The history of land dispossession detailed in the Yoorrook Justice Commission's final report shows why Victorian Traditional Owners must be central to a reconciled future, the peak advocacy body representing them says.
In its final report, tabled in the Victorian Parliament on Tuesday, Australia's first formal truth-telling inquiry recommended that the state government consider various forms of redress, including land restitution, financial compensation, tax relief, and other benefits.
The Commission found that between 2010 and 2023, Victoria earned $83 billion in water-related revenue, $1.89 billion from grazing and land licences, and $1 billion from resource royalties — none of which went to Traditional Owners.
"Our lands were taken, and with them, something deeper: the essence of culture, and the ability to continue traditional practices and maintain identity," wrote Yoorrook Chair Professor Eleanor Bourke AM in the report's foreword.
"Death, violence, disease, dispossession and government control changed the landscape."
The Federation of Victorian Traditional Owner Corporations (FVTOC) — the state-wide body that convenes and advocates for the rights of Traditional Owner groups — welcomed the findings.
Interim Chief Executive Kaley Nicholson said the "removal, denial and exclusion" of Traditional Owners from Country underscored the urgent need to restore land rights and repair past and ongoing harm.
"Land theft and dislocation forced Traditional Owners off Country and severed us from the land and resources so vital for wellbeing and economic prosperity," she said.
"Restoring Traditional Owners' rights in land and resources are at the very heart of what's needed to redress the harms of the past and create a better future. Every one of Yoorrook's historic recommendations would be best fulfilled with strong Traditional Owners, back on Country, leading the social, political and economic landscape."
The Commission recommended that redress be delivered through both the Statewide Treaty — currently being negotiated with the First Peoples' Assembly — and Traditional Owner group treaties. It found the legacy of colonisation is still being experienced by Indigenous Victorians first-hand.
"First Peoples in Victoria have been consistently excluded from opportunities to generate wealth," the report says. "Colonial systems prevented First Peoples from participating in economic life and wealth creation, including through education, employment opportunities and owning property."
The report also called for stronger financial support for Traditional Owner groups to repatriate ancestral remains, negotiate "just and fair settlements," and conduct cultural and land-based work on Country.
The FVTOC said urgent action was needed on recommendations, including the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), returning land to Traditional Owners, and reforming the Traditional Owner Settlement Act to better support self-determination.
Ms Nicholson said many of the proposals could be implemented quickly through "changes to policy, law, and practice."
"That's our expectation as Traditional Owners," she said.
The Commission also recommended amending Victoria's public land laws to reflect Traditional Owner aspirations and allow a transition to direct First Peoples' management of public land — while continuing public access where appropriate.
"Yoorrook Justice Commission's historic mandate to reveal the truth of colonisation in Victoria shows the central role Traditional Owner groups will play in healing historic harm and transforming the future," Ms Nicholson said.
"Now, we need the Victorian Government to commit to respectful and resourced partnership with Traditional Owners of Country, to support our communities to set the directions of a more just future."
