Report calls for measures to make amends for ‘injustice which has occurred during and as a result of the colonial invasion and occupation of First Peoples’ territories’

Monetary compensation, tax relief, and land grants are among the 100 recommendations made by the Yoorrook Justice Commission in its controversial final report.

Indigenous Victorians should be offered tax relief and cash compensation and have land handed back to them to make up for the impact of colonisation, according to a bombshell report.

The Yoorrook Justice Commission’s final report, tabled in parliament on Tuesday, delivered 100 recommendations to the Allan government after a four-year truth-telling inquiry.

Its most controversial calls included a string of financial benefits to make amends “for injustice which has occurred during and as a result of the colonial invasion and occupation of First Peoples’ territories.”

Premier Jacinta Allan at the Yoorrook Justice Commission. Picture: David Crosling

There was also a call for the Victorian government to acknowledge responsibility for the wrongs of its predecessors and offer a formal apology.

Among the commission’s other radical proposals were for sweeping changes to the education system that would exclude Indigenous children from attendance requirements, expulsions and suspensions, as well as avenues for more appropriate cultural training.

It also recommended that Treaty be pursued, permanent funding streams set up to help future Indigenous generations, and the First Peoples’ Assembly made permanent – a move the Herald Sun revealed this week would be delivered to create a Victorian version of the Voice.

Several recommendations in the commission’s report related to “impacts of country being stolen”, with one suggestion made to have markers placed at locations where massacres had occurred and sites of historical missions and places of cultural significance.

The inquiry found evidence of at least separate 50 massacres.

There was also a call for churches to be forced to hand back land to traditional owners.

Other recommendations included letting Indigenous Victorians oversee waterways, increased funding to First Peoples-led health services, and funding to run culturally-sensitive burial services.

However, the report also revealed there was split among the commissioners on their findings.

Three of the five Yoorrook commissioners Maggie Walter, Sue-Anne Hunter and Tony North “did not approve of the inclusion of the key findings in the final report”.

The Yoorrook Justice Commission is an independent body probing law and policies in Victoria that impact Indigenous Victorians and has been running for the past four years.

Yoorrook Justice Commission chairperson Professor Eleanor Bourke said the third and final report “sets out some recommendations to be advanced through the treaty process and others through urgent actions and reforms that should begin now”.

“These recommendations take the voices, lived experience and evidence of First Peoples into the places where decisions are made and where change must happen,” she said.

“To Premier Allan and the Victorian Government, I urge you all to implement the Yoorrook for Transformation recommendations with courage and commitment.”

On Tuesday, Premier Jacinta Allan said the government welcomed the report and would carefully consider the recommendations.

“Thank you to the Commission for these historic reports – they shine a light on hard truths and lay the foundations for a better future for all Victorians,” she said.

“Victoria’s truth-telling process is a historic opportunity to hear the stories of our past that have been buried – these are stories that all Victorians need to hear.”

Assembly Co-Chair and proud Wamba Wamba, Yorta Yorta, Dhudhuroa and Dja Dja Wurrung woman Ngarra Murray said the four-year probe had unearthed many issues.

First Peoples’ Assembly Co-Chair and proud Gunditjmara man Rueben Berg said the report showed the importance of Treaty, which is currently being negotiated with the Allan government.

“Truth and Treaty go hand-in-hand – Treaty will acknowledge our shared history and be an agreement between First Peoples and the Victorian Government on how we move forward together to help right past wrongs,” Mr Berg said.

“Victorians know that we can’t keep doing the same thing and expecting different results. When it comes to issues facing First Peoples, we need a different approach, one that draws on the expertise of First Peoples to design and deliver practical solutions to local challenges. That’s what Treaty is all about.”

Originally published as Report calls for measures to make amends for ‘injustice which has occurred during and as a result of the colonial invasion and occupation of First Peoples’ territories’