal statement of recognition and recognition principles relating to child protection decision-making for Aboriginal children. As I talk to the Indigenous community, they quite rightly aspire to this and believe that if they make decisions on their behalf, rather than the department, there will be better outcomes, and I fully support that principle. Child protection is an area that is stretched to the max when it comes to staff and the issues they have to deal with, and the Indigenous community I think is far better equipped to deal with the children in their community and making sure there is connection to family and connection to country. So I support that principle totally. It incorporates further Aboriginal child placement principles, again about making sure that there is that connection to family and connection to country; it makes amendments relating to the authorisation of principal officers of an Aboriginal agency, which is about accountability in those agencies; it provides for the use and disclosure of information to and by the principal officers authorised under this act to make sure there is accountability; and it enables judicial registrars to exercise powers of magistrates to issue warrants for the purposes of having a child placed in emergency care and to enable judicial registrars to exercise the powers of registrars.

It is important I think, with what is being planned in this act, to make sure that the heavy hand of the law does not get too involved in family matters. Quite often it is a grandparent, aunty or uncle that takes custody and takes responsibility for raising children where there is an issue in the family, and the more that happens the better. But as I observe through my office, sometimes the department gets in the way of that and bureaucracy gets in the way of that, so it is important that that does not happen into the future. If you look at the background to this whole issue, I note in the second-reading speech the minister gave a commitment about meeting the National Agreement on Closing the Gap targets and to reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal children in care by 45 per cent by 2031. I would hope that happens sooner than that. I think the over-representation of Aboriginal children in care is a blight on our society here, and I would hope that that target is met well and truly before 2031. But it will only happen if there is a real commitment and real resources – and by resources I mean money – actually placed into those Aboriginal organisations that will take responsibility for this into the future, because if they are not resourced well, if they do not employ qualified people within their systems, we will not meet those targets into the future. So it is very, very important that those resources are there into the future, because there is an over-representation of our Aboriginal community and a whole range of those Closing the Gap indicators that are not being met.

As I said before, if you think about what the core tenet is of resolving disadvantage in our community, it starts with education. If people gain a higher education qualification, they increase their employment opportunities in the future, it increases obviously the amount of money they earn in those particular jobs and it increases their opportunity to own a home and then to repeat that cycle for their children, and that increases the aspiration and the outcomes for those families into the future. There is also the over-representation of our Indigenous community in the judicial system. I think that is again something that needs to be resolved. It is separate to this, but solving that issue starts again with that tenet of education. If people have an education and have good employment, they are less likely to end up in the judicial system and less likely to end up incarcerated, where the Aboriginal community is over-represented again.

If you go through the things where this bill will give an opportunity to do that, it is reducing the over-representation, as I said. It actually gets that kinship arrangement in place, not being managed by the department. I think this is where there is an issue of a stand-off between the department and the union that represents the department employees where they think they should be doing this work, whereas this bill sets out very clearly that the Aboriginal organisations should be doing that, and that is a role that I support. The people that I talk to in the Aboriginal community, as I said, clearly want to take responsibility for their own people and make decisions on behalf of their own people. So I would hope that the government gives them the resources to do that, as I said, because the Auditor-General found last year that 84 per cent of the time the department case managers actually fail to carry out welfare checks on children in kinship care. So let us give the responsibility to those that are closest to this issue, which are the families and the organisations that represent Aboriginal communities right across Victoria.

