Yoorrook call to action by former commissioner

A former Yoorrook justice commissioner and Victorian Aboriginal community leaders are urging the State government to make good on the “genuine promise” it made by setting up Australia’s first Aboriginal-led truth-telling inquiry.

Last month, Yoorrook handed down a final 100 recommendations after its four-year, $56 million investigation examining Victoria’s colonial history.

Former Yoorrook commissioner Kevin Bell was one of two non-Indigenous commissioners who served on the inquiry, under the leadership of Victorian traditional owners, including commission chair and Wergaia/Wamba Wamba elder, 82-year-old Aunty Eleanor Bourke.

Mr Bell pushed the government to take bold action on the inquiry’s ambitious recommendations, which include a call for redress for historic crimes.

“It’s urgent. It’s urgent beyond words,” he said.

Mr Bell served on the inquiry for more than two years of its historic four-year term, the longest of any Victorian-run royal commission.

He left the inquiry in October 2023, citing a decision in April that year to extend the commission for another year.

Mr Bell is the first former Yoorrook commissioner to speak to the media after the release of the inquiry’s final reports, which include an official public record of Victoria’s history as told to Yoorrook, and a five-volume report examining ongoing injustices, including in health, housing, and education.

His call to action is echoed by Victorian Aboriginal community members, including Gunditjmara elder Aunty Jill Gallagher, who served as Victoria’s treaty advancement commissioner.

“What’s happening in Victoria is hope … hope that our stories will be told and will be heard,” Ms Gallagher said.

“My mum grew up without hope, and I don’t know many people realise how devastating that is, to grow up without hope.

“It hurts.”