Leading Victorian Indigenous organisations have commemorated the anniversary of the Voice to Parliament referendum defeat, noting the outcome remains "very fresh and raw".
Speaking on Sunday evening, the chief executive of the Victorian Aboriginal Community-Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO), Dr Jill Gallagher, said the "absolute devastation" she felt during the evening of October 14 when the result of the referendum came in "still feels the same 12 months on".
"As an Aboriginal woman who has always worked hard to advance the rights of our people, to lose a referendum to have the Indigenous people of this country recognised in the Constitution, I find it so hard to take," she said.
The Gunditjmara woman reflected on a photo of Aboriginal leaders during a Yes campaign rally at the Aboriginal Advancement League in Thornbury.
"We are all standing in front of a mural of Aboriginal Elders who paved the way for my generation to do what we do now," she told the webinar, which was facilitated by the Uluru Statement from the Heart architects Professor Megan Davis and Dr Pat Anderson.
"Elders who fought for recognition and better conditions for Aboriginal people.
"These Elders fought hard to ensure we would be recognised as citizens of this country in the 1967 referendum, and last year I was hoping that we were going to build on their hard work."
More than 60 per cent of Australians voted 'no' in the referendum on October 14, 2023, with every state and territory - aside from the ACT - rejecting the proposal.
For Antoinette Braybrook AM, the chief executive of Victorian Aboriginal family violence prevention service Djirra, whilst the outcome wasn't what many had hoped for, they wouldn't be deterred.
"6.2 million people across this country stood with us in the Yes. This was a powerful moment for our people, and one we know will lead to change," she said.
"Djirra remains in the Yes because Aboriginal women and their children deserve better.
"We remain loud, proud and unapologetic in our fight for a self-determined future where Aboriginal women and their children are safe, heard and thriving in culture and identity."
Ms Braybrook said Aboriginal people had been the world's "most resilient culture" for 65,000 years, staying the distance since invasion.
"We will not stop," she said.
"We are committed to the principles of the Uluru Statement: Voice, Truth and Treaty."
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised during his 2022 election campaign the government would implement the Makarrata Commission in full.
However no progress appears to have been made, with the government seeking to distance themselves from the treaty and truth aspects of it at this year's Garma Festival.
Uluru Statement from the Heart co-architect and Cobble Cobble woman Megan Davis told the ABC last week it would be a "broken election promise" if one wasn't established, and chief executive of GetUp and Widjabul Wia-bal woman, Larissa Baldwin-Roberts told National Indigenous Times on Sunday it's clear the government is walking back aspects of Makarrata.
Reflecting on the Voice, Dr Gallagher said she had hope, despite being unsure of how Indigenous communities in Victoria were supposed to recover from the defeat.
"I believe there is still hope that we might get a Treaty here and that we might be able to empower our elected voice in Victoria," she said.
Treaty negotiations between the elected First Peoples' Assembly and the state government are scheduled to begin in November, with the full support of the Victorian Labor government.
"For me moving forward, I will continue to do what I can to advocate for the health and welling of Aboriginal people. To continue to advance us as a peoples and to fight for the rights and recognition we deserve," Dr Gallagher said.
"VACCHO is proud to work with Community to ensure our voices still filter up to decision makers, but we need them to be more committed than ever, with their words, action and funding, to Closing the Gap and to truth-telling".
