The Tasmanian government's plan to establish Aboriginal Truth-telling and Healing Commissioners has sparked mixed reactions from members of the state's First Nations communities.
Based on the advice of Tasmania's Aboriginal Advisory Group, the government confirmed on Tuesday it will dedicate $880,000 over two years to appoint independent commissioners to guide an Aboriginal-led Truth-telling and Healing process.
Following the announcement, the Tasmanian Regional Aboriginal Communities Alliance (TRACA), a peak body with membership of seven Tasmanian regional Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, threw its support behind the government's decision.
"The government's announcement today of a commitment to fund Truth-telling and Healing Commissioners demonstrates it has listened to Aboriginal communities and is committed towards taking Truth-telling forward," TRACA chair Nick Cameron said on Tuesday.
Previous to the announcement, TRACA engaged in the development of the Pathway to Truth-telling and Treaty Report by Professor Kate Warner and Professor Tim McCormack, while also supporting the implementation of the state's Aboriginal Advisory Group (AAG).
"The Pathway to Truth-telling and Treaty Report was an important beginning to identify some of the why, but it lacked the how," Mr Cameron said.
"The government called for an Aboriginal Advisory Group to assist in determining how best to implement a community-led process."
TRACA said Truth-telling is a vital component of healing because it allows individuals and communities to confront historical injustices, acknowledge past traumas, and move forward with a greater understanding and sense of reconciliation.
"This is an important announcement for our people and should be seen as a positive step forward in the relationship between Tasmanians and the remaining Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands and waters that we now share," Mr Cameron said.
In welcoming funding to establish Aboriginal Truth-telling and Healing Commissioners in the state, the Circular Head Aboriginal Corporation (CHAC), a TRACA member organisation, said it remained "optimistic but cautious" about the process.
CHAC said it hoped the Commissioners "will meaningfully address not only the intergenerational trauma rooted in colonisation and past government policies, but also the more recent traumas experienced by Aboriginal communities from a range of sources in the past few decades".
"This process must not replicate the shortcomings of previous government-led initiatives — including the very advisory body that recommended this Commission. It must be a fundamentally new approach, grounded in accountability, transparency, and genuine community engagement," CHAC said.
CHAC said it was "essential" for Aboriginal people from all regions of Tasmania to be given the opportunity to fully participate in the process and have their stories heard.
"Our community has too often been excluded from such conversations, and these exclusions themselves must be recognised as part of the truth-telling process," CHAC said.
"The realities our community face — including restricted access to Aboriginal services and the ongoing denial of our identities by government and other institutions — must be acknowledged as central truths.
"We need a truth-telling process that is community-led, grounded in authenticity, and reflective of the diverse voices and experiences of Aboriginal people across Tasmania."
By supporting a Truth-telling and Healing Commissioners model the Government says it "will no longer progress Treaty" in the state.
The decision has disappointed Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre chief executive Heather Sculthorpe, who accused the government of "playing tricks".
"We've been sold a pup. It's ridiculous," Ms Sculthorpe told the ABC.
"I cannot see any way our community is going to buy that."
Despite welcoming government funding for Truth-telling and healing, Dr Kate Warner, who co-authored the state's Pathway to Truth-telling and Treaty report, shared her disappointment in the government abandoning Treaty.
"I feel without a commitment to Treaty, it won't be embraced by all Tasmanian Aboriginal people and that may cause a difficulty," she told the ABC.
"It can embrace all sorts of things like land rights, sea rights, fishing rights — there are some tangible outcomes in a Treaty."
Reconciliation Tasmania welcomed the government's commitment.
"We look forward to working with the government on educating the wider community and working with Tasmanian Aboriginal people," Reconciliation Tasmania chief executive Pauline Cook said.
"At the core of truth-telling is the recognition of the sovereign rights of Tasmanian Aboriginal people and those rights include that there needs to be legal and political recourse.
"So there needs to be some form of agreement, a treaty or an agreement, that will emerge from the truth-telling process."
The Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania also commended the government on its decision.
"For more than 200 years, Tasmanian Aboriginal people have endured and resisted policies of dispossession, forced removal and cultural suppression," ALCT chair Greg Brown said, the ABC reports.
"Truth-telling is not just about retelling history, it's about recognising [the] strength and survival of our people and acknowledging the harm that was done."
Premier Jeremy Rockliff told Parliament the Government's position on Truth-telling and healing had been "welcomed by many people".
"Through that process, there is education for the broader Tasmanian community as well, which is so fundamentally important to get an understanding and an appreciation of the hurt ... and the consequences they suffered as a result of colonisation," the Premier said.
"Through that process, there is education for the broader Tasmanian community as well, which is so fundamentally important to get an understanding and an appreciation of the hurt ... and the consequences they suffered as a result of colonisation."
