Recommendations

a) transfer decision-making power, authority, control and resources to First Peoples, giving full effect to self-determination in the Victorian child protection system. Transferring or creating decision-making power includes but is not limited to:

• (i) system design
• (ii) obtaining and allocating resources
• (iii) powers of, and appointments to bodies or institutions, and
• (iv) accountability and oversight functions including new First Peoples led bodies, oversight processes or complaints pathways

(b) negotiate this through the Treaty process including through potential interim agreements

(c) in doing so, go beyond the transfer of existing powers and functions under the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic), which will require new, dedicated legislation, developed by First Peoples, for the safety, wellbeing and protection of First Peoples children and young people, and

(d) recognising the urgent need for immediate reform and without delay, take all necessary steps to begin and diligently progress the establishment of a dedicated child protection system for First Peoples children and young people supported by stand-alone legislation based on the right of First Peoples to self-determination and underpinned by human and cultural rights to be developed by the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria which must be sufficiently resourced by government for this purpose. 

This includes negotiating through the Treaty process, including through potential interim agreements, the transfer of decision-making power, authority, control and resources in that system to First Peoples. Transferring or creating decision-making power includes but is not limited to:

(a) system design

(b) obtaining and allocating resources

(c) powers of, and appointments to bodies or institutions, and

(d) accountability and oversight functions including new First Peoples led bodies, oversight processes or complaints pathways

(a) government bodies must ensure that First Peoples related programs and policies are rigorously monitored and evaluated

(b) monitoring and evaluation must be designed alongside the development of the program or policy so that it is built into the program or policy (and commences at the same time as implementation) with measurement focused on real outcomes

(c) where programs or policies have existing commitments to monitoring and evaluation, but little or no progress has been made, these must be actioned within six months

(d) where programs or policies do not have monitoring or evaluation included, the inclusion of these must be actioned urgently, and

(e) these monitoring and evaluation processes must be in accordance with the Burra Lotjpa Dunguludja (AJA4) Monitoring and Evaluation Framework including:

• (i) being consistent with First Peoples values
• (ii) reflecting First Peoples priorities for what is measured and how it is measured
• (iii) having an approved regular reporting cycle, and
• (iv) having a commitment to the open reporting of results.

(a) the establishment of an independent and authoritative oversight and accountability commission for the monitoring and evaluation of First Peoples related policies and programs

(b) the detailed functions and membership of the commission, and

(c) give the commission the necessary resources and authority to hold responsible government ministers, departments and entities to account for the success or failure of the programs they develop and deliver.

Transferring or creating decision-making power includes but is not limited to: 

(a) System design and administration;

(b) Obtaining and allocating rights and interests in land, waters and natural resources;

(c) Powers of, and appointments to bodies and institutions; and

(d) Accountability and oversight functions including new First Peoples-led oversight processes or complaints pathways.

(a) First Peoples-led organisations to deliver programs that support healing and rebuilding relationships between clans/groups to address the ongoing impacts of dispossession including where harms have occurred from participation in recognition regimes; and

(b) Healing processes, led by local First Peoples groups, to assist non-First Peoples to tell their truths and walk together with First Peoples.

(a) the child protection system

(b) the corrections system, including prisons

(c) the youth justice system, including youth detention and like facilities and the bail system

(d) the adult justice system including the bail system

(e) Victoria Police, and

(f) the forensic mental health system,
 

to ensure that they have that capability, competence and support necessary for them to carry out their obligations under the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic) (the Charter) and other human and cultural rights laws, and in particular for this purpose the government must:
 

(g) review and revise all relevant policies, procedures, protocols, administrative directions, guidelines and like documents
(h) review all relevant training courses and programs, and
(i) the youth justice system, including youth detention and like facilities and the bail system
(j) the adult justice system including the bail system
(k) Victoria Police, and
(h) ensure that Victorian First Peoples businesses or consultants participate on a paid basis in the review and revision of training courses and programs, and the delivery of these, wherever possible.

(a) requires public authorities to act in a way that is and make decisions that are substantively compatible with human rights including Aboriginal cultural rights, and

(b) ensures that public authorities are held accountable for acting or making decisions incompatibly with human rights including Aboriginal cultural rights, including by:

• (i) enabling individuals to bring a legal proceeding in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal for a remedy (including compensation) against public authorities who have made decisions or acted incompatibly with human rights including Aboriginal cultural rights under the Charter, and
• (ii) enabling individuals to rely upon the human rights including Aboriginal cultural rights in the Charter in any legal proceedings, as provided (for example) in section 40C of the Human Rights Act 2004 (ACT).

(a) Incorporate UNDRIP principles into Victorian legislation, including: 

• i. as part of Statewide treaty legislation;
• ii. by establishing a process of audit of existing legislation to identify incompatibility to ensure that UNDRIP principles prevail; and
• iii. by ensuring that any future legislative change is compatible with UNDRIP principles. 

(b) Support and facilitate the adoption and implementation of UNDRIP principles by non-state entities; and 55 Yoorrook for Transformation Third Interim Report Summary Report 54 

(c) To implement these steps, work with First Peoples to develop a State Action Plan on implementation of UNDRIP, ensuring that First Peoples are involved in the design, monitoring and evaluation of the implementation plan.

(a) Building on Recommendation 4 in Yoorrook for Justice and through negotiation with the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, the Victorian Government must support the establishment of an accountability mechanism to transfer monitoring functions and full decision-making power, authority, control and resources to First Peoples for First Peoples-related policies and programs; 

(b) For all policies, strategies, frameworks and plans related to First Peoples for which the Victorian Government is responsible, the Victorian Government must develop an easily accessible online tool showing implementation stages, funding, days outstanding and date of completion, and identify the person responsible for implementation; and 

(c) The Victorian Government must reduce and streamline reporting requirements for Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations and Traditional Owner bodies for service and program delivery and managing requests and notifications, including by negotiating single funding agreements with organisations.

