The newly elected Members of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria are set to get to work delivering Australia’s first Treaty after the results of the 2026 Treaty Elections were announced by the independent Treaty Authority today.
More First Peoples nominated as candidates, enrolled and voted in the 2026 elections than in previous ones held in 2019 and 2023. Over 10,000 people enrolled to vote in these elections, which is four times the number enrolled for the first in 2019.
The 2026 elections are the first to be held after the Assembly negotiated Australia’s first Treaty, which establishes Gellung Warl. The Assembly will continue as the representative and decision-making body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Victoria as part of Gellung Warl.
The provisional results announced by the Treaty Authority today are for the 22 General Seats on the Assembly, which are split across five regions: Metropolitan, North East, North West, South East and South West.
There are 12 Reserved Seats for Traditional Owner groups that are elected through their own processes, with Traditional Owners voting for candidates in these seats.
Outgoing Assembly Co-chair Ngarra Murray congratulated the successful candidates and thanked every Traditional Owner who nominated for and participated in the elections.
“In 2019 we planted the seeds of our Aboriginal democracy in Victoria. Since then we’ve seen it grow by every measure at every election: more candidates and more people enrolling and voting,” Ngarra said.
“Fifty percent of people enrolled turned out to vote for the General Seats in the 2026 Treaty Elections and I also want to thank the thousands of Traditional Owners who turned out to vote for their Reserved Seat representatives.
“At a time when people are losing trust with democracy, I am so proud that the number of First Peoples enrolling and voting in the Treaty Elections keeps going up. This is a huge achievement when our elections are not compulsory.
“It has been hard work and of course there’s still more to do, but this shows our people are committed to Treaty. We’re the experts on our own lives, we know what does and doesn’t work for our communities, and Treaty is how we make the most of our local knowledge to get better outcomes for our people.
“Thank you to everyone who got involved with these elections, you’re making our democracy and Treaty stronger.”
The newly-elected Assembly Members will be inducted over the coming weeks and are expected to hold their first official meetings on Dja Dja Wurrung Country in early May, where they will elect new Co-chairs and Council members.
The full provisional results of the 2026 Treaty Elections can be viewed here.
