Fears Yoorrook truth commission will fail Indigenous Victorians by trying to do too much

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The Yoorrook Justice Commission has ramped up its active inquiries, but with just 18 months to complete a historic task, concerned community members are sceptical the job can be done properly within a tight timeframe.

Australia’s first formal truth and justice commission into the treatment of First Peoples in Victoria has launched its latest round of inquiries, calling for submissions into health, secondary and tertiary education, and housing injustice.

Yoorrook is due to make a final report in 18 months.

The latest three lines of examination make a total of four active issue investigations running concurrently, with the final hearing into land injustice holding seven roundtables on Country, with 11 more to come by the end of January.

Historian and veteran Aboriginal rights activist Professor Gary Foley says he is increasingly concerned about the commission’s ability “to do what it should be doing.”

“The commission to date has not flexed the powers it has at its disposal in a timely enough manner,” he said.

“I and others also hold concerns that it’s not using its limited resources in the most effective way to deliver on the outcomes expected of it.”

A smoking ceremony was held before the Yoorrook Justice Commission released its first report.Credit: Jason South

The author of the motion that resulted in the establishment of the Yoorrook commission, Jason Kelly, a representative for the state’s north-west region on the First Peoples’ Assembly, also questioned whether the commission could meet the brief community had set it.

“I think they were right to target prisons and kids (inquiries held earlier this year), and I understand what they’ve got going in the public space, but it’s got to address everything since first contact and colonisation,” he said.

“I’m hopeful that it’s revisiting that behind the scenes, or running that concurrently with the stuff that is in the public space.”

In June, the commission opened up its submissions to all Victorians, organisations and government departments. Submissions may be about any past or ongoing systemic injustice faced by First Peoples, and can include potential solutions to resolve problems and improve accountability. Submissions to the commission had previously been restricted to First Peoples.

Kevin Bell (far left) resigned from the Yoorrook commission in October.

One source who works within the commission, but who is not authorised to speak publicly, said the commission was “trying to do too much” and was at risk of “failing its brief”. The internal source said the commission had “been on tilt since its first rushed interim report” in 2022.

The commission has also been hit by high levels of staff turnover, including the surprise resignation of former commissioner Kevin Bell in early October. Three of the remaining four commissioners will head up each of the latest rounds of inquiry. The commission will appoint a replacement for Bell early in the new year.

Bell was the second commissioner to step down in as many years, after Uncle Wayne Atkinson exited in mid-2022 for personal reasons.

Six commission directors, including its inaugural chief executive, have also left their roles since Yoorrook was established in May 2021.

A second source within the commission, though not authorised to speak, said people and institutions wanting to engage with Yoorrook through submissions were regularly not hearing back. Those who did received little support after making the submissions, leading to a sense of community disenfranchisement from the truth-telling process.

“Is this actually a truth and justice commission? If so, then where is the rest of the community? There is next to zero public conversation about the commission among regional communities,” the internal source told this masthead.

A third source who requested to remain anonymous described the internal system for organising submissions as haphazard, and questioned the commission’s ability to deliver a rigorous final report.

“The commissioners and public servants will make a report, but it will not meet community expectations,” the source said.

All current and former commission staff are barred from speaking publicly about any information acquired “in the course of the performance of [their] functions” within the commission.

Commission chair, Professor Eleanor Bourke, said several teams were in place to deliver on the inquiry’s responsibilities and obligations.

“Yoorrook has a unique and wide-ranging mandate. It is one of the most expansive truth commissions globally. Staff and commissioners are working hard to deliver this historic mandate,” Bourke said in a statement to this masthead on Sunday.

Yoorrook has recently visited East Gippsland and will be in the Mallee and the Goulburn Valley in weeks ahead, a commission spokesperson said.

“This is in addition to education visits within Melbourne. As well as publishing five issues papers, since September, Yoorrook has held around 30 information sessions with community across the state as well as health, housing and education roundtables and expert briefings.”

The Andrews government gave Yoorrook $45.5 million in funding, but the commission was forced to delay much of its preliminary community outreach work due to travel restrictions during the pandemic.

After government agencies failed to provide subpoenaed evidence ahead of the commission’s inquiry into child protection and criminal justice systems in April, Yoorrook received a 12-month extension to provide a final report.

The Victorian government has committed a further $7.7 million to support Yoorrook’s extension to the end of June 2025.

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