Region: North West
Reserved Seat: Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation

Hello all,

We are getting to the pointy end of the Treaty process, I have been a busy bee this quarter. Many things have evolved since my last Members report. On week starting June 3rd I attended AIATSIS conference in Melbourne I did a workshop with Stephen Donnelly on the Engagement teams organising campaign. For the rest of the week, I listened and learned from Mob across the Country, the one session that stuck with me was Dr Janine Gertz and her session on Gugu Badhun Sovereignty, Self Determination, and Nationhood you can find that paper on the internet.

The next week, the workshops for all the Treaty Committee workstreams started I sit on the Inherent rights working group, Economic Empowerment working group, Future Assembly and Transformed relationship working group, and I Chair Strengthening Culture Communities and Families. After some information gathering from members and work plan development it was time to get out and talk to the experts. First up was Aboriginal Housing Victoria, our first yarn was beneficial for both of us. I gave an update on where the assembly was at, and AHV filled me in on the work they were up to and informed me that we had 6000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are on a waiting list for a house and even more had used homelessness services over the last few years. To me this is one of the most critical issues that Treaty needs to help with having a house is your foundation for life. After our catch-up AHV invited me to the Aboriginal Housing and Homelessness Forum at Dardi Munwurro, which showed me how complex the housing system is and how much red tape government has around the sector for ACCOS. With housing being a key item on the Governments agenda, I am sure we will be able to deliver some great outcomes through Treaty. This was the first of many yarns that I have had across the ACCO sector, please see a list at the end of report, along with my meeting attendance.

After having initial yarns with most of the sector we sent out EOI’s for mob to join an expert panel, to help us come up with real outcomes. We have Mob from all over the state and with different expertise in the subjects that sit under workstream Strengthening Culture, Communities and Families. We had our first joint workstream and panel yarn on the 13th of August, which I and other members found to be amazing and reassured us that we are on the right path. The Panel spoke about the need to strengthen our Culture with everything we do and to get back the vision of one community. Just recently on the 28th of August we held our first deep dive meeting on Justice with the Panel where we heard from experts such as VALS, Aboriginal Justice Cacus, Koorie Youth Council and Djirra on the work they are doing and what needs to be done to fix the justice system. We also went through the key recommendations from Yoorrook on Justice, and prioritised those into our horizons, exciting times!

On 26th of August we had our first ACCO sector treaty forum, which was an amazing day. We had 100 people from the sector and celebrated the power and work of the ACCO sector which have been servicing our community for decades. We discussed how we can work together, real outcomes for community and the path that lays ahead of us. Thank you to all of those who came and contributed to the yarns.

Now onto Djaara business, on Tuesday the 18th of June I caught up with Djaara’s RSA team to give them an update on treaty and to see how we can have the Assembly team strengthen their relationship with the deadly team at Djaara. After this first yarn, we have been catching up together with the policy team often which has been beneficial for both organisations. On June 22nd and 23rd we held our Djaara Whole group Treaty Gathering, which was an amazing couple of days. To me that was the most important event that I have done in my term, to present to my Mob who chose me to represent them on the Assembly the importance of that was not lost on me. We did workshops on our aspirations and yarned about treaty all day Saturday the strength and reassurance from that day was immeasurable, the group authorised me to attend the next round of family group meetings to discuss what our Treaty delegation should look like. I am looking forward to attending these once the family groups are ready. Djaara was also successful in applying for Self-determination funding which will help with our engagement and the beginning of our Djaara Treaty journey. For next steps, we have started the process to get onto the Treaty database the Treaty Authority are the stewards of, we are having our initial yarn with them on the 9th of September another crucial step in our Djaara Treaty journey. I will also be spending the day in the Djaara office on the 30th of September, looking forward to it. Quick plug for Djaara members we are also now running fortnightly online treaty yarns every second Thursday, please check the Djaara newsletter for the link.

On Thursday 15th of August, we had a Yurpa Committee workshop where we talked about relational sovereignty with Dr Aunty Mary Graham which was amazing. Members also did a workshop on Identity and how Treaty could be used as a vehicle to solve a lot of problems with Identity which is a critical issue for all our communities’. How do we turn something which is a mess into a strength-based process and help mob who are on their journey. On August 16th at Treaty committee, we went through the first part of our negotiation and voted to send it to chamber to be authorised. We are at a critical point in time with negotiations with the state for statewide treaty starting in November, we are on the verge of negotiating the first Treaty in this country and delivering the things our old people have been fighting for.