A number of speakers have raised the issues around injustices of the past, and I think that the truth-telling process being carried out at the moment is identifying a whole range of injustices of the past. We acknowledge those. It was an issue that was done by people before our generation, and acknowledging and recognising that is important, but more importantly it is about how we actually do it better into the future, and that is what this is about – delivering good outcomes into the future. Injustices did happen; we all acknowledge it. My family has been here since the 1850s, so whether they were part of those injustices, I have no idea, but that was before my time. From my point of view as a member of Parliament, as a legislator in this state and as a representative of the community, it is about making sure that we actually do it better into the future. We acknowledge the past, we learn from what went wrong and what was done wrongly, but it is also very, very important to make sure we do it better into the future, and that is why our side of politics will be supporting this legislation as it goes through. It was, in a similar form, debated in the previous Parliament, where we gave it support as well because we want to see a better outcome for our Indigenous community into the future. As mentioned in the second-reading speech, it is very similar to a welcome to country that Uncle Wally Cooper from Wangaratta used to give about how we walk across the land together with our Aboriginal fellow Australians. It is not about one or the other, it is about how we do this together, and it is very important that we do do it together into the future.

This legislation, I think, is not about the Voice. The Voice is a separate issue, and I know that has been raised by quite a few people in the debate here. That is an issue for the Commonwealth government and an issue for the Indigenous community to work with the Commonwealth government around. We need to focus on what is in our control to do something about, like delivering outcomes around this. So I would hope that in a few years time someone can stand in this place and actually say that there is more Aboriginal housing, that people are no longer on a long waiting list looking for a house, that there are higher attendance rates at school, that there is higher education achievement by Aboriginal students at school, that there are higher employment opportunities for Aboriginal students because they have gained that education and that because they have earned more money because they have had a better job they can then start the whole cycle where they can buy a house and have the aspirations for their children to attend school and achieve a higher education, and it becomes self-fulfilling once that cycle starts. This is one of the things that will help to start doing that.

Nina TAYLOR (Albert Park) (16:28): I am very happy to speak on this very important legislation and the reforms that are so very much needed for the Aboriginal people of Victoria in particular and for all of us – we are all empowered when Aboriginal people have the absolute right of self-determination. It did cause me to reflect. In my law degree I took an elective where we examined the legislation that previously authorised the removal of Aboriginal children from their families. I am not going to repeat the wording of that legislation, because it was so racist that I fear it could cause more harm and more pain if I were to repeat the actual wording of that legislation, but I am very appreciative of the fact that I had the opportunity along with other students at university to examine that legislation, because one understands the very strange perspective that was taken in drafting that particular legislation, because it is exactly the opposite of what we are seeking here to implement for the benefit of current and future generations of Aboriginal people.

I obviously do not have lived experience, so I do not want to reflect on individual stories, but we did have the opportunity to be exposed to some of those stories, because understanding the legislation properly meant reflecting on how it impacted Aboriginal people at that time and for many, many years subsequent obviously. There are certain memories that can be erased, and that goes without saying. I recall a pattern whereby there would be incidents – and I am talking very broadly and not specifically, because as I say that should be reflected by those with lived experience – where there would be children removed, then they would become what was termed at that time a domestic servant, and then they would be abused. Apart from being traumatic, it must have been so confusing, because if you think about it, being ripped away from your parent or parents of itself would have been heartbreaking; but then to be literally brutally plonked somewhere, required to do tasks that you probably did not have any training in, or in not necessarily a very supportive way, and not given the actual education that you deserved, and then to be abused as well – one can only imagine what sort of courage it would require to find forgiveness, but also to be able to surmount that kind of trauma. Certainly one would not want to feel pressured to have to surmount that trauma, because it would be just so overwhelming. As I say, I am being very cautious to reflect very broadly, because each circumstance would be individualised to that person’s experience, save for the fact that I am very grateful to have had that particular elective, because at least it exposed me to some of the brutality of what was experienced by so many Aboriginal people being wrongly removed from their families, and of course the subsequent trauma that they had to carry and the ramifications that we are still witnessing to this day.

I am very inspired by this legislation because as I was saying from the outset, it is seeking to do exactly the opposite of what that originating legislation was doing in terms of authorising the complete disrespect of culture and of familial ties and of the natural human connection that forms between parents and their children. We know the evidence is clear that the single biggest factor in improving health and social outcomes for Aboriginal people is achieved through Aboriginal self-determination – and I am reiterating this in a similar way to many of my colleagues because we cannot say it often enough, because we know it is just so very important; and it feels right because it is right, it is absolutely the right thing to do. Something that I was thinking about also, it says here:

We recognise … that Aboriginal people have the strengths and the right to lead change for their children.

