People thrive when they can set their own course in life. When they can make choices about what works best for them and their families.
When it comes to Aboriginal communities, cultures and lands, the experts, of course, are Aboriginal people.
That’s why we want Treaty to ensure Aboriginal communities always have the ability to come up with and deliver practical solutions at a local level.
The Shared Journey to Treaty
Since 2019, the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria has been yarning with mob in every corner of the state.
The elected Assembly Members have been listening to our communities’ needs and hopes and trying to distil all the ideas down to key concepts and identify the priorities that we are taking into Treaty negotiations with the Government.
“What unites all the ideas we’ve heard is the simple principle that decisions about Aboriginal communities, should be made by Aboriginal people.”
Local knowledge and practical solutions
The first Statewide Treaty will make sure our communities are properly represented and can use local knowledge to come up with practical solutions to improve the lives of our people across the state.
A key step in that journey will be expanding the roles and responsibilities of the Assembly, so it has meaningful decision-making powers when it comes to First Peoples matters.
A First Peoples’ Assembly with expanded roles and responsibilities
Here are 8 ways the Assembly can help deliver better outcomes for our communities
We are pushing for a future version of the First Peoples’ Assembly that has meaningful decision-making powers, independence from Government, and various functions that will contribute to Victoria’s democratic landscape and good governance.
Decision-making powers about First Peoples’ matters
When it comes to Aboriginal communities, cultures and Country, the experts are Aboriginal people. So we want our own democratically elected representatives making the decisions about such things.
Knowledge, skills and training
First Peoples knowledge and excellence runs deep. We need to keep harnessing and developing it so our communities and the broader public can benefit from it.
Ceremonial roles
Victoria is home to some of the oldest living cultures in the world – this is something that should be acknowledged and respected so everyone can celebrate it!
We think the Assembly should play a role in putting culture into the heart of Victoria’s democracy and official events.
Guidance and advice across Government
We’ll make sure enduring and holistic mechanisms are in place to ensure governments get advice directly from First Peoples.
This will lead to better decision making and better outcomes.
Democratic representation and advocacy
We’ll continue to grow our independent electoral roll and represent our communities with a range of advocacy across the board!
Accountability
We want the power to hold Government to its promises and make sure they are up to scratch and delivering for mob.
Truth-telling and healing
If we want to move on together, we need people to understand and accept the truth about the past.
We want First Peoples to be able to
keep telling our truths and share our stories with all Victorians, and so we are pushing for ongoing truth and story-telling, focused on healing and fostering a shared understanding of our histories.
The Assembly will also make sure that key recommendations from the Yoorrook Justice Commission are implemented.
Better resourcing and evaluation
Funding for First Peoples needs to reach our communities and the organisations that serve them well. We want a say in how funding is budgeted and allocated and making sure it has thorough oversight.
We also want a bigger investment into our independently managed Self-Determination Fund, so we can help create wealth and prosperity in our communities for generations to come.
Practical outcomes now
The future version of the Assembly described above will help set the stage for generations of progress, but we also want to use this opportunity to secure tangible improvements for Aboriginal communities right now.
So we’re gathering ideas and feedback for what else the first Statewide Treaty should deliver.
Here are some of key themes we’ve heard so far.
Education
We want to make sure the next generation have the foundations they need to thrive.
We’ve heard that our communities would love to see more things like Aboriginal centres of excellence, skills and job packages, free education from childhood to university, and efforts to embed First Peoples knowledge and history into school curriculums.
Culture
Let’s make sure our cultures are recognised and respected and can be celebrated by everyone who calls Victoria home. We’d like to see place markers, dual naming, language in schools, and a public holiday focused on First Peoples history and cultures.
Housing
Everyone should have a place they can call home. Ideas have been raised about community-owned and managed public housing and initiatives to help more Aboriginal families get their own home.
Health
Healthy people, healthy communities! Let’s boost Aboriginal community-controlled health services, because no-one knows community better than community! Communities are interested in securing funding so our community health centres can deliver a full range of free services.
Justice
We need better ways to keep our communities safe – ways that are not focused on tinkering with the broken systems, but creating Aboriginal led approaches to justice that focus on prevention, early intervention and healing.
They need to be informed by the cultural rights of First Peoples at every point. There are also urgent priorities such as increased oversight of justice and police and focusing investment on communities rather than prisons.
Land
Land is key to who we are as First Peoples. Our communities need the ability to care for Country
We’re also keen to explore all the options for creating prosperity now and for future generations through sustainable use of our lands, skies and waters.
Elders
We want our Elders to be able to age with dignity, so we need to recognise the unfair gap in life expectancy.
Early access to senior cards and the creation of a Community-controlled Retirement Fund for Elders are ideas we’ve heard.
Youth
We want our kids to grow up strong in culture, proud of their communities, connected to Country and have the tools they need to thrive. We’ve heard deadly ideas about language and cultural hubs, sports scholarships, and learning institutes for young mob, and we know much reform is needed of youth justice and out-of-home care laws.
Hey mob,
have your say!
We want your feedback, because it’s your Treaty.
What’s next?
Negotiations between the Assembly and the Victorian Government about the first Statewide Treaty are underway!
If you’re mob, make sure you are enrolled with the Assembly and have your say.
In addition to the Statewide Treaties negotiated by the Assembly, the various Traditional Owner groups across Victoria will be able to negotiate Treaties specific to their Country. These Traditional Owner Treaties will make sure local knowledge can inform decision-making at a community level.
Those negotiations will unfold over the coming years at different paces as it’s not a case of one-size-fits-all.
Meet the elected Assembly members
Meet the Traditional Owners of Country who have been chosen by their communities to represent their hopes, needs and ideas on the journey to Treaty.
A look back at the Journey so far
With Community’s guidance, the Assembly has established a number of building blocks to make sure Treaty can happen fairly and in a way that’s grounded in our culture, Lore and law.