Elders Panel including Yoorrook Chair Aunty Eleanor Bourke and Uncle Kevin Coombs.
Yarn with a Truth Receiver from the Yoorrook Justice Commission
Proud Gunditjmara and Monero/Gunnai man Joseph Saunders wants to help create a better future for his kids.
Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police apologises to First Peoples
On behalf of Victoria Police, Chief Commissioner Shane Patton APM apologised “unreservedly” to First Peoples for police actions since colonisation and continuing to the present day. In a hearing at the Yoorrook Justice Commission, the Chief Commissioner said that “as a result of systemic racism, racist attitudes and discriminatory policies of police,’ injustices had “gone undetected, unchecked and unpunished.” He … Read More
Yoorrook Commissioner Travis Lovett questions the Minister for Police about accountability for deaths in custody
Since this Yoorrook hearing less than two weeks ago, another First Peoples man has died in custody in Victoria. There have now been 34 deaths in custody in Victoria since the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Each of those people was loved by their family, friends and community. They are deeply missed. During questioning by Commissioner Travis … Read More
Tony McAvoy SC questions the Minister for Police about injustices experienced by First Peoples at the hands of police
Yoorrook Senior Counsel Assisting and proud Wirdi man Tony McAvoy SC questioned Victoria’s Minister for Police, the Hon. Anthony Carbines MP, in hearings this month about injustices experienced by First Peoples at the hands of police. Minister Carbines accepted that, for many Aboriginal people, their experience of policing is one in which they are the subject of racial profiling and … Read More
Yoorrook Commissioner Travis Lovett questions the Minister for Child Protection about self-determination
“So we’ve transferred a broken system over to the ACCOs to deliver, because that’s all the government’s offered them. That’s not self-determination.” Yoorrook Commissioner Travis Lovett questioned the Minister for Child Protection, The Hon. Lizzie Blandthorn MLC, about the power and resources transferred to ACCOs to date.
Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People Meena Singh speaks about the meaning of First Peoples culture
Culture “wraps around you. It’s connected to family. It shapes your values, your ideals. To be Aboriginal is to know that you’re from strength, that you’re from resilience, that you’re part of the oldest cultures in the world.” Listen to Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People and Yorta Yorta woman Meena Singh speak about the importance of culture to … Read More
Minister for Police the Hon. Anthony Carbines MP speaks to the lingering colonialism within state organisations
Watch the Minister for Police the Hon. Anthony Carbines MP speak about the challenges of tackling racial discrimination and police profiling of Aboriginal people in Victoria.
Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police speaks about independent police oversight
“Police investigating police especially in areas of Aboriginality – I don’t see how we will ever be able to gain the confidence of the Aboriginal community and the faith in the system” Listen to Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police Shane Patton APM discuss what has led him to move positions on independent police oversight at a hearing of the Yoorrook … Read More