When you look at that statement, it is absolutely obvious – of course they do. But we have to very clearly enunciate that, particularly – apart from the fact that it is absolutely correct and appropriate – in light of the history of our country, that is, as a consequence of colonisation. So it is very empowering to see that, but at the same time a part of me says, ‘Yeah, of course they have the right to lead change for their children.’ But at the same time it is really important that we emphasise it and that it is reiterated as part of this very, can I say, healing; I would like to think there is a healing element to this legislation.

Also I wanted to draw attention further to the element of the bill that is reinforcing our Victorian government’s commitment to Aboriginal self-determination in health and child protection systems and acknowledging the importance of culturally safe and appropriately resourced services to meet the health and wellbeing needs of Aboriginal people in Victoria. Again, coming back to that intense feeling – and I do not want to understate the trauma of confusion – not counteracting but completely reforming the attitude that was totally disrespecting the cultural heritage and values of the Aboriginal people; here we are saying, ‘No, no more of that’, and we now have to make sure that we truly honour and ensure that the processes are culturally safe. I think this also cannot be reiterated enough.

Fundamentally at the heart of this, among the many elements that we are seeking collectively to achieve – and it has been said before, but I am reiterating it because it feels so empowering to be able to affirm it – the bill progresses key commitments and priorities, strategic directions under the Wungurilwil Gapgapduir: Aboriginal Children and Families Agreement of 2018, and at the heart, a commitment to the reduction of the overrepresentation of Aboriginal people in child protection and out-of-home care. I think that is a really critical goal of these very important reforms. It is one that I know we collectively definitely want to see as a result of this, and it is not only words. Words are important, because all legislation is built on words, but the words have to have a specific and measurable impact in terms of delivering outcomes that will change lives. I believe that is certainly the intent but also the practical net effect of what these changes are seeking to do, hence they are really critical.

There were a couple more points I wanted to make, but time is running out. There is breaking intergenerational trauma. That is just so fundamental, isn’t it? That is really what I think we are seeking to do here, and we absolutely are determined because it has been heartbreaking. There is no need for us to have processes in place which in any way perpetuate that, which we are obviously seeking to stamp out forevermore. But we are also factoring in that these reforms are trauma informed and come back to that lived experience and that very critical element of Aboriginal self-determination, because of the former ways that were implemented as a result of colonisation and which were fundamentally racist – we cannot use any other adjective, I don’t think – where consideration of the families et cetera that were torn apart was obviously not a priority in any way, shape or form. It is obviously critical and timely that these very important reforms are being brought forward for the betterment of Aboriginal people in Victoria and for our whole community. On that note, I commend this bill to the house.

Anthony CIANFLONE (Pascoe Vale) (16:38): I rise in support of the Children and Health Legislation Amendment (Statement of Recognition, Aboriginal Self-determination and Other Matters) Bill 2023. In beginning, I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Wurundjeri people, and pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging.

As I stated in my first speech, I will be absolutely committed as a parliamentarian to building a fairer and more socially just community. At the heart of this commitment is doing what I can to stand and support First Nations communities through the labour movement and as part of the Victorian Labor government and in striving for voice, treaty, truth and justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. In this respect I am proud to be part of a Victorian Labor government whose whole approach to supporting the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal people has been built upon a commitment to self-determination and includes genuine and meaningful partnerships with the Aboriginal community controlled sector, traditional owner groups and the wider Victorian Aboriginal community, all guided by the Victorian Closing the Gap Implementation Plan 2021–2023. I would like to pay tribute to Victoria’s First Peoples’ Assembly and the co-chairs Aunty Geraldine Atkinson and Uncle Marcus Stewart, who have been playing a leading role in providing voice for Victorian First Nations communities in relation to treaty but also in relation to issues more broadly that impact the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

In Victoria we are supporting the Uluru Statement from the Heart through voice, treaty and truth, and the model that has been established in this state I hope can provide the assurance and the pathway forward as the struggle towards a voice at the national level continues. And while the establishment of the Victorian First Peoples’ Assembly was a tremendous milestone in this state’s reconciliation efforts, this bill continues in the spirit of this Parliament’s ongoing commitment to close the gap and reconcile with our past.

