Submissions

This submission is from a Blak woman who grew up in the 50s and 60s, experiencing racism in systems that were supposed to treat her equally but didn’t. She feels lucky to have had amazing parents and a large family, who taught her to be proud and to fight for justice. She recalls participating in protests that helped shape Australia’s respect for Aboriginal people and feels proud of those times. She expresses concern about the potential election of a right-wing government that wants to strip away Aboriginal rights and hopes we all unite with our allies and rise up and fight against the stripping away hard fought for rights.

Lili Prins, not Aboriginal herself, empathises with her friends’ experiences of subtle discrimination and advocates for self-determination by empowering First Nations people and giving them a voice in Parliament. She calls for a well-considered Treaty, the abolition of Australia Day, true history education, and joint land management practices.

Leadership Victoria has been delivering programs for 35 years, including the Williamson Community Leadership Program, creating a diverse network of over 7000+ alumni. They support leaders to take the next step in their leadership journey and mobilise them to create meaningful impact in their organisations, communities and beyond.

This submission details the history of leadership development programs in Victoria for First Nations People and has reflections from First Nations Leaders on their programs. It makes recommendations for promoting First Nations leadership.

Included are testimonies from Taya Philp (Ngiyampaa, Barkindji, Maarua), Troy Lovett (Gunditjamara, Yorta Yorta, Dja Dja Wurrung), Shannen Mennen (Wadawurrung), Adrian Appo OAM (Gooreng Gooreng), Joe Murfet (Jingili-Mudburra), Matt Everitt (Taungurung) and Helen Kennedy (Trawoolway, Plairmairrener).

Anonymous 1275 is a descendant of farmers in Victoria’s west. They describe the racism against First Peoples they have seen growing up in school, and later in adult life as a historian.

David Barton’s submission to Yoorrook comprises an article titled, The Decline and Rise of the Aboriginal Population in Victoria. 

Charles Pakana describes his experiences as a disconnected Aboriginal man and how he has had to fight for his identity, like so many others have also had to do. Carrying great pride in his heritage, he has worked with community in Victoria for nearly 20 years, advocating for truth, voice and treaty. Charles seeks acknowledgement of disconnected people, and acknowledgement from the government that its legacy of genocidal acts have inflicted brutal disconnection upon thousands of Aboriginal people, who, without family, clan and nation support, continue to fight for a better Victoria and Australia.

Richard Frankland is a Gunditjmara man, a storyteller, playwright, musician and filmmaker. Over his lifetime he has had many roles, including serving in the army and working with the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. He uses his art to give First Peoples a voice. He says with voice comes freedom and with freedom comes responsibility. He talks about his lifetime of making films and music, the discrimination he has experienced and seen, and the compounding trauma it causes First Peoples, which is often invisible to white people and systems because they don’t know about the true history of the nation and the result of that true history. Richard yarns about many more things in his submission, including the treaty process in Victoria, land rights, political work, the Convincing Ground massacre, cultural recognition and retaining traditional language.

“The City of Melbourne welcomes the opportunity to provide this Submission to the Yoorrook Justice Commission as we recognise the importance of truth-telling into injustices experienced in all areas of life by First Peoples in Victoria since colonisation. This submission is divided into three sections: direct injustices; indirect injustices; and areas of potential further research.”

The Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) is the peak body for Aboriginal health and wellbeing in Victoria, with 33 Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations as Members. VACCHO Members support over 25,000 Aboriginal people in Victoria, and combined are the largest employers of Aboriginal people in the state.

The submission focuses on the following themes:

• The current political structure and mechanisms for political representation within Victoria and Aboriginal Victoria’s absence from political life
• Opportunities for and barriers to Aboriginal engagement with political parties and Parliament within Victoria with a particular focus on:
  • The political influence on social and emotional wellbeing of First Peoples
  • Lack of resources as a barrier to accessing the political system
• VACCHO’s experience and progress in political advocacy including our experience engaging in Victorians Governance Forums and key barriers to self-determination such as the convention of Cabinet-in-confidence