The 100 recommendations in the Yoorrook Justice Commission's final report may come as a shock — but only to those who haven't been listening.

Tabled in the Victorian Parliament on Tuesday, the report marks the culmination of Australia's first formal truth-telling inquiry. Its findings are unflinching: the state government should consider redress for First Peoples through a range of measures, including land restitution, financial compensation, tax relief and other benefits.

These recommendations are grounded in an extraordinary breadth of evidence. Over four years, the Commission conducted 67 days of public hearings, heard testimony from more than 200 witnesses, and engaged with over 2,000 people — 1,500 of them First Peoples. It received more than 1,300 written submissions, consulted over 9,000 individuals, reviewed nearly 10,000 state documents, and took part in over 400 community events.

"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."

Despite this documented history, debates around treaties, apologies, and reparations often rest on a denial — or minimisation — of that harm. Some argue such purposeful and racially-motivated violence, if it happened at all, no longer affects First Peoples.

Yoorrook's findings offer a powerful rebuttal.

"Systemic racism, as well as individual racist attitudes, lie at the heart of these injustices," the report states. "Systemic racism refers to laws, policies or practices that may, on their face appear neutral, but which in practice unfairly disadvantage certain racial groups and advantage others.

"In the face of these injustices, First Peoples continue to resist State-inflicted inequality, institutional discrimination and dispossession that negatively impacts their lives and wellbeing."

The report also confronts the economic reality of colonisation's legacy. Between 2010 and 2023, the state of 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 was returned to Traditional Owners.

Speaking to the ABC, VACCHO Chief Executive and Gunditjmara woman, Jill Gallagher, said: "We don't blame anyone alive today for these atrocities, but it is the responsibility of those of us alive today to accept that truth — and all Victorians today must accept, recognise and reconcile with these factual findings."

Many of these facts, from colonial crimes to continued structural inequality, are there for all to see. What remains unclear, is whether the government will act on them.

The majority of the recommendations from Yoorrook's interim report in late 2023 are still unresolved. The state has since walked back a promise to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14, and introduced stricter bail laws that many Indigenous advocates strongly opposed.

Premier Jacinta Allan, who became the first political leader in the country to appear before a truth-telling body, has previously said she would be prepared to issue a formal apology on behalf of the state. On Wednesday, she urged Victorians to read the "incredibly powerful document."

Having previously described the link between historical atrocities and contemporary inequality as an "unbroken line," Allan said her government would "take their time to consider and respond to the report."

Asked whether some of the recommendations were too divisive — a claim already made by certain media commentators — the Premier responded with directness.

"The recommendations and indeed the findings, I do acknowledge they are incredibly challenging. They are challenging because they tell the truth. They tell the truth about how our state was colonised. That does make for some tough reading," she said

"When you read about the violence, you read about the massacres, you read about the decisions in the past to forcibly remove children from their family, from their loved ones, from their culture, and their people ... many parts of the report are challenging."

Last month, one of the five Yoorrook Commissioners, Kerrupmara Gunditjmara man Travis Lovett, completed his 'Walk for Truth' with a message to those gathered in support.

After 500 km, on the steps of state parliament, he cried: "The silence ends here," he said. "The time of not knowing — of choosing not to know — is over."

Now, Victoria has in its hands a definitive document of truth. First Peoples have spoken these truths for generations — the only difference now is that they've been written down, submitted to Parliament, and made impossible to ignore.

The question is no longer whether the truth has been told. It's whether those in power will finally listen.