As we know, through the impact of colonisation and its disconnect from Aboriginal culture, Aboriginal children are, sadly, 22 times more likely than non-Aboriginal children to be in out-of-home care. In terms of why this is the case, at this time I would like to remind the house of the words of former Prime Minister Paul Keating in his landmark Redfern address, which in my humble opinion played a key role in reshaping the entire national discussion to help us get to where we are today on these issues. As he said on 10 December 1992:

Isn’t it reasonable to say that if we can build a prosperous and remarkably harmonious multicultural society in Australia, surely we can find just solutions to the problems which beset the first Australians – the people to whom the most injustice has been done.

And, as I say, the starting point might be to recognise that the problem starts with us non-Aboriginal Australians.

It begins, I think, with that act of recognition

Recognition that it was we who did the dispossessing.

We took the traditional lands and smashed the traditional way of life.

We brought the diseases. The alcohol.

We committed the murders.

We took the children from their mothers.

We practised discrimination and exclusion.

It was our ignorance and our prejudice.

And our failure to imagine these things being done to us.

With some noble exceptions, we failed to make the most basic human response and enter into their hearts and minds.

We failed to ask – how would I feel if this were done to me?

As co-chair of the First Peoples’ Assembly, Aunty Geraldine Atkinson has also said:

There’s no escaping the harsh reality that Aboriginal people have suffered immensely at the hands of the Victorian State.

We were driven from our lands; murdered; herded into reserves; torn apart from our families. We’ve been unfairly targeted and discriminated against for generations – with the disadvantage and injustice compounding over the years.

But we survived.

We survived the concerted attempts to eradicate us and our culture.

It should be of no surprise that many of our people find it hard to place any trust in Parliament or have faith in Government systems.

Indeed, all too often, these are still the sources of ongoing injustices.

That needs to change and Treaty is way we can change it.

This bill is another critical step consistent with our commitment to treaty at the Victorian level in helping us to reconcile with our past and begin supporting First Nations communities toward self-determination. This bill aims to support Aboriginal children and their families to maintain their culture, community connections and connection to country and break the intergenerational trauma that past policies have created and contributed to.

The bill proposes amendments to embed recognition of Aboriginal self-determination across child protection and health. The bill requires that decision-makers must consider the views of Aboriginal children and decision-makers must uphold their cultural rights and sustain their connection to family, community, culture and country.

This bill includes proposals that represent very significant steps in progressing self-determination for Aboriginal communities, steps that we can take now to improve the system as part of the first stages of an overhaul to allow greater Aboriginal-led service delivery and improve outcomes for Aboriginal children, young people and communities as we progress towards treaty.

Victoria is committed to meeting the national agreement on Closing the Gap targets to reduce the rate of over-representation of Aboriginal children in care by 45 per cent by 2031. This commitment is underpinned by the 2018 Aboriginal children and families agreement that established a landmark partnership between Aboriginal community, government and the child and family services sectors to achieve better outcomes for Aboriginal children and young people. At the heart of this agreement is the commitment to the reduction of the over-representation of children in protection and alternative care. This will be achieved by enabling the advancement of Aboriginal models of care and transferring decision-making for Aboriginal children to Aboriginal community controlled organisations. This bill is an essential part of achieving that vision.

