The Yoorrook Justice Commission has tabled in Victorian parliament its first interim report which details Aboriginal elders' experiences of systemic abuse, including discrimination, dispossession from land, legal injustice and child removal.
The truth-telling commission spoke to about 200 elders across Victoria for the interim report, and is using the stories gathered to determine the areas in most need of attention.
Yoorrook was established in May 2021 and has the same powers as a royal commission, meaning it can compel government bodies to give evidence and hand over records.
"Yoorrook" means truth in the Wemba Wemba/Wamba Wamba language, which is spoken in the north-west of Victoria.
The interim report makes only two recommendations: that the final report be delayed by two years until 2026, and that the government make changes to how information provided to the commission is stored and accessed.
Commission chair Eleanor Bourke said the report detailed the pain experienced by elders, who "deserve to see change in their lifetimes".
"Each of the some 200 elders we spoke to pointed to the ongoing effects of discriminatory policies and racist beliefs, including those that led to the Stolen Generations — policies and beliefs that have not only affected them, but continue to affect their children and grandchildren," the Wamba Wamba/Wergaia elder said.
"This is why the Yoorrook Justice Commission must offer a very different forum for truth-telling and include new ways to bring about change in a contemporary environment, primarily through treaty."
The commission will make a record of Victoria's history of colonisation and historical and contemporary injustices against First Nations people.
Aboriginal people treated on hospital verandah
Aunty Fay Carter was one of the elders who spoke to the commission. She said all Aboriginal people in Echuca were treated on the hospital verandah "until at least the 1970s".
"I was born on the verandah of the Echuca hospital because in those days they didn't take the Aboriginal mothers into the wards with the non-Aboriginal mothers," she told commissioners.
Uncle Jack Charles described the impact of being a member of the Stolen Generations.
"I was taken from my mum and placed in a series of homes to be raised as a white person," he told commissioners.
"It took a lot of time and many resources to find out my identity as a member of the Stolen Generations. If I had not had such a high profile, I would never have received this information."
Lack of accountability over deaths in custody
Elders spoke of systemic racism in the criminal justice system, with Aunty Cheryl Austin saying no-one in Australia had been charged over an Aboriginal death in custody.
"No-one has ever been held accountable for Aboriginal deaths in custody," she told commissioners.
"How many deaths are there? And not one person has been held accountable."
Uncle Johnny Lovett told commissioners the process of land dispossession in the state was violent.
"I believe that in Victoria, the government truly wanted to wipe out the Aboriginal people to the point where there would be no knowledge of them," he said.
The report proposes that the next phase of Yoorrook's work should focus on the state-sanctioned removal of Indigenous children from their families, and injustices First Nations people experience in the criminal justice system.
"State entities continue to remove First Peoples' children from their families in record numbers and First Peoples are still dying in state custody," the report states.
The commission has asked the Governor to extend the due date for Yoorrook's final report by two years to June 30, 2026, given delays due to COVID-19 and the extra time required to operate in a culturally safe and trauma-informed way.
A second report will make recommendations on negotiating treaty with the state.
