Yoorrook Justice Commission recommends independent watchdog to oversee Victoria Police

A watchdog to oversee Victoria Police’s treatment of Indigenous people after they have been arrested or charged is among a slew of new changes being considered by the Allan Government.

A watchdog to oversee Victoria Police’s treatment of Indigenous people after they have been arrested or charged is among the unprecedented new changes being considered by the Allan Government.

In response to the Yoorrook Justice Commission, a landmark inquiry into the treatment of Aboriginals in Victoria’s justice and child protection system, the government has revealed they will accept 28 recommendations either fully or in-principle, while 15 will be considered.

A new independent watchdog with the power to arrest, search property and compel information from Victoria Police will be considered.

Victoria Police said it “will follow any external oversight arrangements”, while the Police Association noted that complaints about cops are already investigated by the independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission.

The government is also probing whether they can introduce a separate child protection system for Indigenous children, who are overwhelmingly impacted by the current administration.

It will also seek whether Aboriginal-led agencies could control some aspects of the criminal justice system as part of a key recommendation to give First Peoples’ a say over how the system works.

The Allan government is considering an independent police watchdog that would have powers to arrest and compel information from Victoria Police. Picture: supplied

However the Allan government has shut down the Commission’s most controversial recommendation for a complete ban on jailing offenders under the age of 16, and for the age of criminal responsibility to be immediately lifted from 10 to 14.

The government also rejected calls for Aboriginal people to be given the right to take public officials and authorities to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) if they believed their human rights had been violated.

Yoorrook Justice Commission chair Eleanor Bourke said additional “accountability hearings” may be called this year to compel the government to provide updates on recommendations.

She said the commissioners stood by their recommendations and are “disappointed” by the government’s failure to support three.

“These recommendations were not made lightly. They go to the heart of addressing ongoing injustice against First Peoples,” Prof Bourke said.   

Treaty and First Peoples Minister Natalie Hutchins on Wednesday said the government believed the changes flagged were “achievable” but conceded “there is room for us to do more in the future”.

Treaty and First Peoples Minister Natalie Hutchins said the truth-telling process provided a “historic opportunity”. Picture: NewsWire

“I would ask First Nation people in Victoria to take heart in the fact that we have said yes to a majority of these recommendations and we’ve shown a willingness to continue to work on (the recommendations) that do need more work,” she said.

But the government’s response has been slammed by Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service CEO Nerita Waight, who said it is “so disappointing” that recommendations weren’t taken more seriously.

“It feels like a paralysis has set into the Victorian government since the change of Premier. Promises have been delayed or shelved, and there’s no clear direction coming from the government,” she said.

The First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria also accused the government of disrespecting community members who took part in the truth-telling process, while Human Rights Law Centre managing lawyer Monique Hurley said only raising the age to 12 is a “betrayal of Victoria’s children”.

“A brave Victorian government would stop propping up a system of cruelty and act on Yoorrook’s recommendations to overhaul the state’s bail laws and raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 10 to at least 14 as a matter of urgency,” she said.

Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People, Meena Singh, said the government’s response was disappointing and lacked detail about funding and timelines for delivery.

“We’ve gone through a referendum that was really taxing on the community. This was an opportunity for the Victorian government to restate its commitment to Aboriginal people,” she told the Herald Sun.

Ms Singh said stakeholders hadn’t yet been given an opportunity to discuss what an Aboriginal-led child protection system could look like.