'Historical moment': First Peoples' Assembly ready for treaty
Jidah Clark, Inaugural Victorian Treaty Authority Member, speaks at the event. Photo: Dr Eddie Cubillo
On 17 July 2024 the Victorian Treaty Authority held an event at Treetops at Melbourne Museum to receive an official declaration from the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria that they are ready to negotiate Statewide Treaty with the Victorian Government. The Indigenous Law and Justice Hub was honoured to attend the ceremony, especially director Eddie Cubillo having been on the independent panel that selected the inaugural members of the Treaty Authority.
Dr Eddie Cubillo said : "I looked around the room when the Chair of the Treaty Authority, Jidah Clarke spoke, I saw everyone had a sense of pride and a tear in their eye. I could send that we were all thinking of those in our families who were no longer with us, who had endured very tough times and fought for our rights, to be present at such a historical moment in this country's short colonial history will remain with me forever! Always was, always will be!"
At the event the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria’s Co-Chairs, Rueben Berg and Ngarra Murray presented a copy of the declaration that it seeks to be the First Peoples’ Representative Body for the purposes of Statewide Treaty negotiations under the Treaty Framework. The declaration was presented to Victorian Treaty Authority members Jidah Clark, Thelma Austin and Duean White . The Victorian Treaty Authority is an entity advanced in the 2018 Treaty Act assigned the functions of facilitating treaty, administering the negotiation framework, carrying out research and resolving disputes in treaty negotiations. The 2022 Treaty Authority Act historically legislated the Treaty Authority’s establishment as an independent entity that sits outside of Victorian Government structures and authority.
It’s an exciting time for First Peoples in Victoria, we’ll be sitting down to negotiate the first Treaty in Australia
- First Peoples' Assembly co-chair Ngarra Murray
‘Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung elder Uncle Andrew Gardiner performs welcome ceremony. Photo: Dr Eddie Cubillo
The event coincides with the entry of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria onto the new Treaty Negotiations Database, which triggers the beginning of the two-month Comment and Dispute Period under the Treaty Negotiation Framework. The Comment and Dispute Period allows First Peoples in Victoria to “comment on, and raise disputes about,” the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria’s satisfaction of the minimum standards set out in the Treaty Negotiation Framework for the Aboriginal Representative Body in Victorian Treaty negotiation. This is part of the groundbreaking Treaty Negotiations Framework agreed by the Assembly and the State.
If the Comment and Dispute Period passes successfully, the First Peoples’ Assembly will be able to notify the Treaty Authority that it wishes to invite the State to begin Treaty negotiations.
First Peoples’ Assembly Co-chair Wamba Wamba, Yorta Yorta, Dja Dja Wurrung and Dhudhuroa woman Ngarra Murray said: "We have been preparing for treaties for a long time and will continue to gather feedback and input from our communities throughout the process
"We are a diverse mob here in Victoria made up of many nations and clans and we want to make sure everyone is heard. It’s an exciting time for First Peoples in Victoria, we’ll be sitting down to negotiate the first Treaty in Australia"
"We Are Ready” - First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria’s declaration Credit: First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria. Photo: First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria
This momentous step forward in the process of Victorian Treaty Negotiations represents a poignant junction in the hopes of the Australian First Nations community for rights and representation in the wake of the Voice Referendum.
The Hub congratulates all who have worked hard towards Treaty in Victoria, both over recent years and over many generations past.
I looked around the room when the Chair of the Treaty Authority, Jidah Clarke spoke, I saw everyone had a sense of pride and a tear in their eye - Dr Eddie Cubillo, Indigenous Law and Justie Hub director
The Victorian Government was prompted to begin preparations for Statewide Treaty negotiations from the 3rd of July 2024 at the commencement of the process for identifying the entity that is to be the First Peoples’ Representative body. Following the two-month Comment and Dispute period, the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria can notify the Treaty Authority that it wishes to begin Statewide Treaty Negotiations.
The Treaty authority is entitled in the Framework to make the invitation to the State publicly available, so the invitation is likely to be shared to the public at some point shortly after the close of the Comment and Dispute Period at 5pm on the 17September 2024.
The Victorian Government must accept an invitation to begin Statewide Treaty negotiations unless it believes that the bodies under their jurisdiction are unable to comply with their obligations under the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities or that the Treaty Authority cannot confirm that it has complied with all requirements in issuing the invitation.
James Griew, Research Assistant at the Indigenous Law and Justice Hub