Former Yoorrook commissioner Travis Lovett has been appointed the inaugural Executive Director of the University of Melbourne's new Centre for Truth Telling and Dialogue.
A Kerrupmara Gunditjmara man, Mr Lovett walked nearly 500km in May and June to raise awareness for Yoorrook's final truth-telling report. In his new role, he will lead the University's flagship Truth-telling and Justice initiative — one of five priority areas in Murmuk Djerring, the University's Indigenous Strategy (2023–2027).
"I step into this role with a clear mandate: to ensure that First Peoples' voices are not just heard, but centred, respected, and structurally embedded in how we teach, govern, and lead," Mr Lovett said.
He said the Centre builds on his long-standing work in language and truth-telling, with the University's strong ties to Traditional Owners, its participation in Yoorrook hearings, and its renewed focus on truth-telling providing a firm foundation.
"The University of Melbourne has laid the groundwork with courage and conviction," he said.
"My role now is to build on that legacy, not just to continue the work, but to amplify it, accelerate it, and expand it into spaces we've yet to imagine both nationally and internationally."
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous) Professor Barry Judd Mr Lovett's appointment was a milestone in delivering on the University's Indigenous Strategy.
"Travis brings unparalleled experience in truth-telling and systemic reform, and a deep commitment to cultural safety and self-determination," Professor Judd said.
"His leadership will ensure the Centre becomes a catalyst for national and international dialogue."
The Centre will officially open in 2026, with Mr Lovett overseeing its establishment. It will focus on partnerships, community engagement, and research and education programs addressing historical and ongoing injustices.
He will work with Indigenous communities, government, and University partners to create spaces for safe and meaningful truth-telling.
"This is shared work, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people walking together, side by side, with truth at the centre," Mr Lovett said.
"That's what we forged through the Walk for Truth, and that's the spirit we'll carry forward here. United and committed to lasting reform and systemic change."
Mr Lovett's 'Walk for Truth' covered nearly half of Victoria over 25 days, beginning at Portland on Gunditjmara Country — the place where colonisation in the state "took its first breath".
"The first step was taken with the weight of history pressing through the soles of my shoes and the voices of my people whispering, urging, steadying me forward," he told a crowd at Parliament House when he finished earlier this year.
The walk marked the completion of Yoorrook's final report, which included an Official Public Record, urging Victorians to confront the state's history and commit to a just future.
"Victoria's history is not a neat story," Mr Lovett said at the time. "It's a jagged, tangled one of invasion and survival; of denial and resurgence.
"It lives in policies and plaques, in stolen children and stolen wages, in sacred trees cut down for car parks. But, it also lives in community halls, in sacred possum cloaks, in the organisations we have built for ourselves."
The final report, tabled in parliament at the end of June, recommended broad redress measures, including land restitution, financial compensation, tax relief and other benefits.
Alongside it, the Commission released Yoorrook Truth Be Told — a public record of Victoria's history since colonisation and the major milestones of the Commission's four-year inquiry.
