Wednesday, 30 July 2025

Statements on tabled papers and petitions

Yoorrook Justice Commission

Yoorrook for Transformation: Third Interim Report

Sheena WATT (Northern Metropolitan) (17:19): I rise today to acknowledge the release of the Yoorrook for Transformation report, the third and final report of the Yoorrook Justice Commission. I express my solidarity and gratitude to everyone who gave evidence to this inquiry. As a proud Yorta Yorta woman and member of the Victorian Parliament, I offer my deep respect to the commissioners and to everyone who gave evidence to this inquiry. I also thank commissioner Travis Lovett – a proud Kerrupmara, Gunditjmara and Boandik man – and the entire Yoorrook team for delivering a powerful account of systemic injustice in Victoria.

I remember the last time we gathered in this place, he had just walked and arrived with his Walk for Truth. You see, this report is a record of truth. It exposes a systemic injustice inflicted on the First Peoples of Victoria across every domain of life – land and water, health, education, housing, economic opportunity, political representation and access to records. It is a record of resistance, of generations of First Peoples who have fought for their rights and who continue to lead the way in transforming the systems that have failed us. The findings of this report are confronting, but they are not new to us. First Peoples have lived the reality of these injustices every day for over 200 years, and our truths have been too often ignored, silenced or rewritten. The strength of this commission is that it listened to and centred the voices of First Nations people.

In land justice the report details that while the state of Victoria holds approximately 8.8 million hectares of land, only 59,075 hectares have been returned under Aboriginal title, despite a commitment to return over 1.2 million hectares. This is less than 5 per cent of what has been committed to be returned to traditional owners under Aboriginal title. These are not just numbers, they are generations of dispossession and the unfinished business of restoration and recognition.

In housing the commission focused on a crisis compounded by decades of disinvestment and exclusion. First Peoples in Victoria are 10 times more likely to use homelessness services and are significantly over-represented in social housing. These outcomes are a direct legacy of forced removals, of missions, of reserves and ultimately of land theft. Minister Shing, as the Minister for Housing and Building, rightly described the current situation as an abject failure.

In health the findings are equally confronting. First Peoples in Victoria experience nearly double the rate of cancer, more than double the rate of preventable hospitalisations and triple the rate of suicide compared to non-Indigenous Victorians. Racism in health care is still very much seen today, and 20.6 per cent of First Peoples in Victoria reported racism in health settings. The public health workforce remains overwhelmingly non-Indigenous at 99.6 per cent. The commission rightly centres self-determination as the essential condition for transformation. It outlines that self-determination must mean control over our system designs, resource allocation and decision-making authority – not just consultation, not just advisory roles but power. The report found that Victoria has failed to deliver on its stated commitment to self-determination.

The work of Yoorrook is a milestone on our shared journey of truth-telling and of treaty. It builds on decades of resistance and leadership by First Peoples, and it creates space for reflection and for transformation, not only within government but across every institution in this state. We are not at the end of a truth-telling process, we are at the beginning of an accountability process. To those who testified: your truths changed this state. You have forced Victoria to listen. Your courage has laid the foundation for genuine reform, and this report is your legacy.

I call on all levels of government to act, to fund what has been promised, to legislate what is long overdue and to govern in partnership with First Peoples. For too long First Peoples have been dictated to by everyone other than themselves. This is a larger part of taking back control over our own futures. We can only do that by recognising the past. Let this be the turning point. Let Yoorrook be more than a report. Let it be a catalyst, a promise kept. There is no time for any more excuses. I commend Yoorrook to all in this chamber and this Parliament and indeed to all Victorians.