Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people must lead a federal truth-telling process, an inquiry has been told.
To ensure its effectiveness, a truth-telling commission must have cultural authority and allow witnesses to share stories in culturally appropriate ways, Federation of Victorian Traditional Owners chief executive Paul Paton says.
"This is about resetting and restoring this country's history," he told a federal parliamentary inquiry into the Truth and Justice Commission Bill.
"There have been a lot of misinformation, mistruths about the true history of our country and this provides an opportunity to reset that story, reset the relationship and design a way forward, for us to move forward as a country."
The proposed legislation seeks to establish a national truth and justice commission, which would inquire into historical and ongoing injustices against Indigenous people.
Mr Paton said there was scope for the commission to be a permanent body.
"Colonisation is a continuing, ongoing process and we see that through decisions that are made every day in government," he told the inquiry in Melbourne on Tuesday.
"Until that ceases to occur, then there's still an opportunity to investigate and make recommendations for future decisions and changes to be made."
Victoria's Yoorrook Justice Commission deputy chair Sue-Anne Hunter said while a Commonwealth truth-telling process could have a wider scope and examine federal policies, it must take into account work done on a state level.
"There could be a more joint approach. We could reach more people. We could get more justice," she told the inquiry.
Yoorrook was established by an agreement between the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria and the Victorian government under the Inquiries Act, giving it the powers of a royal commission.
Ms Hunter said it was important to be able to compel government officials to give evidence to Yoorrook.
"It's been really powerful being able to call the state to the stand," she said.
"We're hearing the truth of systemic injustice, and they're admitting to that, and I think that's really important."
But in other ways, the Yoorrook commission was "hamstrung" by its powers, said Marcus Stewart, former co-chair of the First People's Assembly of Victoria.
"By giving them the powers of a royal commission we really restricted the length of time they needed to be out in communities, spending a lot of time out there and having that strong regional footprint," he said.
"Upon reflection you could have looked at a five to 10-year process."
Victorian Aboriginal Child and Community Agency chief executive Muriel Bamblett said the Yoorrook commission had not gone far enough.
"Yoorrook, I think, asked government questions that the government didn't answer or didn't respond. Their responses have been very weak," she told the inquiry.
"I'm really concerned that they're not going to change lives.
"They really did fail to address and to think about historical wrongs way back. They're really more focused on contemporary issues and I think you can't address contemporary issues unless you acknowledge historical wrongs."
Ms Bamblett said a federal truth-telling process needed to examine both historical and contemporary wrongs and it was important to back up the inquiry with action, such as putting redress in place.
"It's important to ensure that the measures outlined in the bill are backed up by government's appetite for change, because we need change," she said.
