Treaty

Treaty Institutions of Victoria

See the next tab for the legal instruments which establish these institutions.

• First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria

• Treaty Authority

• Self-Determination Fund

• Yoorrook Justice Commission

Victoria's Statewide Treaty

• Victoria's Statewide Treaty (2025)

  For the first time in Australia's history, a Treaty has been signed with First Peoples. The Treaty commenced on 12 December, at a ceremonial exchange between the government and First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria.

Learn more about Statewide Treaty

• Treaty in Language

  The First Peoples' Assembly explaining the Languages embedded in Statewide Treaty. Including the principles underpinning both the newly established Treaty Institutions and principles of ongoing Treaty.

• What Treaty Delivers

  The Government of Victoria's hopes for Treaty, outlining the powers and functions the Statewide Treaty Act empowers the newly established Gellung Warl with and the aspiration of ongoing reconciliation for all Victorians.

Foundations of the Victorian Treaty process

• Advancing the Treaty Process with Aboriginal Victorians Act 2018 (VIC)

  The Act establishing the fundamental elements of the Victorian Treaty process, advancing the treaty-making process between traditional owners and Aboriginal Victorians and the State.

• Special Gazette No. 217 establishing Yoorrook

  Special Victorian Government Gazette of the Governor of Victoria, the Honourable Linda Dessau AC, establishing the Yoorrook Justice Commission as a Royal Commission under S 5 of the Inquiries Act 2014.

Embedding legal force & financial governance in Treaty

• Treaty Authority and Other Treaty Elements Act 2022

  The Act upholding the independence of the Treaty Authority, giving legal force to the Treaty Authority's dealings and relationships. The Treaty Authority is a necessary element in advancing the Victorian Treaty process.

• Self-Determination Fund Trust Deed 2023

  The trust deed establishing the Self-Determination Fund for the purposes of supporting the financing of Victorian First Peoples Institutions in Treaty processes and further First Peoples empowerment.

• The Barunga Statement 1988

  The Barunga Statement is one of several significant painted documents that Aboriginal people have presented to the Australian Government. The Northern and Central Land Councils presented the Statement to former prime minister Bob Hawke as a declaration of the aspirations of ‘the Indigenous owners and occupiers of Australia’ and a request to the Australian Government and people to ‘recognise our rights’.

• Prime Minister Bob Hawke Speaking at Barunga 1988

  In June 1988, the Hawke Labor Government adopted as its official policy support for a treaty between the Australian government and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The following week, in Prime Minister Bob Hawke’s speech at the 1988 Barunga Sport and Cultural Festival, he agreed to the request for a treaty-making process expressed in the Barunga Statement.

• 'Treaty' by Yothu Yindi 1991

  ‘Treaty’ was a worldwide hit and the first song by a mainly Aboriginal band to peak on the ARIA singles chart. It was also the first song in an Aboriginal Australian language to gain extensive international recognition.

• Treaty! Let's get it right 2003

  A collection of essays that were commissioned by ATSIC and AIATSIS to respond to issues raised by a treaty and to provide theoretical and practical direction within the treaty debate. Responding to the outcomes from public discussion about a Treaty from Corroboree 2000.

• Uluru Statement from the Heart 2017

  As the largest consensus of First Nations peoples on a proposal for substantive recognition in Australian history, the road to the Uluru Statement from the Heart is a long one even without mentioning the decades of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander activism that came before it.

Queensland - Tracks to Treaty

The Queensland government passed the Path To Treaty Act 2023, setting up a framework for treaty negotiations which had bipartisan support. Following the failed Referendum however, the LNP opposition has backflipped on their support for treaty.

• QLD Statement of Committment to Treaty

• Eminent Panel Path to Treaty recommendations

• QLD response to recommendations of Eminent Panel

• Path to Treaty Act 2023 (QLD)

• Interim Truth & Treaty Body community consultation

• Path to Treaty Act repeal media statement

Nothern Territory - NT Treaty Commission

The Northern Territory treaty process formally began in 2018, was all but abandoned in 2022, revived in early 2024 and then formally dismantled by the NT’s recently elected Country Liberal government in February 2025, seven years after it was first announced.

• The Barunga Statement 1988

• The Kalkaringi Statement 1998

• The Barunga Agreement 2018

• NT Treaty Commission: final report 2022

New South Wales - NSW Treaty Commission

New South Wales continues to trail behind other jurisdictions on treaty, with the Minns Labor Government taking backwards steps on their election promise after the failed Voice Referendum. A planned 12 month treaty consultation process is underway.

• NSW Treaty consultation commission 2024

Australian Capital Territory

In early 2023, the ACT Government announced it would set up an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Eminent Panel. While it was anticipated that this would be established by late 2023, no progress has been seen.

• ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Agreement 2019-2028

• ACT Treaty conversation information

• Implementation Pathways to Achieve Ngunnawal, First Nations Peoples and Australian Capital Territory Government Treaties 2022

Aotearoa/New Zealand

Aotearoa/New Zealand has possessed an Indigenous-Settler treaty since the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi) in 1840. The establishment of the Waitangi Tribunal in 1975 initiated significant redress of Te Tiriti's interpretation by the Crown to better reflect the principles of ongoing Maori sovereignty. The Tribunal is a standing commission of inquiry, responsible for determining whether past and current actions of the Crown are in breach of Te Tiriti now and in the future.

• ATNS - The Treaty of Waitangi

• Waitangi Tribunal - About the treaty

Modern Treaties of British Columbia

The governments of Canada, British Columbia and First Nations in BC have undertaken a process of Treaty negotiations. This process negotiates the reconciliation of pre-existing Indigenous sovereignty and assumed crown sovereignty and has recently produced the Kitsumkalum Treaty on November 1, 2025.

• BC Treaty Commission - Modern Treaties

• Kitsakalum Treaty - Our treaty

• Numbered Treaties of Canada