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Yoo-rrook Justice Commission

The Yoo-rrook Justice Commission is a truth-telling commission which aims to provide a truth-telling process in order to document injustices experienced by first-nations peoples in Victoria.^[1] The commission was inspired by similar truth-telling commissions such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa.^[2] The name "Yoo-rrook" comes from the Wemba Wemba word for truth.^[3] The commission intends to provide an interim report in June 2022 and a final report in June 2024.^[1]

History

The commission was first announced on the 8th of March 2021 by the Andrews government in a joint statement from acting Victorian Premier, James Merlino, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Gabrielle Williams, and co-chairs of the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria Geraldine Atkinson and Marcus Stewart.^[4] The commission is the result of discussions between the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria and the Victorian Government following the Uluru Statement from the Heart^[5]. The first of it's kind in Australia, the commission embraces the importance of truth-telling outlined in the Uluru Statement from the Heart^[3] and seeks to inform the process of treaty-making with indigenous Victorians.^[5]

The Yoo-rrook commission operates independently from government and has the full power of a royal commission, notably allowing it to compel evidence and make recommendations although the commission will not be able to implement any reforms itself.^[3][6] Furthermore, the commission is the first royal commission lead by indigenous Australians.^[6]

The commission is chaired by Wergaia/Wamba Wamba Elder, Professor Eleanor Bourke; there are four additional commissioners:^[7]

• Yorta Yorta/Dja Dja Warrung elder and traditional owner, Dr Wayne Atkinson
• Wurundjeri and Ngurai illum Warrung woman, Sue-Anne Hunter
• Palawa woman, Distinguished Professor Maggie Walter
• Former Supreme Court Justice, Professor Kevin Bell

In an article published in the Conversation, the commissioners summarised the obligations of the commission as:^[6]

• Developing an official record of the systemic injustices suffered by the First Peoples of Victoria from since colonisation until the present-day and their impacts
• Creating a shared understanding amongst indigenous and non-indigenous Victorians on the impact of systemic injustices suffered by indigenous Victorians but also their diversity, strength and resilience
• Ascertaining the causes and consequences of the systemic injustices suffered by indigenous Victorians and producing recommendations for system reform and changes in legislation, policy and education

Furthermore, the commissioners also outlined four priorities for the commission:

1. Ensuring first nations peoples' sovereignty over information, knowledge and stories they share with the commission
2. Collecting evidence in a culturally appropriate manner and accepting a variety of evidence including through ceremony, dance or art in order to accommodate unease felt by first nations peoples' towards formal processes
3. Collecting and compiling information to produce an official and comprehensive public record of systemic injustices suffered by indigenous Victorians
4. Reviewing current reform processes within the criminal justice system and law enforcement

Implications

The Yoo-rrook commission is considered important as it will allow for shared understanding of the historic injustices and post-colonial history of first-nations Victorians amongst both indigenous and non-indigenous Victorians "so it cannot be denied or minimised".^[3]

Ian Hamm, chairman of the first nations foundation, said of the commission:

If Victoria’s story is a book, then there is a whole chapter which is the Indigenous experience – the full story of which has never been told. But the recent launch of Victoria’s truth-telling commission – the Yoo-rrook Justice Commission – offers the chance to tell it, to ensure that we fill in the gaps of the story of Victoria.^[8]

In an article published in the Australian Book Review Senior Lecturer in Politics at Monash University, Paul Muldoon, stated that whilst he believed Australians do have compassion for the suffering of indigenous Australians, the Yoo-rrook commission will:

have its work cut out persuading the general public to see colonisation as a present problem rather than a historical one and as a white problem rather than a Black one^[2]

Lecturer at the University of Technology Sydney, Harry Hobbs, noted that the Yoo-rrook commission is unique as normally truth-telling commissions occur after a regime change and that often they focus on individual rights violations which may not be appropriate as many perpetrators are likely dead and indigenous people do not make strong distinctions between individual rights violations and the system causes of these violations.^[5] Hobbs also stated that the establishment of the Yoo-rrook commission has placed more pressure on the Commonwealth government to implement the proposals of the Uluru Statement from the Heart.^[5]

Further Reading

• Yoo-rrook Justice Commission
• First Peoples Victoria, Truth Telling
• Yoo-rrook Justice Commission, A Time For Truth Special Series. The Age. Retrieved from https://www.theage.com.au/yoo-rrook-justice-commission

See Also

• Uluru Statement from the Heart
• The Apology to Australia's Indigenous Peoples
• Indigenous Treaties in Australia
• Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa)
• Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Canada)

References