(a) Facilitate access by the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria and relevant Traditional Owner groups to annual data concerning the revenues collected by the Victorian Government in respect of: 

• i. freehold land;
• ii. Crown land & waterways;
• iii. minerals and resources;
• iv. gas and petroleum; v. forestry;
• vi. fisheries; vii. renewables; and
• viii. water (surface, groundwater). 

(b) Facilitate ongoing access by the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria and relevant Traditional Owner groups to registers of third party interests in the matters described in paragraphs (a)(ii) – (viii) above including: 

• i. interest ID number.
• ii. enabling legislation;
• iii. term (start/ end date);
• iv. any rights of renewal or regrant; and
• v. annual royalties payable to the State. 

(c) Empower the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria to oversee the provision and comprehensiveness of the datasets in (a) and (b) and to store any relevant data.

(a) Publish a copy of the review, by 30 June 2026; and 

(b) Following consultation with relevant ACCOs and First Peoples organisations, ensure that all data sets are regularly publicly reported, by 30 June 2027.

(a) As an employer of a significant number of First Nations staff within Departments, Agencies and Statutory Authorities: 

• i. formally recognise the cultural rights and cultural and colonial loads of First Nations staff within those settings;
• ii. introduce a positive duty upon relevant managers (or head of the organisation) to ensure cultural safety in the case of First Nations staff;
• iii. create new First Peoples-led oversight processes for the investigation of complaints in respect of alleged occurrences of non-compliance with this duty; and
• iv. consider the adequacy of existing remuneration and/or leave models to recognise First Nations staff’s contributions and responsibilities.

b. In the case of all other Victorian workplaces, amend the Occupational Health and Safety Act (Vic) 2004 to ensure cultural safety obligations on employers are embedded in legislation.

(a) Promoting the employment, retention and promotion of First Peoples staff; 

(b) Directly engaging with relevant First Peoples communities, representative bodies and service provider organisations; 

(c) Prioritising the actions within their Department/Agency necessary to support the treaty-making process; and 

(d) Overseeing timely and fulsome implementation of recommendations within relevant reports.

(a) review section 534 of the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic) to identify a workable model that:

• (i) places clear time limits on the operation of section 534 so that where the only individuals identified in a publication are adults who have provided their consent, and the Children’s Court matter is historical in nature, then the prohibition does not apply, and
• (ii) enables a Royal Commission or similar inquiry to publish information about a child who is subject to protection proceedings or a protection order, where the child provides that information, is capable of understanding the consequences of losing anonymity and provides their consent, and

(b) ensure that any review of section 534 of the Children, Youth and Families Act is First Peoples led insofar as the proposed reforms affect First Peoples.

(a) specifically establish the role of the Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People in the same way that the Principal Commissioner for Children and Young People’s role is provided for in the legislation

(b) provide the Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People with the same statutory functions and powers as the Principal Commissioner insofar as these powers relate to Aboriginal children and young people in Victoria

(c) expressly provide the Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People the function to receive and determine individual complaints from or relating to First Peoples children and young people concerning their treatment in child protection, including out of home care, and

(d) give the Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People and the Principal Commissioner rights of intervention in legal proceedings relating to a child or young person’s rights under the Charter to be exercised at their discretion.

These roles and powers must be appropriately resourced.

(a) work with Aboriginal organisations to develop a consistent definition of early help, early intervention and prevention that aligns with the perspectives of First Peoples. This definition should be adopted across the Victorian Government

(b) enshrine prevention and early help/intervention as a guiding principle in the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic) and take all necessary steps to implement this principle in the administration of the Act

(c) as an immediate action, substantially increase investment in Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation prevention and early help/intervention services to keep First Peoples children out of the child protection system and to prevent their involvement from escalating when it does occur, and

(d) review the governance model for implementing target 12 of the Closing the Gap Agreement, with a view to broadening the responsibility to achieve this target beyond the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing.

(a) of total child protection and family services funding allocated to early intervention (family and parenting services) compared to secondary and tertiary services (community delivered child protection services, care services, transition from care services and other activities), and
(b) of funding allocated to Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations compared to mainstream services for early intervention (family and parenting services), secondary and tertiary services.

(a) clinical and allied health staff working with pregnant women must undertake appropriate training to address bias and build expertise in working safely and effectively with First Peoples women and families to address their social and emotional needs, and

(b) this training must be designed and delivered by a Victorian First Peoples business or consultants on a paid basis, and completion rates of this training must be publicly reported.

(a) when a child protection worker is considering making a pre-birth report, that prior to birth, and with the consent of the pregnant Aboriginal women, organisations (including Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations or Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations) are informed of the rationale for and intention to make a pre-birth report so that they can:

• (i) provide input into that decision
• (ii) ensure people with appropriate training and expertise are involved, and
• (iii) offer culturally safe supports to the mother, father and/or significant others in the family network

(b) when DFFH receives a pre-birth report from any source, that pregnant Aboriginal women are informed of the report by a person(s) with the appropriate expertise to hold such a sensitive discussion and who has the skills to respond appropriately and offer a range of culturally safe support options, including a referral to a supporting organisation (including an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation or Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation), and

(c) pre-birth reports that are assessed as not requiring further action are to be excluded from this scheme.

then:
(c) subject to the consent of the person to whom the report relates, the Department must automatically notify a Victorian Aboriginal legal service provider to be funded by the Victorian Government so that the child’s parents and/or primary care giver are offered legal help and, where appropriate non-legal advocacy.

(a) is First Peoples led and overseen by a First Peoples governance group
(b) has methodology that includes a review of individual cases by the Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People, and
(c) makes recommendations that include actions to reduce child protection practitioner racial bias when applying the Framework.