The bill also supports the Victorian Aboriginal framework for the government working in partnership with Aboriginal people to meet the goal that Aboriginal children are raised by Aboriginal families. In particular the bill advances a number of objectives, including eliminating the over-representation of Aboriginal children in care, increasing Aboriginal care guardianship and management of Aboriginal children and young people in care, and increasing family reunification for Aboriginal children and young people in care.

In the health sector the bill progresses a major priority of the Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing Partnership Forum by enshrining commitments to Aboriginal self-determination in our health legislation. This also progresses the government’s commitment to Aboriginal self-determination as set out in the Victorian Government Self-Determination Reform Framework. Through this bill this Parliament will specifically acknowledge Victoria’s treaty process and our shared aspiration to achieve increased autonomy and Aboriginal decision-making, which includes greater control of planning, funding and administration of services, including through self-determined Aboriginal representative bodies established through treaty. Through this the government will make clear our commitment to treaty and the reform work that is currently underway.

To achieve these goals the bill focuses on the following key objectives: providing for an Aboriginal statement of recognition and an accompanying set of binding principles to guide decision-making regarding Aboriginal children, expressly including all five elements underpinned by the intent of the Aboriginal child placement principle, namely prevention, participation, partnership, placement and connection; and strengthening provisions to enable the effective functioning of the Aboriginal Children in Aboriginal Care program, including enabling authorisation of Aboriginal-led organisations to undertake investigations, respond to therapeutic treatment reports and access information through the department’s client database; as well as removing outdated and offensive terminology from the act, which I believe my colleague the member for Albert Park made reference to earlier.

I understand that one of the highlights of the 59th Parliament was the introduction of the Treaty Authority and Other Treaty Elements Bill 2022 last year. I understand that members took part in an emotive smoking ceremony on the steps of Parliament with the traditional owners of the land, which was followed by the historic moment on the floor of this chamber as the co-chairs of the First People’s Assembly made an address. Each member of the assembly walked through this place and then was here in the gallery to hear those incredible words from Uncle Marcus Stewart and Aunty Geraldine Atkinson. It is in this spirit of bipartisanship that I hope to see the 60th Parliament work together when it comes to questions and policy reforms that support the best outcomes for First Nations people. As the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency CEO and First People’s Assembly of Victoria representative Professor Muriel Bamblett AO has said, this bill represents:

… what can be achieved when Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations work with their communities to demand better outcomes for children and families – and the Government actively takes up the challenge and commits to self-determination.

In this respect I would like to also draw the house’s attention to the good work of the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency, VACCA. VACCA is a statewide Aboriginal community controlled organisation servicing children, young families and community members. The largest of its kind in Australia, VACCA have protected and promoted the rights of Aboriginal children and families for 40 years. In their submission to the Yoorrook Justice Commission in December 2022 VACCA called on the Yoorrook Justice Commission to:

… call on the Victorian Government to pass the Children and Health Legislation Amendment (Statement of Recognition and other Matters) Bill 2022, as an urgent priority.

I am very pleased to be standing here and saying we are progressing that now. VACCA has called on the Yoorrook Justice Commission to:

… look more closely at the status of the recommendations of previous inquiries that relate to the rights of Aboriginal children and families …

VACCA has also called on the Yoorrook Justice Commission to:

… convene hearings with private child and family services organisation … that may hold records or materials of Stolen Generations or their descendants, to gather testimony on their involvement as non-State entities in forcible child removal …

and to consider that in the current context.

In conclusion, this bill makes significant progress on embedding Aboriginal determination in the laws of this state. It also makes a number of changes to increase the effectiveness of Victoria’s legislative system. Most importantly, this bill represents a very tangible step towards empowering and supporting Victoria’s community to improve outcomes for children and families and improve the health of the First Nations communities. I commend this bill to the house, and in doing so would like to acknowledge Victorian senator Jana Stewart, Victorian Labor’s first First Nations senator, who is undertaking phenomenal work in this space, who I am so honoured to call a dear friend and who is a strong advocate on these issues. I commend the bill.

