Details

The Yoorrook Justice Commission was a formal truth-telling body, the first in Australia, established to gather the stories of violence, injustice and denial experienced by First Peoples in Victoria, and to give them an equal place in the historical record.
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Yoorrook will

• Establish an official record of the impact of colonisation on First Peoples in Victoria.
• Develop a shared understanding among all Victorians of the impact of colonisation, as well as the diversity, strength and resilience of First Peoples' cultures.
• Make recommendations for healing, system reform and practical changes to laws, policy and education, as well as to matters to be included in future treaties."

"the Letters Patent asked Yoorrook to ‘determine the causes and consequences of Systemic Injustice including the role of State policies and laws and which State Entities or Non-State Entities bear responsibility for the harm suffered by First Peoples since the start of Colonisation’... Yoorrook focused its inquiries on the following key areas: • The child protection and criminal justice systems • Land, sky and waters • Social injustice in health, housing, education, economic prosperity and political life • Access to records."

In September 2022, Yoorrook turned its attention to child protection and criminal justice. The findings and recommendations of this chapter of Yoorrook’s work were delivered in Yoorrook for Justice in August 2023.

The Process
Truth Receivers: "people embedded in community, many with lived experience. They met with those who wished to share their stories—sometimes over the phone, sometimes at a kitchen table, sometimes by a river... Submission-makers were comforted by sitting with someone they could trust as they slowly unpacked their trauma... Not a cold transfer of evidence in a formal hearing room, but a gentle drawing-out based on mutual respect and trust. Some submissions took as many as ten meetings between the Truth Receiver and the individual before they were finalised. It was a process of relationship, not extraction. Yoorrook will "Hear stories and gather information from First Peoples in Victoria on their experience of past and ongoing injustices and how their cultures and knowledge has survived. Support First Peoples to choose how they wish to share their experiences and to avoid experiencing further trauma. Closely examine information that is already available and seek new information in areas where there are gaps in knowledge. Seek information and data from the Victorian Government and other institutions to give evidence about current and past practices and policies. Make recommendations for systems change and practical changes to laws, policy and practices."
The work of Yoorrook was founded on Indigenous Data Sovereignty principles, whereby Yoorrook had the power to restrict access to confidential evidence, shielding it from Freedom of Information requests and exempting it from disclosure under the Public Records Act 1973 (Vic) after the Commission’s conclusion.
"Yoorrook’s findings are not the result of evidence from First Peoples alone. Over the course of its inquiry, Yoorrook received evidence from First Peoples including Elders, Traditional Owners and Community-Controlled Organisations. But the Commission also received evidence from the Premier, ministers, public servants, historians, healthcare workers, educators, other service providers, religious leaders, descendants and everyday Victorians." p. 372

Governing Legislation
Section 5, Inquiries Act 2014 (Vic); Inquiries Amendment (Yoorrook Justice Commission Records and Other Matters) Act 2025 (Vic)

Inquiry Locations
The hearing room was in Collingwood in inner Melbourne. "Commissioners also travelled across Victoria to meet with Elders on Country. These visits took Yoorrook to Dja Dja Wurrung, Eastern Maar (Kirrae Whurrung, Djab Wurrung), Gunaikurnai, Gunditjmara, Latji Latji, Tati Tati, Taungurung, Wadawurrung, Wemba Wemba/Wamba Wamba, Wiradjuri, Wurundjeri and Yorta Yorta nations... When First Peoples couldn’t come to Yoorrook, Yoorrook went to them."

Public Hearings
"At Yoorrook’s formal hearings, the space itself was reshaped to reflect a different kind of power. Commissioners, Counsel, witnesses and support people sat at the same height in a roundtable formation, a quiet but deliberate departure from the adversarial structure of traditional legal forums. This simple gesture carried profound meaning. It honoured First Peoples’ protocols, ensuring that Elders could engage with Commissioners as equals, in a way that reinforced relational safety, not institutional hierarchy." p. 152

Written Submissions
Yes

Witnesses
"Yoorrook spoke with around 9,000 First Peoples and received evidence from more than 1,500 people through submissions, roundtables and hearings. Over sixty-five days, more than 200 witnesses from community, government, churches and organisations appeared before Yoorrook and told their truths." p. 184
"Following four years of inquiry; over 1,350 submissions; evidence from more than 250 witnesses across sixty-five hearing days, as well as sixty-seven roundtables and yarning circles, the Commission has completed its work." p. 372

Findings
"Across this extensive body of work, Yoorrook has consistently found that the injustices faced by First Peoples in Victoria today flow directly from colonisation. Following invasion, successive colonial and Victorian governments have enacted laws, adopted policies and engaged in practices that dispossessed and removed First Peoples from their lands and waters and denied equitable access to social services and resources."
10 key findings, including that the sovereignty of First Peoples in Victoria has never been ceded and continues to exist; that the occupation of Victoria by European settlers was illegal, rapid and violent; that the Protection Acts and related colonial laws and policies deliberately disrupted

Recommendations
Interim Report 1: 2; Interim Report 2: 46; Interim Report 3: 100 recommendations

Deputy Chair

• Hunter, Sue-Anne
• Lovett, Travis (March 2023 – June 2025)