(a) all incoming child protection staff, as part of their pre-service education, complete cultural awareness and human and cultural rights training covering issues including:

• (i) the history of colonisation and in particular the impact of ‘protection’ and assimilation policies
• (ii) the continuing systemic racism and paternalism inherent in child protection work today that must be identified, acknowledged and resisted
• (iii) the value of First Peoples family and child rearing practice
• (iv) upholding human rights including Aboriginal cultural rights, and
• (v) the strength of First Peoples families and culture and culturally appropriate practices

(b) all child protection staff and Department executives undertake regular, mandatory cultural safety training, to be designed and delivered by a Victorian First Peoples business or consultants on a paid basis, and

(c) completion rates for training are published by the Department annually.

(a) the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, in consultation with the Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People and relevant Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations, must improve how they identify and deidentify First Peoples children in the Victorian children protection system, and

(b) the Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young people must undertake regular audits and publish the results to ensure child protection practitioners are correctly identifying and deidentifying First Peoples children and doing so in a timely way.

(a) convene an Aboriginal Family Led Decision Making meeting before making any significant decision about an Aboriginal child, and record the outcome, and

(b) consult with the Aboriginal Child Specialist Advice and Support Service on all significant decisions affecting an Aboriginal child and record the outcome.

(a) specify that priority be given to keeping siblings together in placement decisions (both in out of home care and permanent placements)

(b) include in the decision-making principles a presumption that removal of a First Peoples child from their family or community causes harm

(c) provide that a child protection practitioner must record how they have considered the presumption of harm caused by removal in their decision to remove a First Peoples child, and

(d) provide that the Children’s Court is required to include in its reasons for a removal decision how the presumption of harm caused by removal has been considered.

These amendments must be made urgently while a new First Peoples led child protection system and accompanying Act is designed and implemented in accordance with recommendation 1.

(a) ensure Children’s Court of Victoria judicial officers determine child protection matters state-wide, and

(b) abolish the current practice of having non-specialist magistrates determining child protection matters in some rural and regional court locations.

(a) simplifying application and vetting processes and improving support for people navigating the process

(b) ending the substantive inequality between kinship carers and foster carers by removing the automatic commencement of kinship payments at level one such that payments are made at a rate that reflects the complexity of kinship care, and

(c) ensuring kinship carers have appropriate access to training, support, and services at a level that is at least equivalent to the training, support and services offered to foster carers.

(a) ensure that the Framework to Reduce Criminalisation of Young People in Residential Care is applied in all cases

(b) establish a mechanism within the Commission for Children and Young People through which young people can report that a residential care provider or Victoria Police has failed to apply the Framework, so that the Commissioner can advocate for that young person, including (in the case of police) by referring the matter to an independent police oversight body

(c) ensure that, when the Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People is placed on a statutory footing, these functions are performed by that Commissioner with respect to those children and young people, and

(d) fund the development and delivery of training to residential care providers and Victoria Police on implementing the Framework in practice.
 

(a) monitor compliance with the Framework to Reduce Criminalisation of young people in residential care current 18-month action plan

(b) review individual cases

(c) specify targets for reduced police contact, and

(d) publicly report on outcomes.

(a) recognise that the human and cultural rights of First Peoples children in permanent care to have, express, develop and maintain their culture, and to maintain contact with their Aboriginal family, kin and community, are not presently adequately respected and ensured in practice, and

(b) urgently work with the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria and relevant Aboriginal organisations to formulate and implement all necessary legislative, administrative and other means for respecting and ensuring those rights, including by authorising Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations to monitor the cultural care plans of Aboriginal children who are the subject of permanent care orders.

(a) investigate and determine all complaints about police (except for minor customer service matters)

(b) investigate and report on all police contact deaths and serious incidents

(c) conduct independent monitoring of and reporting on police custody and detention

(d) on its own motion, monitor, audit, systemically review and report on the exercise of police powers and interactions with the public including customer service matters

(e) undertake own motion, public interest investigations, and

(f) publish reports in the public interest.
 

The new authority must:

(g) have powers to arrest, search property and compel the production of information including from Victoria Police, and

(h) include a dedicated division for complaints from First Peoples that is under First Peoples leadership.

(a) legislating a positive duty upon Victoria Police to:

• (i) take into account an Aboriginal person’s unique background and systemic factors when making decisions on cautioning or diversion
• (ii) demonstrate the steps taken to discharge this obligation, and
• (iii) record reasons for their decisions

(b) introducing a legislative presumption in favour of alternative pre-charge measures in appropriate cases (for example, verbal warnings, written warnings, cautions and referrals to cautioning programs), and

(c) Victoria Police publishing cautioning data in its Annual Report, including specific data comparing cautioning rates for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people.

(a) the Chief Commissioner of Police must ensure that Victoria Police conduct is closely monitored to ensure police members do not use existing powers to unnecessarily take intoxicated people into custody, for example by ‘up-charging’, and

(b) the Victorian Government’s planned independent evaluation of the monitoring of police conduct must:

• (i) be First Peoples led, with appropriate governance by them
• (ii) cover at least the first 12 months and then three years of implementation, and
• (iii) have results that are made public.

(a) knowledge, experience, skills and commitment to changing the mindset and culture of Victoria Police, to end systemic racism and to ensure the human rights of First Peoples are respected, protected and promoted in all aspects of police operations

(b) understanding of the history of colonisation and in particular the role of Victoria Police in the dispossession, murder and assimilation of First Peoples, and the ongoing, intergenerational trauma and distrust of police this has caused

(c) recognition of ongoing systemic racism within Victoria Police and the need for this to be identified, acknowledged and resisted, and

(d) experience, skills in, and commitment to, changing the culture of Victoria Police to end systemic racism and to ensure the human rights of First Peoples are respected, protected and promoted in all aspects of police operations and the organisation.

