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A time for truth: Yoorrook Justice Commission
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Series
The Yoorrook Justice Commission is Australia’s first truth-telling body inquiring into the impact of colonisation on Indigenous Victorians. Warning: This series includes images of people who have died.
53 stories
Truth-telling commission calls for redress for Aboriginal Victorians
Monetary compensation and land restitution or other financial benefits are options the Allan government has been urged to consider as part of the redress process.
- 48 minutes ago
- by Kieran Rooney and Chip Le Grand
Faces of truth: Victorians fighting for a brighter Indigenous future
View the photo gallery of leaders and witnesses of the Yoorrook Justice Commission and read about the effects of colonisation on Indigenous Victorians and a shared path forward in their words.
- Today, 11.59am
- by Justin Mcmanus, Selma Milovanovic and Tony Wright
Exclusive
Yoorrook commission split over findings on injustices against Indigenous people
Only two of five Yoorrook commissioners turned up to present the final reports to the Victorian governor and First Peoples’ leaders.
- Today, 12.08pm
- by Chip Le Grand and Daniella White
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Watch: Thousands join the Walk for Truth to confront Victoria’s colonial past
Twelve thousand people took part in the 500km Walk for Truth, from Portland to parliament.
- June 18, 2025
Walk for Truth
500km and seven pairs of shoes later, Travis delivered a one-word message
Indigenous Victorians expect a treaty with the state as the Walk for Truth ends.
- June 18, 2025
- by Tony Wright
Aboriginal Australia
Long walk begins where an ancient world ended for many in blood
The Walk for Truth starts in Portland, where Victoria’s first European settlers arrived in 1834.
- May 25, 2025
- by Tony Wright
66 dead children, 5400 abuse claims: State’s child-protection system under blowtorch
Most of the dead were under two, and were either inside or known to the system over four years.
- October 29, 2024
- by Kieran Rooney
My ancestor knew more about atrocities against Aboriginal people than he let on, inquiry told
Atrocities during the Frontier Wars must be honestly acknowledged, settlers’ descendants say.
- September 4, 2024
- by Tony Wright
Analysis
How Indigenous people got zilch from a billion-dollar mining bonanza
The “stark reality” of economic exclusion imposed on Victoria’s First Peoples has been laid bare.
- May 3, 2024
- by Jack Latimore
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‘Not enough to merely know history’, premier says
Commissioners warned Jacinta Allan to live up to her words before they quizzed her for hours.
- April 29, 2024
- by Jack Latimore
‘Destroy monuments to my family’: Settler descendant’s pain over massacres
A descendant of James Henty says her family had “enslaved” Indigenous people.
- March 28, 2024
- by Tony Wright
Fears truth-telling commission will fail for taking on too much work
Yoorrook has scaled up health, education and housing probes just 18 months before deadline.
- December 11, 2023
- by Jack Latimore
Push to open up compensation for Aboriginal Victorians who suffer human rights abuses
Yoorrook says changes to Victoria’s Charter of Human Rights are long overdue.
- September 6, 2023
- by Kieran Rooney and Jack Latimore
The blueprint to end Victoria’s ‘pipeline’ of Aboriginal kids into the justice system
Victoria’s truth-telling commission has called for urgent reforms.
- September 4, 2023
- by Jack Latimore and Kieran Rooney
Updated
Victorian police chief apologises to First Peoples at truth-telling inquiry
Shane Patton admits many Indigenous Victorians fear the police uniform.
- May 8, 2023
- by Jack Latimore
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Updated
A-G: Justice system a ‘site of exclusion and oppression’ for Aboriginal people
Jaclyn Symes says laws have entrenched racism within the justice system and the government.
- May 5, 2023
- by Sumeyya Ilanbey and Jack Latimore
Why a new $1.1 billion prison in Victoria is sitting empty
There is a link between tougher bail laws and building the 1248-bed jail, Yoorrook has heard.
- May 3, 2023
- by Jack Latimore
Truth-Telling
I was kept from my Indigenous family as a child. Then my own kids were taken from me
A Gunditjmara woman recalls her dealings with child protection - first as a child, then as a mother.
- May 1, 2023
- by Mikaila Frost
State sorry for failure to provide evidence, delaying truth-telling inquiry
The government has failed to produce reports on the criminal justice and child protection systems.
- March 27, 2023
- by Jack Latimore
Opinion
‘Family violence is not part of Aboriginal culture’, but Katrina knows it too well
Indigenous woman Katrina Harrison lays bare her lifetime of despair and her reasons for hope.
- February 27, 2023
- by Katrina Harrison
Brother’s life in jail and tragic death: Yoorrook inquiry hears elder’s story
Aunty Geraldine Atkinson relates the effects of the child protection and criminal justice systems.
- December 16, 2022
- by Jack Latimore
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First Peoples’ elder demands rise in age of responsibility
The co-chair of the First Peoples’ Assembly wants the age of criminal responsibility to be lifted.
- December 12, 2022
- by Jack Latimore
Truth Telling
How Johnny Kangatong and Sarah survived a time of purge and peril
The Indigenous youths found refuge, romance and high art on the property of a white pastoralist.
