Victoria’s former treaty advancement commissioner, Jill Gallagher, has called for tertiary education and interest-free housing loans for First Nations people to be provided by an independent self-determination fund to alleviate the economic disadvantages of “250 years of racism”.
An independent fund is seen as a cornerstone of the state’s treaty architecture, and the call by Gallagher comes after Victoria’s parliament last week passed a landmark bill to create the nation’s first treaty authority body.
