Over the past few months, our focus has been on fostering ongoing discussions with Community, ensuring transparency and inclusivity in decision-making processes. Key messages shared have centred around the significance of self-determination, the Treaty process, and the evolving landscape of negotiations. In particular, we have been seeking feedback on:

• Community aspirations and priorities for the Treaty process
• Challenges and opportunities arising from negotiations
• Ensuring cultural integrity and alignment with our protocols and values
• Strengthening ACCO partnerships and Traditional Owner engagement

Engagement activities:

• January 26 – Day of Mourning: A heartening and significant day where we stood in solidarity with Community, reflecting on the past and reaffirming our commitment to justice and healing. Well done to all who came together to organise,speak and perform on the day. It was great to have intergenerational representation from many families whose elders were part of the original Day Of Mourning event in 1938. The success of the day is reflective of the strength, resilience and spirit of family and community. Thank you also to those who came as allies and in support.
• First Chamber Meeting of the Year: A critical opportunity to set the agenda for the year ahead, discuss key issues, and reinforce our shared commitment to meaningful change.
• Forums for ACCOs, Traditional Owners, and the Statewide Gathering: These sessions were instrumental in hearing from community and ensuring we are working to have many voices shaping the path forward. I attended the Statewidegathering which was grounded in a moving and generous smoking ceremony and fitting to be welcomed to the sacred corroboree grounds where Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung and other Kulin Nation have gathered for thousands of generations and where the MCG now stands. The two days included informative panel discussions, keynote speeches, and workshops covering topics such as elders and youth voice, future assembly, negotiation updates, and the findings and future of Yoorrook Truth Telling. These efforts aim to keep us all informed, up to date, and inspired.
• Inaugural Victorian First Peoples Art & Design Fair: I had the privilege of participating in this event alongside Alice Ann Pepper, Brian Stevens, and Kelly Koumalatsos. Congratulations to Kylie Belling, Janina Harding, and the First PeoplesDirection Circle for realizing this event, which was a huge success for artists, creatives, their communities, and the industry more broadly.
• Leadership Oration: I co-delivered the Leadership Oration with my father, Dr. Paul Briggs AO, for Leadership Victoria, hosted by Chair Prof. Christine Nixon OA at the Melbourne Town Hall. Drawing from the lands, waters, and stories thatshape us, we wove a conversation about history, First Peoples’ rights, the journey to here, and the path to a future we can all share and contribute to. I am appreciative of Leadership Victoria and the City of Melbourne for the space to reflect, challenge, and imagine what’s possible together. Thank you to Bill Nicholson for grounding us in place with a warm welcome and reminding us of the ever-present stories and spirit that flow from the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri and through its people—just like the Birrarung.

Key insights:

• Strengthened collaboration between regional and state-level stakeholders
• More opportunities for grassroots voices to influence decision-making
• Continued advocacy for structural change and policy improvements

As negotiations have become increasingly complex, our focus has been on:

• Strengthening our internal frameworks to ensure rigorous attention to detail
• Facilitating critical and strategic discussions to navigate challenges
• Supporting Community-driven initiatives and amplifying grassroots voices
• Ensuring that Treaty negotiations remain inclusive, transparent, and reflective of Community aspirations

In the coming months, we will:

• Continue to refine our strategies to enhance engagement and participation
• Strengthen partnerships with ACCOs and Traditional Owner groups to ensure broad representation in the Treaty process
• Hold regional forums

As we move forward, we acknowledge the strength, resilience, and dedication of our Community members, whose voices remain central to this journey. Our gratitude extends to all who have contributed their time, wisdom, and efforts toward the progress of Treaty. We remain steadfast in our commitment to working collaboratively towards a future that honors and upholds the rights and aspirations of First Peoples. These are challenging times but when have they not been for our People? Our Elders, Ancestors and many leaders inside our families and community in the last 50 years have worked hard to give us strong foundations from which to build a future for the next 50 – 100 years. Thank you always for support, encouragement and invaluable yarns from family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances. Please keep an eye out for more events and activities coming up soon in our region, to stay the course with us and keep informed! Thank you.

Member update not submitted.

Te nhurrag (Hey all),

This update is an opportunity to share with you the progress and key activities over the past few months, along with some reflections on our journey together. Although I fulfill this role in a part-time capacity, I am actively involved across a number of committees, workstreams, and expert panel discussions. Some of the key areas I contribute to include:

• Yurpa: This group is focused on ensuring cultural governance is at the heart of the Assembly’s practices and guiding principles. This allows us to stay true to those values, practices and principles that uphold our relationships, identities and way of being in the world.
• Self-Determination Fund Administration: This committee oversees the establishment and management of the fund that supports our path to self-determination.
• Treaty Committee: Working closely with other members, this committee is dedicated to steering Treaty-related activities.

Since our last Chamber meeting held in Swan Hill in early September our attention and work has been to make sure community voices at all levels are being heard and incorporated into our negotiation brief and the practical outcomes we will be seeking in this Treaty with the state. We have held three regional forums in North East Victoria, along Dungala and Kaiela (Goulburn and Murray Rivers) in Shepparton/Mooroopna, Albury/Wodonga, and Echuca/Moama. These forums allowed us to hear directly from you, gathering your views, visions, and aspirations, as well as sharing updates on the Assembly’s work. The other approach we have taken is through our 5 workstreams, and this creates space for us to focus our attention to specific themes. We have then invited representatives with relevant experiences and knowledge through an expression of interest process to offer their expertise and insights. I participate in a number of workstreams but predominantly the Economic Prosperity workstream. This will be critical to creating a means to support, drive and realise a sustainable and self determined future. Your input is invaluable in shaping the direction of the Assembly’s activities and ensuring that our work is community-driven. We can not do it without you and don’t want to – this is for all of us and it requires the best of us.

