We acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands and waters on which we live, work and play.
We acknowledge all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across the state.
We pay respect to and recognise the contributions of their Elders past and present, and other First Peoples, who have fought tirelessly for the rights of their communities.
The sovereignty of First Peoples has never been ceded. Their strength and resilience as the world’s oldest living culture is enduring.
Commitment to self-determination
The Victorian Government’s Victorian Aboriginal affairs framework commits us to self-determination. It also keeps us accountable for our progress.
We know that First Peoples’ self-determination works. It is what community wants, and it is a human right.
We aim to achieve real and tangible outcomes for First Peoples. We do this through our contributions to Closing the Gap, Truth and Treaty. This is embedded across our portfolios’ work.
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples sets out certain rights for First Peoples. These include the rights to freely determine their political status and pursue social, cultural and economic development based on their values and ways of life.
To achieve meaningful and lasting change, we must listen to First Peoples when they tell us what they need.
We acknowledge the strong and ongoing advocacy of First Peoples, and the significant impact this has on our work. When First Peoples make decisions for Aboriginal families and communities, we see better results.
The Victorian Government has signed a Statewide Treaty with the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria. In Victoria, we have been on the Truth and Treaty path for nearly 10 years. This work has laid a strong foundation. The Statewide Treaty Act 2025 establishes a new entity, Gellung Warl, evolved from Victoria’s successful First Peoples’ Assembly, to operate as an ongoing democratic, representative and deliberative body for First Peoples in Victoria.
Treaty is about ensuring First Peoples have a say over the policies that affect them and their families. Australia’s first formal truth-telling process, the Yoorrook Justice Commission, helps us understand our history from the perspective of Aboriginal people. This includes how colonisation continues to affect Aboriginal people, what we can do now, and how we can use Treaty to effect practical changes and solutions.
We commit to working proactively to support the aspirations of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Gellung Warl.
In this plan, the term ‘Aboriginal’ is used to refer to both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.