Assembly Meeting Attendance: Treaty Committee, Yurpa Committee, Chamber
Required to Attend
37
Has Attended
37
Percentage Attendance
100%

List of yarns relating to Workstream Strengthening Culture, Communities and Families:

1. Aboriginal Housing Victoria 19th June
2. Victorian Aboriginal Leaders delegation to Canberra 25th June
3. Ngaweeyan Marr-oo Treaty working group 4th July
4. Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service Treaty working group 16th July
5. Aboriginal Community Elders Services 16th July
6. Bubup Wilam 17th July
7. Ngaweeyan Marr-oo Treaty working group 18th July
8. Aboriginal Housing Victoria 23rd July
9. Victorian Aboriginal Health Service 24th July
10. Loddon Mallee Aboriginal Reference Group 25th July
11. Education round table with members of the Assembly with education backgrounds 29th July
12. Victorian Aboriginal Community Services Association 30th July
13. Moondani Balug Leadership Team 2nd August
14. Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Incorporated 2nd August
15. Briefing with AHV and Homesvic 2nd August
16. Rumbalara Aboriginal Co-operative 5th August
17. Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation 6th August
18. Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency 12th August
19. Aurora Foundation 12th August
20. Ballarat & District Aboriginal Co-operative 13th of August
21. First cross workstream and expert panel meeting 13th August
22. Djirra 14th of August
23. Goranwarrabul House 19th August
24. Njernda Aboriginal Corporation 20th August
25. Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Incorporated 21st August
26. Aboriginal Housing Victoria 21st August
27. Ngaweeyan Marr-oo Treaty working group 21st August
28. Bendigo and District Aboriginal Co-operative 22nd August
29. Aboriginal Housing Victoria 23rd August
30. ACCO Sector Treaty Forum 26th August
31. Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Incorporated 26th August
32. Expert Panel Justice workshop 28th August

Hello all, I have been very busy doing a lot of pre work for Statewide treaty and getting Djaara Treaty ready. At the time of writing, we have lost another elder in Aunty Fay Carter OAM who was a proud Dja Dja Wurrung and Yorta Yorta Elder. I remember when my parents would take me back on Djandak for Djaara meetings and Aunty Fay would always be there to give me a big kiss and a hug. Aunty Fay is the meaning of walking in the footsteps of giants, she was instrumental in progressing Self Determination for Djaara and the Victorian Aboriginal Community. It saddens me that Aunt, like many others who have passed recently, will not see the benefits of Treaty. But I know her spirit will be there to help guide us on the right path. I’d like to share a quote from the Djaara Family book: “When you look at the policies they’ve put in place over the years to try make us go away, I think it must have really annoyed and amazed them that we’re still here! Like removing our children, or trying to breed out our colour, or sending our men away from the missions and trying to split up the family units that way. So many things they’ve done to try and make us go away. It must be a very sore point! Because there’s one thing for sure we’ll never go away” – Aunty Fay Carter

I send my condolences to the Carter and Nelson immediate and extended families, to all Djaara, and everyone else going through sorry business.

As stated before, I have been busy doing lots of work behind the scenes at the Assembly. I’d like to congratulate Wamba Wemba on their successful application for a reserved seat. The Assembly had its constitution imposed on us, which was great for groups with recognition from the state but the groups without felt excluded. So, the last round of Members created an additional recognition pathway. I hope that Wamba will be the first of many, there is a sound process for getting a reserved seat on the Assembly now. What is stopping your group from applying now? I hope to see an influx of applications soon. If you would like any assistance please reach out.

We held a statewide gathering on Waddawurrung Country which was a amazing. Big thanks to those who attended, it was great to be able to yarn with you all. We held workshops and presentations on statewide Treaty and more. We also had a lot of amazing guest speakers, one that stuck with me was Justice Sir Joe Williams. He spoke about the Island and what his vision looks like, my Island looks something like this: Our culture is thriving, everyone can speak their local mob’s language, community are strong in their identity and they know who their ancestors are, our community is connected across the state, we practice ceremony not just for special occasions. What does your Island look like? If you haven’t watched his session, you can find it on the Assembly’s YouTube!

On the week commencing 27 May, I was on the road in the North-West with the team for the NW regional forums. We went to Horsham, Swan Hill and Bendigo over three days. These were some of the best Treaty events I have experienced so far, especially in Bendigo. We workshopped aspirations, spoke about where we are at and where we are going, and went through the Treaty Frameworks. It was a great time and shoutout to the Deadly Assembly ops team! Keep an eye out for regional forums in your region soon!