(a) create a presumption in favour of bail for all offences with the exception of murder, terrorism and like offences

(b) place the onus on the prosecution to prove that bail should not be granted due to a specific, serious or immediate risk to the safety of a person or to the administration of justice, with the exception of murder, terrorism and like offences

(c) prohibit remand if a sentence of imprisonment is unlikely if there is a finding of guilt (unless it is necessary to protect the safety of a person or the proper administration of justice pending hearing)

(d) repeal the bail offences contained in current sections 30, 30A and 30B

(e) require all bail decision-makers to explain what information they have considered to understand how a person’s Aboriginality is relevant, and provide the reasons for any refusal to grant an application for bail made by an Aboriginal person, and

(f) require the Victorian Government and Victoria Police to publicly report, at least annually, bail and remand rates for Aboriginal people, and summary data of the reasons given by bail decision-makers for refusing bail.

(a) develop, deliver and publicly report on a cultural change action plan to ensure all bail decision makers exercise their powers and functions on the basis that imprisonment on remand (including that of First Peoples) is used only as a last resort, and

(b) ensure that the development and ongoing monitoring of performance of the action plan is First Peoples led.

(a) explicitly recognise the paramountcy of human rights, including the distinct cultural rights of First Peoples, in all aspects of the youth justice system

(b) embed these rights in the machinery of the Act, and
require all those involved in the administration of the Act to ensure those rights.

(a) amend the Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic) to include a statement of recognition acknowledging:

• (i) the right of First Peoples to self-determination
• (ii) that First Peoples have been disproportionately affected by the criminal justice system in a way that has contributed to criminalisation, disconnection, intergenerational trauma and entrenched social disadvantage
• (iii) the key role played by the criminal justice system in the dispossession and assimilation of First Peoples
• (iv) the survival, resilience and success of First Peoples in the face of the devastating impacts of colonisation, dispossession and assimilationist policies, and
• (v) that ongoing structural inequality and systemic racism within the criminal justice system continues to cause harm to First Peoples, and is expressed through decision-making in the criminal justice system and the over-representation of First Peoples in that system

(b) amend the Sentencing Act to require courts to, in appropriate cases, consider alternatives to imprisonment for all offenders, with particular attention to the circumstances of Aboriginal offenders

(c) amend the Sentencing Act to, in relation to sentencing:

• (i) require courts to take into account the unique systemic and background factors affecting First Peoples, and
• (ii) require the use of Gladue-style reports for this purpose, and

(d) ensure that:

• (i) there is comprehensive cultural awareness training of lawyers and the judiciary to support the implementation of these requirements, and
• (ii) the design and delivery of such training must be First Peoples led and include education about the systemic factors contributing to First Peoples over-imprisonment.

(a) where appropriate decriminalise offences linked with disadvantage arising from poverty, homelessness, disability, mental ill-health and other forms of social exclusion, and

(b) review and then reform legislation as necessary to reclassify certain indictable offences (such as those kinds of offences) as summary offences, and for this purpose, by 29 February 2024, refer these matters to the Victorian Law Reform Commission (or similar independent review body) for urgent examination which includes consultation with the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria and relevant Aboriginal organisations.

(a) amend relevant legislation to expressly prohibit routine strip searching at all Victorian prisons and youth justice centres, and

(b) ensure that data on the use of strip searching is made publicly available and used to monitor compliance with the prohibition on routine use

(a) a new legislative framework for the adult custodial corrections system which focusses on rehabilitation, safety, cultural and human rights (recommendation 2.1)

(b) a new independent Inspectorate of Custodial Services including an Aboriginal Inspector of Adult Custodial Services (recommendation 2.3)

(c) enhanced data capability and information management system (recommendation 2.6), but which must apply Indigenous Data Sovereignty principles in relation to data of First Peoples

(d) improved professional development for the custodial workforce (recommendation 3.9), but taking into account the above recommendations for strengthening capability, competence and support in relation to human and cultural rights, and

(e) other recommendations in relation to Aboriginal prisoners (see recommendations 5.3 to 5.16).

(a) take all legislative, administrative and other steps to implement the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners in relation to the use of solitary confinement at all Victorian prisons and youth justice centres, including an express prohibition on the use of solitary confinement on children and on the use of prolonged or indefinite solitary confinement on adults, and

(b) ensure that Victorian prisons and youth justice centres are adequately funded and properly operated so that the common practice of locking down prisoners in their cells for prolonged periods for administrative or management reasons in violation of their human and cultural rights is ended.

(a) An acknowledgment and apology by the Victorian Government to First Peoples affected by Soldier Settlement Schemes and their families; 

(b) Appropriate support for First Peoples affected by Soldier Settlement Schemes and their families; and 

(c) Redress including land grants and/or compensation.

(a) Sites of historical injustice; 

(b) Massacre sites; 

(c) Former missions and reserves; 

(d) Sites relevant to frontier wars and First Nations people who served in war; 

(e) Sites relevant to First Peoples’ leadership; and f. Other sites as determined by Traditional Owners or Aboriginal Representative Bodies.

(a) Testing and decontamination processes for land returned or being returned to Traditional Owners, either as part of the settlement package or retrospectively where land is unusable due to contamination or degradation; 

(b) Other forms of environmental and cultural restoration; and

(c) Procurement opportunities for First Peoples where possible

(a) Whether relevant Traditional Owners have been consulted in respect of the sale; and 

(b) Whether it is proposed that a portion of the proceeds from the sale be shared with the Traditional Owners of that land.

(a) Return land acquired for little or no consideration, or reserved by the Crown or Governor for Church purposes, to Traditional Owners of that land; and

(b) Share a portion of proceeds from the future sale of land of the nature described in (a) with Traditional Owners of that land (irrespective of whether it is subject to the State Aid to Religion Abolition Act 1871 (Vic)).

