Victoria is becoming the first Australian jurisdiction to set up a formal commission to investigate injustices against Aboriginal people.

Premier Daniel Andrews and the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria say that the new Yoo-rrook Justice Commission will begin its work in coming months. With the power of a royal commission, it will investigate historical and ongoing social, political, cultural and economic injustices committed against Aboriginal Victorians.

“Without truth, without justice, there can be no Treaty,” the Premier and First Peoples’ Assembly said in a joint statement this week. 

“As a state, as a nation, we must do better. That means not only hearing Aboriginal voices — but actually listening to them. And taking meaningful action in order to achieve real and lasting change.”

Five Yoo-rrook Justice Commissioners will be given the duty to ensure the commission’s work is conducted in a culturally sensitive and trauma-informed way.

They will consider policies that have impacted on First Peoples’ since colonisation, and are expected to make recommendations to address past and continuing systemic injustices.

The Yoo-rrook Justice Commission is reportedly modelled on similar commissions established in post-apartheid South Africa, New Zealand and Canada.