We have preparations underway with planning the commencement of formal Treaty Negotiations with the State this month and through our Cultural Elements group we are able to make sure our ceremonies as well as express our sovereign identities, reflect our values and purpose of the occasion in an inclusive way. We hope to have many of our families, community, supporters and allies join us. This will be a historically significant moment in all our lifetimes and so important for us to be there together in solidarity. If you have a dance group or are a dancer and would like to join on the day, please reach out if you need support to get there. It will be a beautiful sight to see everyone there representing their Ancestors, lands, waters and families.

Nhurran Galnya Biami, 

(Yours in good spirit) 

Belinda 

Member update not submitted.

Te nhurrag (hello all),

I hope everyone is keeping well best they can, especially as bupolga (winter) sets in and we see more yungaba (frost) in the early mornings. These language words are Yorta Yorta but our North East Region is home to multiple language groups and I would love to see an increase in the sharing and celebration of our languages in the future.

I attended our Statewide Treaty Forum 5-7 April on Wadawurrung Country in Geelong. There were keynote presentations, workshops, yarns, cultural activities and much celebration of the occasion. As well as arming ourselves with knowledge from experts in the technical or legal side of Treaty, we workshopped on matters such as ways of strengthening the Assembly’s cultural governance and representation, and provided an overview of the journey to Treaty to date. If you attended and would like to revisit or couldn’t make it and wanted to catch up there are some highlights here: Highlights from the Statewide Treaty Gathering   — First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria (firstpeoplesvic.org) .

It was great to join a big mob in solidarity against racism for Ngarra Jarra Noun Healing Ceremony on 21st April, at Collingwood’s Victoria Park. The oval is infamous for the 1993 match where former St Kilda great Nicky Winmar took a memorable stance by lifting up his jumper and pointing to his skin in a defiant and proud moment. It was special to see dance groups, especially with the younger ones coming together from across the state to share their stories and connections. Also, moving to some of our deadly footballing champions of the 70s representative state teams acknowledged for their contributions to an enduring legacy of talent, love, passion and determination in footy. Many of those members went on and continue to lead, fight and advocate across the spectrum of our human rights that laid the foundations andthat gave us the very threads we continue to weave with into our lives today – including the First Peoples’ Assembly and our business of Treaty.

The AIATSIS Summit held 3-7 June was a great opportunity for the Assembly to co host, showcase our work undertaken to date and our State at this National event, with attendees coming in from around the country and the world. Presenting on stages such as AIATSIS enables us to connect with Indigenous peoples around the Country and the world by uplifting and strengthening the work we undertake.

The collective steps we have taken to date include the establishment of the Self Determination Fund and inviting Traditional Owner groups to apply for funds to support their readiness; the implementation of the Treaty Authority of which will umpire those seeking to enter into Treaties and also our Elders’ Voice to ensure their experience and wisdom is guiding us on this journey.

As we approach the first formal step of the Treaty path by declaring to the Treaty Authority that we are ready to begin Treaty talks with the State, our workload continues to expand. In addition to the committees we each sit across, there are also workstreams to progress the necessary discussions, thought, research, planning and design of the Treaty work.

There will be a North East Regional Gathering taking place in Sheppartonn on Friday 26 July, please keep eye out for event details and how to be involved – we would love to see you there and talk all things Treaty whether that be your concerns, challenges, hopes or vision.

Nhurran Galnya Biami

(Yours in good spirit)

Te nhurrag (hey all), since our last report back in November, most of my time has been engaged in and preparing for committee meetings. It’s through these forums we are able to progress the relevant work in each before final discussions and decisions are made by the full member chamber meetings. The committees I am participating in include Yurpa (cultural governance), Self Determination Fund and Treaty, as well as our Chamber meetings. To date, much of the work has been focused on shaping the Assembly model and the internal processes in preparation for when we actually begin negotiating for Treaty with the State, as well as dreaming up an idea of what the next iteration of the Assembly model might look like, how it will function and what it will be responsible for. 

On a personal level the last eight months has been transformational as I grow a deeper appreciation for our histories, what has been achieved and overcome, the challenges that exist and consider how all of this is informing the present and will shape our future. I think communities all over and including here have been challenged by not only the result of the referendum, but also the void it created and the question for us “what now?” It painted a strong picture of where the broader region sits in relation to our rights as Traditional Owners and/or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. For us, I believe the aspirations and vision of the future we are working towards remains the same and Treaty, along with other measures we create together will be an important mechanism to drive those aspirations and the future we seek.  

I feel very fortunate that throughout history and in my lifetime our families have made such rich contributions to advocating and furthering not only ours but the rights of all across the country, servicing communities and sustaining our cultural identities by keeping us connected. The upcoming Statewide Gathering April 5 – 7 in Geelong, will be a great opportunity to connect in this spirit with everyone, hear in more detail about this work and for you to not only join the conversations but the continuum of this journey that begun so long ago and that we are all on. 

Nhurran Galnya Biami, 

(Yours in good spirit) 

Belinda