Iwan WALTERS (Greenvale) (16:48): It is a pleasure to rise to speak on and in support of the Children and Health Legislation Amendment (Statement of Recognition, Aboriginal Self-determination and Other Matters) Bill 2023. At the outset I want to thank the Deputy Leader of the Government in the other place for her carriage of this really important bill and the consultation that she and her team have led with Victoria’s Aboriginal community and important stakeholders across the state in bringing this bill to the Parliament. We talk a lot about consultation that informs bills, but in this instance I think it is of paramount importance, because what the bill seeks to achieve is that genuine self-determination that research and lived experience tell us improves outcomes for Victorian Aboriginal children, who at present are in out-of-home care at a rate that is 22 times higher than the population as a whole. That is a tragedy and it is scandalous, and the bill before us today is a measure that in part will seek to address and correct that terrible, terrible statistic.

As I said, the bill reinforces our government’s commitment and the commitment of the whole house to Aboriginal self-determination in health and child protection. It is a pleasure to rise after some fantastic contributions from across the chamber. It has been a pleasure to listen to those on all sides and to hear the perspective of the member for Shepparton, who represents a community with a high proportion of Aboriginal Victorians. I think that informed perspective is important, and I thank her for making her contribution today.

The member for Eltham talked about the recency of this building in the grand scheme of things – the fact that this building was commenced only 20 or so years after the arrival of European settlers in the form of John Batman on the shores of the Yarra and the facade, the charade, the farrago, that was that so-called negotiation between John Pascoe Fawkner and John Batman and the Wurundjeri people of Melbourne at that time. I want to talk a little bit about that intersection of history, and in doing so I acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woiwurrung people, who are the traditional owners of my community in Greenvale, and pay respects to their elders past and present.

Greenvale is lucky to be characterised by a number of very important sites that bear out the enduring connection of Indigenous culture in Greenvale and that enduring link, that continuous culture, that stretches back for many millennia, as we know. I was recently at the inauguration of the Hume stolen generations marker on the beautiful banks of a creek just outside of my electorate in the member for Kalkallo’s electorate. This marker is a giant iron cloak that is redolent of a traditional possum skin cloak worn by Wurundjeri people in Victoria, and the memorial pays tribute to the survivors of the stolen generations. At that inauguration it was incredibly moving to hear the firsthand accounts of those who had been removed from their families and who spoke incredibly powerfully, bravely and movingly about the trauma that had been visited upon them and their families.

Other sites of significance within the Greenvale electorate that I think are relevant to this bill because of the message that they convey about that enduring connection of Indigenous people include the Weeroona Aboriginal Cemetery. While it was only founded within the last three decades or so, Weeroona is one of the earliest cemeteries of its kind. It is governed and led by Aboriginal people and a burial place for Aboriginal Victorians. It is also a place for the remains of Aboriginal people who were stolen from this country and sent to – I use the term loosely – museums and other places of supposed learning and education around the world, where they were exhibited as some kind of object of mystification. Look, I cannot fathom quite the thought process that leads people to take skeletons and send them to museums around the world, but what is important is that those remains have been repatriated and treated with the decency that they have always deserved by being interred at the Weeroona Aboriginal Cemetery.

As the member for Eltham touched on earlier as well, it was only a very short space of time between the so-called founding of Melbourne and the establishment of this place. Woodlands Historic Park and the Woodlands homestead in my electorate of Greenvale was one of the first homes built in that part of Melbourne. It was well beyond Melbourne at that stage, and the firsthand accounts of the residents of that building through their diaries and through other records paint an extraordinarily vivid picture of traditional ways of life as they were – of Aboriginal communities living in and around the Woodlands homestead and using the Moonee Ponds Creek corridor for food and for their livelihood. Within an instant, in the relative scheme of things, that lifestyle and those lives were snuffed out.

Members interjecting.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! The level of conversation is too high.

