Victoria's truth-telling commission has asked for an extension on its final report. 

An interim report from Victoria’s Yoorrook Justice Commission detailing the experience of 200 Elders has been released.

The commission describes itself as the “first formal truth-telling body for First Peoples in Australia”. 

Yoorrook aims to listen to First Nations people affected by trauma, and engage in open talks about the generational pain felt by the community. It was also set up to make recommendations about both laws and systems. 

Yoorrook Justice Commission chair Eleanor Bourke says Elders deserve to see change in their lifetime. 

“Each of the 200 Elders we spoke to pointed to the ongoing effects of discriminatory policies and racist beliefs, including those that led to the Stolen Generation; policies and beliefs that have not only affected them but continue to affect their children and grandchildren,” Ms Bourke said. 

The interim report contains two recommendations; asking for the deadline of the final report to be extended to 30 June 2026, and for the government to change how it legislates the storing of information provided to the commission by the end of next year. 

The Yoorrook Justice Commission says its second report will make recommendations on what a treaty with the Victorian state will look like. 

The Victorian government has said it is considering both interim recommendations. It has also reached bipartisan support for legislation to establish the Treaty Authority, an independent body responsible for overseeing a treaty or treaties between the government and Victoria’s Aboriginal communities. 

The Treaty Authority will be an independent umpire to facilitate negotiations and resolve disputes between the government and First Nations people.

Co-chair of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, Marcus Stewart, says a treaty should be the primary mechanism for First Nations people to achieve self-determination.

“While targeted, issue-specific reform may cast discrete beams of light into the lives of First Peoples, only more profound structural change can remove the shadow of Colonisation,” he said.

“To that end, the Assembly considers that the kind of structural change needed to start to address the legacy of Colonisation can only be achieved through a Treaty which enshrines First Peoples’ political voice and power.”