With the Victorian Statewide Treaty recently being signed, CSSV in partnership with the Australian Catholic University (ACU) recently held an event to better understand the Yoorrook Justice Commission and its connection to the Treaty process.
140 people joined the conversation, with attendees gathering at The Greg Craven Centre at ACU’s Melbourne campus, as well as online. We were privileged to hear from a range a people with direct involvement with the Commission’s processes.
Being the first formal truth-telling process in Australia, the Yoorrook Justice Commission was carefully designed to share and record evidence about the ongoing impact of colonisation on First Peoples. With a broad mandate to investigate both historical and ongoing injustices, the Commission was unique in that it was designed and led by First Peoples. Yoorrook was afforded the full investigative powers of a Royal Commission, able to compel people to appear at hearings and to produce documents and other evidence. Over the four years it operated, Yoorrook heard stories and gathered information from First Peoples, weaving together Western methodologies with foundational Aboriginal ways of knowing, being, and doing.
A key focus of the work of Yoorrook was to implement methods that minimised harm and retraumatisation. Aunty Colleen Harney and Sharon Kuring shared about the care that was taken in providing avenues for people to share their histories and experiences in a setting that provided support and cultural sensitivity. As a Truth Receiver in the Gippsland region, Aunty Colleen was tasked with assisting First Peoples community members to write and record their truth-telling submissions. She explained that she would meet with people sitting by the river or creek and hear their stories of past injustices, such as children being removed from their families. After hearing from people and feeling their pain, Aunty Colleen would refer them to Sharon, a counsellor who was part of the Yoorrook Social/Emotional Wellbeing Team. Sharon shared about how the Wellbeing Team accompanied people as Yoorrook uncovered the systemic injustices that have impacted First Peoples through its hearings and submission processes. While the truth-telling was very hard to hear, Sharon emphasised how those who gave evidence brought humanity to the process, with their humour, spirituality, generosity, kindness and desire to understand the truth.
Following Aunty Colleen and Sharon’s discussion of the on-the-ground experiences of Yoorrook, a panel discussion was facilitated by Linc Yow Yeh, a proud Aboriginal and South Sea Islander Murri man from Queensland and of Darumbal/Goreng Goreng/Gangalu heritage, Indigenous Coordinator of Jim-Baa-Yer Indigenous Higher Learning Unit and Indigenous Academic at the Thomas Moore Law School at ACU. The panel included Jason Kelly, a proud Wamba Wamba/ Mutthi Mutthi man and inaugural member of the First Peoples Assembly, and Dr Suzannah Henty, an art historian who made a submission to the Yoorrook Justice Commission.
Jason began by sharing about the meaning of symbols on the message stick he carried – what he calls his ‘truth and transformation stick’ or his ‘reconciliation stick’. Jason explained that it has a message for us all and features a number of symbols representing: God; mother, child and father; neighbouring tribes and the interactions between them; our spiritual path in life and our physical journey through life; and finally, the traditional symbol for community. In explaining this final symbol, Jason shared, ‘we are all indigenous to mother earth’.
Jason went on to provide background on how the Yoorrook Justice Commission came into being. He shared about significant moments in the development of the treaty and truth-telling processes in Victoria, including Victorian consultations and the development of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Jason explained how he felt it was important to consider the power of truth-telling and transitional justice and how he advocated for a truth and reconciliation commission in the Victorian context as part of discussions within the First Peoples Assembly.
Suzannah was able to provide reflections as a historian and also as a sixth generation descendent of a colonial family that invaded and occupied Gunditjmara Country in Western Victoria. When discussing the reasons people may not be aware of or have concerns about Yoorrook, Suzannah spoke about how we often point to misinformation, but that we need to consider the deeper issue of the real, entrenched racism in Australian culture that is passed down through generations and has led to complacency. She also pointed to the cost-of-living crisis that means people are concerned with very immediate needs. Suzannah emphasised the importance of having conversations as a remedy.
Virginia Bourke, Pro-Chancellor of ACU, responded to the panel. She reflected on her experience of reading material on the Yoorrook website:
It’s really uncomfortable reading…Our discomfort might be real in reading it, but that’s a small thing I imagine in relation to having to tell that truth… We have to sit with that discomfort, but then the next thing is we have to care about it – let’s do something about it… As Suzannah said, have a material target – what are we going to do?
Virginia highlighted the way that Catholic values connect to the work of Yoorook:
As Catholic organisations we are mission driven and we have the language of justice and solidarity built into our DNA… That mission imperative means that we must never be apathetic or complacent.
The Yoorrook forum ended with a workshop session that allowed those attending both in-person and online to reflect on and discuss what they had heard, their own understanding of Victoria’s past, and ways we can take seriously the calls of truth-telling and justice in our organisations, parishes and wider communities.
Linc Yow Yeh had the final words:
Comfort is a position of will in a way. Sometimes we find ourselves in positions of comfort, and other times we find ourselves in positions of discomfort…We’ve walked the terrain of discomfort for a few hours, and we need to continue to do that in order for the change to happen. The change is not for us to receive the fruits of this work and labour, it’s for the legacy and for the future generations.
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