‘Walk for Truth’ to ask PM to deliver on long-awaited promise

Indigenous leader Travis Lovett has commenced a trek to Canberra on The “Walk for Truth” which aims to spark a national conversation and call for Federal government support for a formal truth-telling process.

Kerrupmara and Gunditjmara man Lovett is leading the movement, which plans to arrive in Canberra by May 27.

Key Points

Five-week journey

The walk will travel hundreds of kilometres from metropolitan Melbourne through country Victoria, up to the New South Wales border and the Riverina region, before heading into Canberra. Organisers say the route will cross the countries of many different Indigenous groups.

Mr Lovett told the ABC the aim was to take a clear call from grassroots communities to the halls of power. He said the walk is designed to open space for culture, ceremony, language, and discussion of lived experience and injustice.

“Our people have walked countries for 60-plus thousand years.”

— Travis Lovett

Mr Lovett previously walked across Victoria in 2025 as part of the Yoorrook Truth and Justice Commission. He said this new effort is different, with no campaign organisation behind it and a focus on elevating a community-driven call for a national process.

Protocols on country

Traditional protocols will be embedded throughout the walk. Plans include carrying message sticks between different Indigenous communities and seeking permission from community elders to come onto country.

Yorta Yorta and Duduroa man Johnny Murray has been facilitating conversations and permissions for the route to cross into his country. He said the walk is not simply moving across state borders, but across boundaries long imposed on Indigenous peoples and different from those that have existed for thousands of years.

Murray described how message sticks historically communicated who travellers were and their intentions when moving between countries, emphasising the importance of following protocol and not arriving unannounced.

Walkers will be invited to add their names to a message stick intended for the prime minister. Organisers say this will accompany a letter to underline the expectations the walk is placing before national leaders.

Travis Lovett speaks during a public hearing of the Yoorrook Justice Commission in Melbourne in 2024. (AAP)

Appeal to the Prime Minister

Mr Lovett said an open letter is burned onto a kangaroo skin and will be carried throughout the journey. He plans to deliver it to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra, alongside message sticks gathered en route.

He is calling on the prime minister to establish a national truth-telling process, noting previous commitments to implement the Uluru Statement from the Heart “in full” and describing truth-telling as a key pillar of that commitment.

Organisers say thousands have pledged support for the walk. Supporters have signed the open letter and committed to join parts of the journey alongside Lovett. He expressed hope that politicians would also take part.

Mr Lovett referred to the Prime minister’s election night message that “no Australian [be] left behind” and cited the most recent sharing and progress report on the Closing the Gap data, noting that only four of the 19 targets are currently on track. He said organisers have written to every Federal politician across the country to invite them to walk.