I have also been getting things ready for the Djaara whole group Treaty gathering which is in June. Keen to catch up with Djaara and take the first step into a Djaara Treaty. I’ve attended a workshop which was reviewing Djaara’s Dhelkunya Dja Country plan. I also attended the Signing ceremony which was a celebration of the agreement reached with Angico Eagle who owns the Fosterville gold mine. For Djaara to negotiate a significant agreement all because Fosterville gold mine requested to build a ventilation shaft on Djandak, well done to the Djaara negotiation team and all involved in that process.

Internally we have been doing a lot of groundwork for Statewide Treaty. We have created 5 workstreams to guide our work, they’re: Future Assembly & Transformed Relationship, Government Accountability, Strengthening Culture, Communities and Families, Inherent rights, and Economic Empowerment. I was lucky enough to be appointed Chair of Strengthening Culture, Communities and Families. Which covers portfolios such as Criminal Justice, Child Protection, Civil Justice, Housing, Education, Health and wellbeing, Employment, Sport, The Arts. It’s my role to bring experts in the above portfolios to help form the tangible outcomes community want to see. For example, what do the health services want to see in Treaty? What is a tangible outcome community want right now when it comes to housing? These are the things we need to know before we hit the negotiation table. I look forward to yarning with mob who work in these spaces whether it be ACCOs, Peaks, forums, mob working in the system, people with lived experiences and more. You are the experts, and we need your help so we can negotiation a Treaty for generations.

In closing, now is the time to get organised! We are on the cusp of a Treaty for Generations, and you need to get organised on a personal, family, clan, nation, state level. Time to come to our events, ask the burning questions and learn about what’s going on in the Treaty universe. Everyone will feel the benefits of a statewide Treaty whether your family have lived here for 1 minute or 60,000 years. It’s time to get involved and support us so we can get to the negotiation table with the right convictions. We owe it to our Elders past and present to get Treaty done now and we as Members can’t do it without the Mob behind us.

Hello everyone! I’m Djaran Murray-Jackson and I am the Reserved Seat Holder for Dja Dja Wurrung. I have strong connections to Wamba Wamba, Yorta Yorta, Barapa Barapa, Dhudhuroa, Waywurru, Wergaia and Wiradjuri.

Over the last few months, the Assembly has been working hard to prepare to enter negotiations with Victorian Government to create a state-wide Treaty. This will cover ‘big picture’ reforms to implement systemic change that will deliver better outcomes in critical sectors, including education, health and justice. We’ve got some important decisions to make in 2024, and the Assembly will continue to bring our communities together so we can keep yarning and start to decide the priorities the Assembly should focus on during the first round of negotiations. Following the Assembly’s announcement that negotiations will begin in late 2024 once the Treaty Authority is set up, I have been out and about yarning with anyone and everyone who wants to learn about Treaty. Since early January, I have participated in several radio interviews to promote Treaty Day Out. I also did a couple of interviews to discuss the coalition’s decision to retract their support on treaty – a disappointing outcome and one that appeared to be a case of following suit with the coalitions in other states. I’d like to reassure anyone who is reading this that Treaty is still alive and well in Victoria. The coalition wants a review on the Cultural Heritage Act and the Traditional Owner Settlement Act, and I say to them, there is a review underway by Yoorrook and they should consider participating in that process.

On 25 January, I attended Ravenhall’s Invasion Day event which was a day full of culture and learning. There were dance performances and a history lesson from Aunty Zeta Thomson. On Invasion Day, I attended the Invasion Day rally in Melbourne CBD. It was deadly hearing several people talk on stage and looking out to the crowd and seeing how many people turned out to march with us in solidarity. On 6th February, I was out on Dja Dja Wurrung Country with Commissioner Lovett from the Yoorrook Justice Commission, as well as staff and mob from Djaara, yarning about land justice. With the help of Jacinta Douglas, the Traditional Owner Engagement Officer at Djaara, we have started the process to apply for the first round of funding from the Self-Determination Fund (SDF). For those of you who don’t know much about the SDF, it is a community resource which was negotiated by the last round of members. The first round of funding will aim to assist Traditional Owners to come together and figure out their aspirations for Treaty. Jacinta and I are planning on holding the largest Djaara gathering we’ve ever had to start the process for negotiating a Traditional Owner Treaty! Looking ahead, my focus will be preparing Dja Dja Wurrung for Treaty and ensuring state-wide Treaty delivers real outcomes for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in Victoria.