- December 10, 2022
- by Tony Wright
Child protection workers ‘racist’ towards Indigenous families
Aboriginal children in care are also often denied their culture, the commission has heard.
- December 6, 2022
- by Jack Latimore
The Yoorrook testimony of Uncle Jack Charles in his own words
Edited excerpt from the testimony of Uncle Jack Charles (1943-2022). Warning: Distressing content
- December 6, 2022
Call to raise age of criminal responsibility and stop ‘pipeline of shattered Indigenous children’
Yoorrook commissioners want the age raised to at least 14 as attorneys-general review the matter.
- December 5, 2022
- by Jack Latimore
Opinion
Urgent changes are needed to halt a new ‘stolen generation’
I have seen first-hand the perpetuation of intergenerational trauma, often from birth.
- December 5, 2022
- by Sue-Anne Hunter
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‘Truth receivers’ help Indigenous people share their stories
Tara Fry recently learnt the devastating truth of her family history. Now she helps others.
- December 4, 2022
- by Jack Latimore
‘Amazing day’: Bill to set up Treaty Authority passes state parliament
An independent body will help treaty negotiations between the government and First Nations people.
- August 16, 2022
- by Sumeyya Ilanbey
‘Bombing the Vatican’: The fight over an Aboriginal heritage site heats up
The inside story of a dispute between enduring Aboriginal cultural heritage and a car rally.
- August 14, 2022
- by Jack Latimore
‘Highly complex’ truth-telling inquiry asks for an extension
Australia’s first truth-telling commission wants two more years to deliver its final report.
- July 4, 2022
- by Callum Godde
Exclusive
Yoorrook commission beset by troubles ahead of interim report
The First Peoples’ Assembly says the truth-telling commission’s first report falls short.
- June 29, 2022
- by Jack Latimore
Indigenous leaders ask Victorian MPs to ‘walk with us on the journey’ to treaty
A moving address to state parliament kicks off treaty debate after a Liberal MP’s dissent.
- June 22, 2022
- by Jack Latimore
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Exclusive
Yoorrook commission loses a third committee member in six months
Insiders are concerned that the commission’s crimped timeframes may delay its work.
- June 15, 2022
- by Jack Latimore
Opinion
Devastating truths must be told and heard in the quest for a new nationhood
Denial of truth will eat away at the soul of the Australian people, Paul Briggs writes.
- March 30, 2022
- by Paul Briggs
Telling our painful stories about massacres is the path to healing
Ronnie Gorrie won’t visit the site where her people were killed, but wants to share the truth.
- March 29, 2022
- by Ronnie Gorrie
Truth will be harrowing, but there can be no treaty without it
Marcus Stewart believes Yoorrook will chart a course for repairing colonisation’s damage.
- March 28, 2022
- by Marcus Stewart
Yoorrook Commission CEO quits amid infighting, delays
Public hearings for the commission are yet to commence after a year of COVID-related delays.
- January 28, 2022
- by Jack Latimore
How a young fella named Boondjil Noorook discovered Captain Cook
Uncle Wayne Thorpe thinks about how his people want to approach truth-telling.
- January 23, 2022
- by Wayne Thorpe
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‘The embodiment of everything’: Preserving Indigenous languages
More funding is needed so many languages of Indigenous Victorians are not lost forever.
- October 13, 2021
- by Jack Latimore
Analysis
How preserving First Nations languages forms a key part of preserving culture
Jack Latimore joins Nathanael Cooper to discuss the importance of language.
- October 8, 2021
- by Nathanael Cooper
Opinion
Learning the truth of Indigenous abuse key to fixing justice system
Yoorrook will help redefine relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Victorians.
- October 11, 2021
- by Rob Hulls
Opinion
History told by Indigenous people is crucial to truth-telling
Many Victorians continue to believe a false or only partial history of Indigenous people.
- October 11, 2021
- by Wayne Atkinson
Special Series
Kalloongoo’s story lays bare the horrors of slavery and subjugation
An account from an Aboriginal woman almost 200 years ago exposes the brutality of colonisation.
- October 10, 2021
- by Tony Wright
Opinion
Truth-telling: What it means for us to come home
Gunditjmara writer, musician and filmmaker Richard Frankland says the truth can set us free.
- October 10, 2021
- by Richard Frankland
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A people torn apart by bloody dispossession and disease
White invaders unleashed a murderous assault in a land grab that remains a stain on our history.
- October 10, 2021
- by Tony Wright
Opinion
I was born into a web we must now untangle
Victorian First Peoples wish to be recognised for who we are and maintain connection to Country.
- October 9, 2021
- by Eleanor Bourke
We must walk with Victoria’s First Peoples on the land they made beautiful
As Victoria searches for truth, we explore what life was like here before European settlement.
- October 9, 2021
- by Tony Wright and Justin McManus
Editorial
Let the truth of Victoria’s past and present be heard
We can’t have true reconciliation without first acknowledging what has happened here.
- October 9, 2021
- The Age's View
‘Deep sadness, deep joy’: Victoria’s truth-telling commissioners announced
Five commissioners are tasked with analysing injustices against Aboriginal people in the state.
- May 14, 2021
- by Michael Fowler and Ashleigh McMillan