(a) Adopt a principle that First Peoples are entitled to sufficient lands, waters, resources to support their social, emotional and cultural wellbeing; and

(b) To the extent that the existing systems are unable to deliver those lands, waters and resources, agree Traditional Owner treaties to provide an equitable share of lands, waters and resources to First Peoples.

(a) Enabling recognition of First Peoples’ rights to land (at a minimum, reflecting UNDRIP principles); 

(b) Enabling opportunities to disregard by agreement previously extinguished First Peoples’ rights to lands, waters and resources (including under s 47C of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth)); 

(c) Advocating to the Commonwealth Government for amendment to the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) to provide for certain prior extinguishment to be disregarded, expanding on the current categories and for the limitation of extinguishment with respect to future acts; 

(d) Establishing a default mechanism to transfer to Traditional Owners entitlements to land, waters, resources on the sale, surrender or expiration of third party leasehold, licences, entitlements and other interests; 

(e) Not granting new rights or entitlements in Crown lands, waters and resources without providing opportunities for Traditional Owners to themselves acquire the relevant interest, or benefit from the revenues generated; 

(f) Ensuring that Traditional Owners have the opportunity to participate in the State’s ‘right of first refusal’ processes when the State is proposing to sell or repurpose Crown or Government-owned land; 

(g) Establishing ongoing funding for Traditional Owner groups to purchase on the open market privately held land of cultural significance or which would support Traditional Owners’ community objectives; 

(h) Enacting reforms enabling traditional cultural use rights on public land (more broadly than the rights recognised within individual TOSA and NTA agreements and determinations); 

(i) Enacting reforms enabling First Peoples to commercially use and develop their lands, waters and resources; and 

(j) Treating Traditional Owners as rights holders, not standard ‘land users’, including by exempting them from obligations to pay taxes, rates and charges in the case of lands, waters and natural resources.

(a) Reverse the burden of proof for connection to Country so that the state is required to disprove an asserted connection, rather than Traditional Owners prove connection; 

(b) Adjust the test to reflect the effects of colonisation. Connection must become a flexible concept rather than a bright-line test. A lesser degree of connection must be accepted where it results, for instance, from relocation from Country or removal of children; and 

(c) Enact reforms so that the extinguishment of native title is not necessarily permanent but may revive once the extinguishing interest ends.

(a) Just and fair settlements; 

(b) The calculation of compensation; 

(c) Funding for Traditional Owner groups; and 

(d) Land Use Activity Agreement compliance.

(a) Research and strategic mapping of Aboriginal cultural values and landscapes; 

(b) Projects for the identification, protection and/or restoration of cultural values and landscapes; and 

(c) Management of data.

(a) Opportunities for transition to direct management by First Peoples of public land, led by the aspirations of Traditional Owners, and continuing to provide public access where appropriate; 

(b) Transfer of authority to Traditional Owners to determine management priorities and methodologies, including informed by Traditional Owners’ knowledge of Country; and 

(c) Related sources of ongoing funding.

(a) Support and resource the establishment by First Peoples of an independent First Peoples Cultural Fire Authority, led and staffed by First Peoples to facilitate three key functions:

• i. enable a pathway for Traditional Owner-led cultural fire development and practice to occur within the current regulatory environment;
• ii. house the function for developing policy that seeks to reform and decolonise the regulatory environment in seeking pathways to fully transition Traditional Owner-determined fire to Traditional Owner groups; and
• iii. enable a pathway for Traditional Owner carbon and emissions reduction practice. 

(b) Conduct a review of existing fire related legislation, policies, procedures and codes of practice in the State of Victoria to identify opportunities to better recognise and integrate: 

• i. First Peoples’ fire knowledge and practices; and
• ii. First Peoples’ knowledge of Country and Aboriginal cultural heritage values (tangible and intangible) requiring protection.

(c) Provide Traditional Owner groups with ongoing funding to develop and implement cultural fire plans for Country.

(a) Recognising Traditional Owners’ fundamental and inherent rights to water, including by way of amending Victorian water laws to:

• i. incorporate UNDRIP standards (as a minimum); and
• ii. recognise First Peoples’ cultural water rights (including the use of water for commercial purposes, and to support the development of cultural economies) including (without limitation) through amendments to the Traditional Owner Settlement Act 2010 (Vic) and the Water Act 1989 (Vic). 

(b) Embedding, investing in and implementing a cultural flows model into Victorian water law, practice and governance.

(a) Accelerating the development of legislative proposals to recognise waterways as living entities and Traditional Owners as a unique voice of those living entities. 

(b) Supporting Traditional Owners to achieve their water related aspirations as reflected in individual Water is Life Nation Statements. 

(c) Enabling First Peoples to assume ‘waterway manager’ responsibilities within the meaning of the Water Act 1989 (Vic). 

(d) Supporting additional Traditional Owner interfaces with, and representation on, other water resource managers including Water Corporations, Catchment Management Authorities and the Victorian Environmental Water Holder. 

(e) Providing funding to support Traditional Owners to undertake works to restore waterway health and cultural flows on their Country. 

(f) Supporting commercial uses and the growth of water-based cultural economies. 

(g) Removing barriers, increasing funding and accelerating action to: 

• i. allocate or support the purchase of water for First Peoples’ cultural flows and economies within existing entitlement frameworks; and
• ii. support Traditional Owners to directly use and/or realise the economic value of water accessed or returned. 

(h) Prioritise allocation to Traditional Owners of unallocated or newly available water including through:

•  i. water freed up by the cessation of industries like coal power;
• ii. new or alternative water such as desalinated or recycled water; and
• iii. the establishment of buy-back schemes. 

(i) Reviewing, updating (as required) and fully funding relevant strategies such as Water is Life to align with the above.

(a) Implement effective benefit-sharing arrangements; and 

(b) Protect culturally significant public land and ecosystems from damage.

