Victorian government met with outcry and disappointment over its response to the Yoorrook Justice Commission’s report

The state government has been chastised over rejecting recommendations put to it by the nation’s first formal truth-telling body, with one Indigenous group saying a ‘paralysis’ has set in since Jacinta Allan became Premier.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan met with Yoorrook Justice Commissioners earlier this year. Picture: X / Yoorrook Justice Commission.

The Victorian government has rejected three “crucial” recommendations and sought more time to consider others put to it by the Yoorrook Justice Commission, prompting the chair of the state’s truth-telling body to express her disappointment and outcry from other Indigenous groups.

The Allan government on Wednesday tabled its response to the 445-page Yoorrook for Justice report published in September last year, which urged the government to abolish juvenile detention for all criminals under 16 and have a separate child-protection system set up for Indigenous children with “decision-making power, authority, control and resources” handed to First Peoples.

The long-awaited response revealed that of the 46 recommendations put forward by Yoorrook, the state government endorses just four recommendations in full, supports 24 in principle, rejects three and will consider the other 15.

The recommendations refused include allowing the state’s human rights charter be amended so that individuals can bring cases to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal if they believe the charter had been breached, reforming the Bail Act and introducing legislation to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility in the state to 14 years and prohibit the detention of children under 16.

The report stated that the government is committed to its timeline of raising the age to 12 and then to 14 by 2027.

Yoorrook Justice Commission chair Professor Eleanor Bourke said the commissioners of the truth-telling body were disappointed by the rejections.

“The 46 recommendations contained in the Yoorrook for Justice report followed a year-long inquiry into systemic injustice within Victoria’s child protection and criminal justice systems. It found both systems remain broken for First Peoples, and that the present-day failures of these systems are deeply rooted in the colonial foundations of the state,“ she said on Wednesday.

“The report provides a roadmap to transform Victoria’s child protection and criminal justice systems and create a better future for all Victorians. Commissioners stand by all the recommendations contained in the report.

“Given the weight of evidence presented throughout the inquiry, which included deeply personal accounts from First Peoples witnesses of suffering which many continue to experience every day, Commissioners are disappointed by the government’s decision not to support three recommendations.“

She said recommendations regarding the Bail Act and raising the age of criminal responsibility and detention “are crucial” given the over-incarceration of First Peoples adults and children and deaths in custody.

Chair of the Yoorrook Justice Commission Eleanor Bourke. Picture: Tricia Rivera

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

The recommendations that have received the government’s full support include producing an annual public report of child protection and family services funding and money allocated to Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations and ensuring the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing guarantees incoming child protection staff complete cultural awareness training.

The government also supports a recommendation that the Chief Commissioner of Police ensure that Victoria Police conduct is closely monitored to ensure police members “do not use existing powers to unnecessarily take intoxicated people into custody”.

A transfer of decision-making power, authority, control and resources to First Peoples over self determination in the child protection system and the establishment of a new independent police oversight authority to investigate complaints about police are among the recommendations under consideration by the government.

The truth-telling commission has demanded the proposed police watchdog be empowered to arrest and search properties and include a dedicated division for complaints from First Peoples.

Other recommendations the government will seek to explore further include decriminalising offences “linked with disadvantages arising from poverty, homelessness, disability, mental ill-health and other forms of social exclusion” and amending the Children, Youth and Families Act to specify that priority be given to keep siblings together in out of home and permanent care placement decisions.

Victorian Treaty and First Peoples Minister Natalie Hutchins said treaty and truth is the best way to close the gap.

“Every Yoorrook Justice Commission inquiry allows the Victorian government to develop a deeper understanding of the discrimination that has been built into state government policies and approaches,” she said.

Commission members, from left, Kevin Bell, Sue-Anne Hunter, Eleanor Bourke, Travis Lovett and Maggie Walter. Picture: Brianna Young / Yoorrook Justice Commission.

“We thank First Peoples who participated in the Inquiry and appeared before the Commission for their ongoing strength and resilience.”

Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service chief executive officer Nerita Waight harshly criticised the government and said it felt like “a paralysis has set into the Victorian government since the change of Premier”

“We have waited over 210 days for the Victorian government to respond to the Yoorrook for Justice Report and it reads like it was slapped together overnight,” she said.

“The Victorian government’s response to the Yoorrook for Justice report does not give our people any confidence that they are ready to commit to the transformational change treaty requires when they can’t even lay the groundwork in the child protection and criminal justice systems.

“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.”

Ms Waight said that treaty needs to “transform Victoria” but that Premier Allan needs to step up.

“That is going to require the Victorian government to dream big and be bold. I want to help them to do that,” she said.

“I want Premier Jacinta Allan to be the first leader in Australia to sign a Treaty with our people – but the Premier needs to commit to a big vision and whip her government into shape so that it can deliver.”

The Human Rights Law Centre called the response “feeble”, with it’s managing lawyer Monique Hurley lashing the government for dismissing an opportunity handed to them by First Nations people.

“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.

“Children belong with their families and communities, not in prison and police cells.”