Iwan WALTERS: Thanks, Deputy Speaker. It is a contribution worth listening to.

I arrived in Australia just before December 1992. I thank the member for Pascoe Vale for giving us an exposition of Paul Keating’s Redfern address, which I think ranks alongside his tribute to the unknown soldier at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra – two landmark, iconic addresses that summarise so much about our nation’s history. I was too young at the time to fully appreciate the words that he delivered in 1992, but I often read and reflect upon them. He talked about the fact that it was ‘us’: ‘we’ who did the dispossessing, ‘we’ who brought the grog, ‘we’ who had the failure of imagination to recognise what it would have been like to have been those stolen families and ‘we’ who lacked that imagination.

The Prime Minister who succeeded Paul Keating in March 1996 was of course John Howard, who retained that steadfast refusal to apologise, I think because of a fundamentally misguided notion that those in the present cannot absorb or take responsibility for the legacy of the past. As I alluded to, I arrived in Australia with my family not having been part of this country. As I say when I am privileged to be at citizenship ceremonies, those who arrive in Australia bring with them their cultures and their traditions and in doing so they enrich our country and our lives with their stories and their legacy, but in also becoming Australians they assume and they join in our national story, for good and for ill.

We cannot sit here in this building, which is an important indication of our liberal democracy and the traditions that we have brought with us through that period of settlement from the United Kingdom and from Europe, without fully recognising and acknowledging the broader span of history. It is not a black armband view of the world to acknowledge that wrongs were done, that they had a cost and that they inflicted a trauma. That is not some kind of conspiratorial black armband view, that is just the truth. I am glad that there is a greater uniformity of spirit in this house today with regard to this bill than there was regarding the apology through the 1990s and 2000s until Kevin Rudd on that first day of Parliament in 2008 delivered such a momentous and inspiring address.

In concluding my remarks today, I want to reflect on one of the reasons that took me into teaching a long time ago. I was incredibly moved and impacted by the searing accounts of educational disadvantage in Indigenous communities. Educators like Chris Sarra and Noel Pearson and others have spoken incredibly powerfully about the impact that the legacy of the trauma that we apologised for in 2008 and other factors have had upon those communities. I sought to be a teacher to confront that disadvantage. What this government is doing today is another step in confronting that disadvantage and taking responsibility and empowering Victoria’s Aboriginal communities to make decisions about the people who they know best and to ensure that that cataclysmic bad rate of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care is reduced and that we can genuinely achieve reconciliation and progress.

Meng Heang TAK (Clarinda) (16:58): I am honoured to join the debate on this bill, the Children and Health Legislation Amendment (Statement of Recognition, Aboriginal Self-determination and Other Matters) Bill 2023, and listen to all the speakers, like the previous speaker the member for Greenvale, who spoke passionately about this bill, and I would like to add my voice. The bill will provide significant reform opportunities to achieve self-determination and self-management for Aboriginal people and to strengthen provisions that uphold the importance of cultures for the safety of Aboriginal children. The bill certainly enforces the Victorian government’s commitment to Aboriginal self-determination in health and the child protection systems and acknowledges the importance of culturally safe and appropriately resourced services to meet the health and wellbeing needs of Aboriginal people in Victoria. I would also like to join with the member for Greenvale, other members and the speakers before me in acknowledging the past and certainly to reinforce the important step of our plan to meet the Closing the Gap national agreement target to reduce the rate of over-representation of Aboriginal children in care by 45 per cent by 2033. In doing so I certainly would like to add my voice to this very important bill, and I wholeheartedly commend the bill to the house.

The SPEAKER: The time set down for consideration of items on the government business program has arrived, and I am required to interrupt business.

Motion agreed to.

Read second time.

Third reading

The SPEAKER: The question is:

That the government amendments (1) and (2) be agreed to, and the bill be now read a third time.

Question agreed to.

Read third time.

The SPEAKER: The bill will now be sent to the Legislative Council and their agreement requested.