(a). Existing mechanisms for Traditional Owner consultation and consent in the development of minerals, resources and extractive projects (whether on private or public land) at least to ensure consistency with the principles of free, prior and informed consent in UNDRIP; 

(b) Traditional Owner participation in the development and implementation of rehabilitation and remediation plans, making them consent authorities; 64 65 Yoorrook for Transformation Third Interim Report Summary Report 

(c) Mechanisms for greater Traditional Owner participation in: 

• i. rehabilitation works; and
• ii. the management of post-mining land (including under Part 7C of the Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Act 1990 (Vic)). 

(d) Opportunities for the return to Traditional Owners of post-mining land (including for commercial and cultural economy purposes) as a default provision.

(a) Recognises First Peoples’ self-determination and direct interest in relation to the renewables; and 

(b) Provides perpetual funding, resourcing and support for First Peoples to engage at all stages with the renewable energy sector.

(a) Formalise an ongoing role for Traditional Owner groups and ACCOs in incident planning, response and recovery frameworks. 

(b) Provide Traditional Owner groups, ACCOs and ACCHOs, with secure, ongoing, self-determined funding to assist in the preparation for, response to and recovery from natural disasters (including fire, flood), emergency incidents, and health emergencies in the future. 

(c) In the processes in (b), give weight to Traditional Owner voices regarding the protection of Country and cultural heritage.

(a) Expressly recognise Victoria’s First Peoples; 

(b) Acknowledge First Peoples’ rights, cultures, histories and perspectives in education; 

(c) Protect and prioritise First Peoples’ cultural safety and right to a culturally safe education; 

(d) Include an actionable right to protection of cultural rights and cultural safety in all Victorian schools; 

(e) Ensure the representation and perspectives of Victorian and other First Peoples in the school curriculum; and 

(f) Create a First Peoples Education Council as a governance mechanism for oversight and accountability of First Peoples’ school education.

(a) Set clear standards, expectations, and processes for approving and reviewing exclusions;

(b) Require the Department to:

• i. collect and publicly report detailed data on exclusions, disaggregated by age, gender, disability status, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status;
• ii. publish annual analysis of this data, broken down by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, school, and geographical location;
• iii. set clear goals and targets for reducing exclusions of First Nations students, with consequences for schools failing to meet targets;
• iv. promote collaboration between schools, families, and community organisations to address the underlying causes of exclusions and improve attendance and disciplinary outcomes; and
• v. ensure a higher standard of consideration for the behavioural and cognitive needs of First Nations students with disabilities in expulsion decisions.

(a) Develop a flexible school zoning policy that prioritises the cultural safety of First Peoples, ensuring access to culturally appropriate education and support networks; 

(b) Establish a policy for schools to regularly engage with local First Peoples communities, Traditional Owners, and Elders to ensure a culturally safe and relevant education. This policy must include: 

• i. ongoing funding for First Peoples’ cultural programs and partnerships; and
• ii. fair and appropriate remuneration for First Peoples’ specialised skills and services. 

(c) Create a cultural safety framework for schools that includes: 

• i. an anonymous reporting mechanism for racism and breaches of cultural safety;
• ii. actions and measures for compliance;
• iii. data collection, analysis, and public reporting;
• iv. governance, oversight, and accountability mechanisms;
• v. sanctions for breaches; and
• vi. ongoing evaluation and improvement processes.

(a) Direct the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) and the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) to implement mandatory cultural competency standards;

(b) Direct the VCAA to elevate First Peoples from a consultative to a leadership role in reviewing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures curriculum, ensuring the accurate representation of history, the impacts of colonisation, and First Peoples’ strength and resistance from Prep to Year 12, including acknowledgement of past curriculum harms;

(c) Audit the curriculum to include Victorian and national First Peoples’ perspectives across all learning areas from Prep to Year 12; and

(d) Assess the capacity of teaching staff to deliver First Peoples’ content and teach First Nations students, in line with Professional Standards, and review the adequacy of those Standards.

(a) Support schools with ongoing First Peoples-led professional training, guidelines, and resources for effective curriculum delivery; 

(b) Employ First Peoples to lead teacher training on curriculum delivery to ensure accurate and engaging content reflecting truth-telling and First Peoples’ perspectives; and 

(c) Mandate the integration of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures curriculum in planning days.

(a) Implement First Peoples-led cultural competency induction and ongoing professional development for teachers; 

(b) Advocate for the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) to review Professional Standards to better incorporate First Peoples’ perspectives and cultural competency; 

(c) Advocate for Initial Teacher Education to include First Peoples’ perspectives and cultural competency;

(d) Mandate culturally appropriate, trauma-informed practices training for teachers, delivered by ACCOs in every school; and 

(e) Ensure the new First Nations Strategy, Policy and Programs division includes mechanisms for culturally safe disability assessments and supports for First Peoples students.

(a) Invest in high-quality, First Peoples-authored or endorsed teaching materials to support the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures cross-curriculum priority; 

(b) Set targets for school libraries to audit and decolonise collections, removing outdated or racist materials and ensuring libraries include: 

• i. truth-telling and respect for all Australians;
• ii. diverse First Peoples’ voices and perspectives;
• iii. First Peoples’ knowledge, strengths, and resilience; and
• iv. works by First Nations authors.

(a) Increase the number of First Peoples teachers through targeted recruitment, retention programs, and clear incentives for schools that meet set targets; 

(b) Establish a state-funded scholarship program for First Peoples to support their access, participation, and completion of teacher qualifications, including funding for unpaid student placements; 

(c) Commission an independent survey of First Peoples school staff to assess experiences of racism, discrimination, and cultural safety, and their impact on staff retention; 

(d) Strengthen racism and discrimination complaints processes to ensure staff safety and accountability for perpetrators; 

(e) Recognise and remunerate First Peoples teachers for additional colonial and cultural workload, and incorporate this into the Marrung Aboriginal Education Strategy 2016-2026; and 

(f) In relation to the Koorie Engagement and Support Officer (KESO) role: 

• i. clearly define the role and its responsibilities;
• ii. shift Community Understanding and Safety Training (CUST) delivery from KESOs to ACCOs and fund this; and
• iii. mandate CUST for all school teachers.

