‘Truth telling’ commission to start with town hall meetings

Australia’s first truth and justice commission will kick off of a series of town hall meetings across Victoria.

Commissioners of a Victorian probe into injustices committed against Aboriginal people will travel across the state to visit traditional owners and communities ahead of formal hearings.

The Yoo-rrook Justice commissioners will host a series of town halls, or Yoo-rrook on country, in Melbourne and regional towns including Shepparton, Bendigo, Geelong and Warrnambool after the state’s sixth lockdown is lifted.

Commission chair Eleanor Bourke said the purpose of the meetings was to alert communities to the probe and establish it as a separate entity from the Treaty process and First Peoples’ Assembly.

“The main part of it is to meet people and see what they think about talking to us, if they want to tell us a story or meet with us about a particular thing,” professor Bourke said.

“(We will) make sure that we are inclusive as go around – speaking to as many people as we can. We want to get an idea about how people are feeling about what it is we propose to do,” she said.

“It is so critical that we get out and meet people.”

Professor Bourke said Victoria’s latest lockdown had hampered the commissioners’ plans to start the meetings, which they hoped could take from place from the weekend.

She said the commissioners would travel to the five regions of Victoria — which include the north east, north west, south east, south west and metropolitan areas of the state — as a prelude to formal hearings of the probe.

“(We will) look at … the past injustices that have been done to our people and what that means today,” she said. “(It is about) making all Victorians aware of what happened.”

The commission was announced in March by the state government. It will have the powers of a royal commission and be able to subpoena documents and past officials.

The probe will examine cultural violations and massacres, policing and criminal justice, child protection, family and welfare matters, health and healthcare. It’s aim is to document injustices experienced by Aboriginal people since colonisation.

An interim report is due to be delivered to the state government in June 2022, to be followed by a final report with recommendations in 2024.

The findings of the commission will pave the way for a treaty process between Victoria’s Indigenous people and the state government.

The commission will be supported by the state’s First People’s Assembly for Victoria and is backed by $58m worth of funding.