The First Peoples' Assembly has called for a taking back of structural power as the body gears up for Treaty negotiations with the Victorian Government.
Speaking at the statewide Treaty gathering on Wadawurrung Country on Sunday, the co-chairs of the elected voice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Victoria urged people to adopt Treaty in their lives as they "live and breathe".
Assembly co-chair and Gunditjmara man Reuben Berg said in addition to sitting and working with government towards an agreement, the Assembly aim to embed mechanisms, "to make it as difficult at possible for government to change their mind"
A 'fired up' Mr Berg adding the Assembly will not be satisfied within fitting within government framework.
"We exist as an entity. This is an idea. It's bigger than just a corporation that we have, and it's going to be bigger than just some statutory body, we might become," Mr Berg said.
"We exist despite recognition by government. That's our right of exercising our sovereignty to say; we are here.
"And regardless of in the future, whether government does find some way to unpick the very intricate way we've embedded ourselves in the system, if they do unpick it, it doesn't matter because we will still exist. When it is independent of them. We don't need their permission to exist. We assert out right to exist."
It comes after the government only adopted four of the 46 Yoorrook Justice Commission recommendations in full this week, angering human rights and Indigenous groups.
Assembly co-chair and Wamba Wamba, Yorta Yorta, Dhudhuroa and Dja Dja Wurrung woman, Ngarra Murray, said in the coming months, "we'll need our community more than ever".
"Time has proven, over more than 200 years of colonisation, we will rise to the occasion," Ms Murray said.
"We owe it to our ancestors, and we owe it to our blood."
The gathering has seen a wide range of discussions surrounding Treaty, with all Assembly members discussing the impacts and plans of the process ahead of the upcoming negotiations with the Victorian government.
Mr Berg, along with the wider Assembly, has repeatedly said nothing is off the table when it comes to the negotiations. But in recent times, several have been identified as the original points to present to the government.
These include establishing a process and timetable for transferring the decision-making power from Government to First Peoples.
On Sunday, Mr Berg reiterated this, arguing any time the government makes a decision solely affecting First People, "it should be made by first peoples".
"There shouldn't be an elected person from the broader community elected to make decisions for our own people," he said.
He noted that despite the large number of allies in Victoria, it would be First Nations people who ultimately made the decision on all the details of Treaty.
"We are not going to be reliant on the broader public…and that's a positive to how we do things," Mr Berg said.
"We cannot falter; we can't afford to."
This self-determination was addressed during his keynote address on Friday, when he argued: "Our people were deliberately excluded from economic development, but with Treaty, our communities will not only be able to benefit from the economy but also contribute to it".
"Politicians like to talk about 'closing the gap'. Well, if they want to help close the gap they have to stop thinking they know best. They have to let our communities make the decisions that matter to our communities," he said.
"That's how we'll get better outcomes for Aboriginal communities."