(a) Implementing professional development, sponsorship, and mentoring programs, along with dedicated leadership positions for First Peoples teachers and staff; and 

(b) Increasing First Peoples representation on school councils to reflect the First Peoples population in the school or region.

(a) Establishing a First Peoples Education Council comprised of and led by First Peoples with a mandate to: 

• i. oversee and ensure accountability for First Peoples schooling educational outcomes; and
• ii. lead reforms over curriculum and resource allocation for First Peoples’ education;. 

(b) Replacing the Marrung Aboriginal Education Strategy 2016-2026 at the end of its life with a new strategy that includes measurable outcomes and annual reporting to Parliament to track and address progress effectively.

(a) School Annual Implementation Plans; 

(b) Executive performance plans; 

(c) School and principal Key Performance Indicators; and 

(d) School funding.

(a) Mandating measures for timely implementation, accountability, self-determination and cultural safety in SSGs and IEPs; and 

(b) Mandating inclusion of student and carer/family voice in IEPs.

(a) Expressly recognise Victorian First Peoples; 

(b) Acknowledge First Peoples’ rights, cultures, histories and perspectives in tertiary education; and 

(c) Incorporate key accountability indicators for the measures set out in Education – Tertiary Chapters 24 and 25.

(a) Ensuring cultural support initiatives and First Nations student support systems are embedded into mainstream university business;

(b) Addressing racism against First Peoples by duty-holders, including tertiary education providers; and

(c) Developing governance, oversight and accountability mechanisms, including sanctions for breaches.

(a) Advocate to the Federal Minister for Education to direct the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) and other relevant professional bodies, to the extent necessary to mandate registered Victorian universities to include specific content about Victorian First Peoples in their courses; 

(b) Advocate for the inclusion of the cross-curriculum priority: ‘Learning about Victorian First Peoples histories and cultures’ across all units in pre-service and post-graduate teacher courses; and 

(c) Advocate to the relevant professional bodies for social work, medicine and nursing to stringently enforce university compliance with compulsory course requirements relating to First Peoples, and to the legal professional bodies to require compulsory First Peoples-related subjects in law degrees.

(a) Increase funding to First Peoples-led health services to ensure they are sufficiently resourced to deliver to First Peoples, regardless of where they live, a similar range of services, including: 

• i. maternal and child health services;
• ii. financial support programs for those struggling with cost of living and food security; and
• iii. alcohol and drug services (including withdrawal and residential rehabilitation services). 

(b) Fund First Peoples-led organisations to deliver: 

• i. a holistic range of aged care services, both residential and non-residential; and
• ii. palliative care services

(a) Develop a regulatory framework to increase compliance with the Cultural Safety Principle set out in section 27 of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022 (Vic); and

(b) Amend section 27 of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022 (Vic) to require that all entities involved in the response, treatment, or care of First Peoples comply with the Cultural Safety Principle.

(a) Amend the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022 (Vic) to replace the Health Led Response Principle with robust statutory obligations on both Victoria Police and health professionals in relation to First Peoples, removing all Protective Service Officer powers to respond to mental health crises and significantly investing in health-led responses and divesting from Victoria Police.

(b) Introduce and fund a compulsory workforce training requirement for police to facilitate a health-led response in relation to First Peoples.

(a) Review the implementation of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022 (Vic) relating to restrictive interventions. 

(b) Assess the extent to which the Government is ‘acting immediately’ to ensure restrictive interventions is only used as a last resort. 

(c) Develop a regulatory framework for the reduction of restrictive interventions to give effect to section 125 of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022 (Vic).

(a) Their use of restrictive interventions and compulsory assessment and treatment; 

(b) Steps taken to comply with the obligation to reduce and eventually eliminate restrictive interventions; 

(c) Compliance with the Cultural Safety Principle; and 

(d) Responses to mental health crises including exercise of police powers and the transition to health-led crisis responses.

(a) Increasing First Peoples-led support before and representation on the Tribunal. 

(b) Enabling the Mental Health Tribunal to hear First Peoples’ stories and receive relevant cultural information, including the way in which connection to culture, community, kin and Country can support good mental health and wellbeing. 

(c) Empower the Mental Health Tribunal to make findings and orders in relation to mental health services and treating teams.

(a) Expand existing services and deliver new initiatives to respond to family violence; and 

(b) Establish First Peoples Women’s Centres for First Peoples women affected by family violence, including a comprehensive suite of culturally safe, holistic specialist and preventative supports such as SEWB, mental health, alcohol and drug support and crisis accommodation

(a) Invest in primary prevention initiatives (e.g. universal prevention programs for all Victorians) which address racism, before family violence occurs; and 

(b) Develop and invest in initiatives to educate, prevent and reduce the likelihood of escalation of behaviour and/or repeat offences of users of violence once they have been identified.

(a) Take legislative, administrative and other steps to eliminate racism against First Peoples from Victorian health settings; 

(b) Legislate and fund the development of cultural safety service standards to be met by public and community health services (including those operating in custodial health settings). The standards should protect the cultural safety of First Peoples patients and families and First Peoples staff; and 

(c) Explore the feasibility of setting up an accreditation process to assess services against the cultural safety service standards that is appropriately resourced and led by a First Peoples organisation with experience in the health sector.

