A historic Treaty signing — the first in the country's history — and the delivery of a monumental truth-telling report has been bookended by controversial law reforms and claims of betrayal in a mixed year for Victoria.
An Australian first
Victoria's decision to forge ahead with Treaty — despite opposition from the Victorian Liberals, as well as mis- and disinformation amplified by some media outlets about a 'two-tiered legal system' — was widely lauded by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, not just in Victoria, but across the country, and marks the beginning of a new chapter in the state's history.
Under the Treaty legislation, Gellung Warl — meaning "tip of the spear" in Gunaikurnai — will form a new Aboriginal governance structure. The First Peoples' Assembly, along with a permanent Truth-telling body (Nyerna Yoorrook Telkuna) and an accountability commission (Nginma Ngainga Wara), will oversee policies aimed at closing the gap in Victoria.
"It's about a future that we can all be proud of," said Former Treaty Commissioner and CEO of the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) Jill Gallagher in October.
"I have long dreamt of being part of a society where all Victorians, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, can celebrate and enjoy the many benefits that come with belonging to one of the world's oldest living cultures. I believe Treaty will make that dream a reality."
Truth-telling and apology
In June, the Yoorrook Justice Commission — the country's first formal truth-telling body — delivered its final report. Of the 100 recommendations, it urged the state government to consider redress for First Peoples through a range of measures, including land restitution, financial compensation, tax relief and other benefits.
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."
Yoorrook Commissioner Travis Lovett completed a 513-kilometre journey — drawing 22,000 Victorians along the route from Portland to State Parliament, including more than 5,000 people who gathered to meet him at the finish line — marking the completion of Yoorrook's final report.
In December, one of the key recommendations from Yoorrook — an apology — was delivered by Premier Jacinta Allan to First Peoples for the harms caused by the "actions and inactions of the state" and "the colony that came before it".
"The Minister and the Premier did a great job of mentioning the past policies and legislation [that] really disrupted our lives and our culture; like the Aborigines Protection Act and the Soldier Settlement scheme; my grandfather missed out on that," said Dja Dja Wurrung reserved seat holder in the First Peoples' Assembly, Djaran Murray-Jackson.
"So to really hear an apology from the head of state and a minister about those things that actually affected some of my family's lives, it really meant something to me. It was a special, special moment."
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Hate crime attacks on Camp Sovereignty
The attacks of Camp Sovereignty — labelled a hate crime by many — shocked Aboriginal Victorians. The Camp, established in 2006 by Krautungalung Elder Robbie Thorpe, is a peaceful site for community gathering, reflection, and ceremony, and is also the resting place of repatriated remains of 38 Aboriginal Victorians.
The attacks on August 31st followed a series of anti-immigration rallies nationwide, with footage showing around 40 men dressed in black — many allegedly linked to the National Socialist Network (NSN) and some carrying flagpoles and sticks — storming the Indigenous camp.
15 people have been charged over the attacks, including for violent disorder, affray, assault, and contravening bail conditions.
Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe said the assault was "an attack on First Peoples" intended to "intimidate, terrorise, and spread fear in First Peoples and the broader black and brown community".
"It was clearly a racially motivated attack and must be investigated as a hate crime," she said.
Law changes
However, for all the monumental moments, there was widespread criticism of the Victorian Government's law reforms; some of which seemed to directly contradict their aim to close the gap.
In March, the government passed controversial bail laws, which included scrapping the principle of remand only as a "last resort" for accused youth offenders and making it an offence to breach bail conditions or commit an indictable offence while on bail.
Despite Victoria's former top cop acknowledging the state's former bail laws directly led to the death of Indigenous woman Veronica Nelson, Ms Allan described the resulting bail changes — enacted after years of campaigning by the Nelson family — were wrong, and overhauled them less than 18 months after they were implemented.
"They are trampling on Veronica's grave," Aunty Donna, Veronica's mother, said in response.
In August, a second tranche of bail law reforms was introduced, described as a disaster waiting to happen and which would "inevitably result in more Aboriginal deaths in custody".
The changes include the so-called high harm test, which led to over 90 per cent of Aboriginal children being denied bail and imprisoned since its introduction in New South Wales; and the Two Strike test, previously known as the uplift mechanism; a measure described as an "unmitigated disaster" by the coroner during the inquest into Ms Nelson's death.
"These dangerous amendments will fail to meet the government's intentions around community safety because punitive, regressive policies do not work. Instead, they will cause significant harm to our community as we see legal and corrections systems pushed to breaking point," said Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service CEO Nerita Waight at the time.
However, the most controversial change came at the end of the year.
In response to growing concern around youth crime and a concerted campaign by the Herald Sun, Victoria passed their "adult crime for violent crime" reforms, which sharply increase maximum penalties for children aged 14 and over convicted of certain violent offences in adult courts; including life sentences for aggravated home invasions and carjacking.
Astonishingly, the government admitted the laws are, in part, "incompatible with the human rights set out" in Victoria's Charter of Human Rights.
2024 NAIDOC Person of the Year, Muriel Bamblett, said the proposals would "do nothing to divert children from crime," arguing instead they will only "ensure they are trapped in the justice system for life".
"I am horrified by the idea of a 14-year-old being sentenced to life in prison. What do we lose as a society when a 14-year-old could spend their life behind bars?" she asked last month.
Taken together, Victoria's year reflects a government unable to pursue the monumental recognition and historical reckoning seen through the Treaty and the truth-telling processes, without simultaneously adopting punitive criminal justice policies many Aboriginal leaders argue undermine those same principles.
The coexistence of these initiatives — one groundbreaking, the other punitive — seemed to only exacerbate the unresolved tensions between rights-based reform and law-and-order politics.
"Our peoples are already over-policed and over-represented in prison populations," Assembly Co-Chair Ngarra Murray said.
"Aboriginal communities will again bear the brunt of the government's proposed changes, which will result in Aboriginal children being locked up in prison and kept away from their families for longer."
