Jill Gallagher had the eyes of the nation on her as she spearheaded Victoria’s landmark treaty process. But even Gallagher, the former head of the state’s treaty advancement commission, admits she would hate to “go up against the state government with all their negotiators”.
As Victoria begins nation-leading treaty negotiations this year, a new body will be formed to help create an even playing field between First Nations people and the government.
The Treaty Authority will act as an independent umpire to facilitate discussions and resolve disputes between the state and the First Peoples’ Assembly.
Anything is on the table during treaty talks, with floated ideas including reserved Indigenous seats in parliament – similar to New Zealand – and interest-free housing loans.
Gallagher holds high hopes for the Treaty Authority – the first of its kind in Australia. “It ensures that the Aboriginal community won’t get dudded in this [treaty] process, so the authority could help,” she said.
“A small clan negotiating around the table with government could get hoodwinked.”
Victoria’s treaty process draws on models used in Canada and New Zealand. In the Canadian province of British Columbia, a treaty commission plays a similar umpire role to facilitate treaty discussions.
The authority will be created this year, with an independent panel to appoint five First Nations members following a public call for nominations.
Victorian legislation states the authority may “sue and be sued”. But the authority is designed to ward off litigation, in an attempt to prevent repeating the adversarial native title process where traditional owners are required to sue the government.
Former Aboriginal affairs minister Richard Wynne will sit on the panel to select the authority. He praised the government for the “fantastic” move of relinquishing control to the independent body.
“That is completely respectful of the principles of self-determination,” he said.
Wynne said calls for greater protections of natural resources could be on the treaty table, pointing to the safeguards against overdevelopment along the Yarra River the Andrews government approved in 2020 while he was planning minister.
“There will be similar conversations to be heard about understanding just how important these river networks are to traditional owner groups,” he said.
Fellow panel member Eddie Cubillo, an associate dean and director of the Melbourne Law School’s Indigenous Law and Justice Hub, said it was vital First Nations people had confidence in the authority.
“It needs to understand the culture and the laws of the people they are representing and be able to get past some of the colonial constructs that have restricted all of us in this country,” the Larrakia, Wadjigan and Central Arrente man said.
Other panel members include Vicki Clark, a Wemba Wamba elder; Gunditjmara-Kirrae Whurrong man Marcus Clarke, the chief executive of Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation; and Karinda Taylor, a Wamba Wamba woman and chief executive of First Peoples’ Health and Wellbeing.
The authority will be guided by First People’s law, culture and lore. It will help resolve any disputes between traditional owner groups that could arise over contested land.
It will be independent from the government, with its funding shielded from election-cycle fluctuations. The authority members will be appointed in the second half of the year.
Victoria is the furthest progressed jurisdiction in enacting the voice, truth and treaty elements of the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart manifesto.
Elections are currently under way for the First People’s Assembly, who will represent Aboriginal people in negotiations, with voting closing on 3 June.
Along with the state-wide treaty, traditional owner groups will also be able to negotiate separate treaties with the state government for issues relevant to specific regions of the state.