(a) Fund all workforce actions in the Victorian Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing Partnership Agreement Action Plan, with a focus on extending student placements, internships, cadetships and graduate placements; and 

(b) Increase First Peoples’ leadership and representation in the Department of Health, health services and health service boards. This must be reported on in annual reports

(a). Transfer oversight and responsibility of First Peoples’ prison healthcare from the Department of Justice and Community Safety to the Department of Health. 

b) Provide First Peoples people in custody with primary healthcare, social and emotional wellbeing support, specialist services and access to disability supports at equivalent standard to that provided in the community, as well as ensuring First Peoples’ cultural safety. 

(c) Work with the Federal Government to ensure that First Peoples in prison have access to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS). 

(d) Revise the system for auditing and scrutiny of custodial healthcare services, to ensure that there is a robust oversight of all providers of prison healthcare (both public and private) and public reporting of the outcomes.

(e) Reform the prison complaints process to ensure that First Peoples’ prison complaints, including complaints against private prisons and contractors, are handled by an appropriately resourced independent oversight body with sufficient powers to refer matters for criminal investigation. The body must be accessible to First Peoples in prison and complainants must have adequate legislative protection.

(a). Develop a model for an equitable proportion of funding to ACCOs delivering health services immediately. 

(b) According to a clear published plan and timeline, transition all Victorian Government departments’ funding for ACCOs’ service delivery (where those ACCOS are delivering health services) to outcomes-focussed recurrent funding that includes indexation.

(c) Establish an ACCO Perpetual Infrastructure Fund to provide long-term ongoing self-determined minor capital, maintenance, planning and management resources for ACCOs delivering health services across all holistic wrap-around services. 

(d) Prioritise pay parity, training, upskilling and leadership development of all staff in the ACCO sector in accordance with the Victorian Health Workforce Strategy and ensure that ACCOs delivering health services have a self-determining role in how this is implemented.

(a) Addressing housing supply issues; 

(b) Appropriately funding and supporting ACCOs to deliver housing solutions; 

(c) Increasing support for private rental and home ownership; 

(d) Delivering an Aboriginal-focused homelessness system; 

(e) Fully funding and implementing the Blueprint for an Aboriginal-specific Homelessness System in Victoria; and 

(f) Fully funding and implementing the recommendations in Aboriginal private rental access in Victoria: Excluded from the Start.

(a) Making equitable and stable investments to grow and maintain ACCO community housing supply; 

(b) Providing funding to ACCOs to implement alternative models such as build and own, managed by private agent or partnership arrangements; 

(c) Extending the Big Housing Build and increase targets from 10% to 25% funding allocation for First Peoples’ housing over the next 5 years; 

(d) Transferring fit-for-purpose public housing units to ACCOs and providing repair and refurbishment funding; 

(e) Funding ACCOs to respond to barriers facing prospective First Peoples homeowners including expanding knowledge and education strategies on how to enter the home ownership market; and 

(f) Developing new and innovative shared equity and rent-to-buy schemes for First Peoples in Victoria.

(a) Providing feasibility and start-up costs; 

(b) Facilitating community engagement and design of new housing projects; and 

(c) Providing funding, resourcing and assistance to engage in and maintain registration as housing providers.

(a) Revise the implementation timeline and proposed goals of the Yuma Yirramboi Strategy, including developing a publicly accessible monitoring and accountability plan for the strategy. 

(b) Incentivise major corporations in Victoria’s private sector to embed more First Peoples businesses in supply chains.

(c) Change procurement monitoring and targets from number of contracts to total dollars spent to accurately reflect investment.

(d) Develop, resource and implement an Indigenous Preferred Procurement Program.

(a) Amending the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic) to include an obligation on employers and employees to take steps to ensure cultural safety and capability in Victorian workplaces. 

(b) Creating a pipeline of First Peoples talent for identified industries with skills shortages, including bolstering access to education and vocational training for First Peoples to prepare them for high-value employment sectors. 

(c) Monitoring and ensuring proper pay and conditions against defined targets for First Peoples in the public sector. 

(d) Monitoring and ensuring proper remuneration for the cultural load borne by First Peoples in the workplace. 

(e) Ensure the private sector develops recruitment, development, mentoring and retention strategies for First Peoples and support the private sector in developing such strategies

(a) Provide ongoing and sustainable funding for existing First Peoples-controlled archives, including for operational costs; 

(b) Increase resources for organisations supporting First Peoples to access their records; 

(c) Prioritise the digitisation and searchability of First Peoples’ records, including working with First Peoples to reframe how records are described; and 

(d) Provide First Peoples with priority access to records and archives identified as relating to First Peoples.

(a) Officially acknowledge the responsibility of its predecessors for laws, policies and practices that contributed to systemic injustices against Victorian First Peoples; 

(b) Make official apologies to First Peoples in Victoria; and 

(c) Negotiate with the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria a form of words for official apologies to First Peoples individuals and communities.

In respect of the redress obligations for the taking of land, waters and resources from First Peoples, the Victorian Government must act consistently with the principles in UNDRIP Articles 8(2)(b) and 28, including the following:

(a) Redress for economic loss including past loss, loss of opportunities and loss to future generations; 

(b) Interest on economic loss; 

(c) Redress for non-economic loss including cultural loss, assessed as at the date of extinguishment; and 

(d) Interest on non-economic loss. 

Redress should take the form of: 

(e) Restitution of traditional lands, waters and natural resources ownership rights to First Peoples; 

(f) Monetary compensation; 

(g) Tax relief; and

(h) Such other financial or other benefits as may be requested by the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria or the local treaty bodies in treaty negotiations. 

‘Redress’ does not, in principle, include equitable benefit-sharing of natural resources or the revenue or other benefits derived from the use or exploitation of natural resources. First Peoples have a separate right to equitable benefit-sharing from the exploitation or use of the natural resources on their territories. Notwithstanding this, the First Peoples Assembly of Victoria and local treaty bodies should not be prohibited from allocating additional benefit share to meet redress obligations for historical wrongs.