{"id":1964,"date":"2025-11-13T16:03:06","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T16:03:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=1964"},"modified":"2025-11-13T16:03:06","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T16:03:06","slug":"australias-first-treaty-with-aboriginal-people-signed-in-state-of-victoria-indigenous-rights-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=1964","title":{"rendered":"Australia\u2019s first treaty with Aboriginal people signed in state of Victoria | Indigenous Rights News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>The treaty, which comes more than 220 years after the state was colonised, creates an assembly and truth-telling body.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"byline byline--single-avatar\">\n<div class=\"avatars-container\">\n<div class=\"responsive-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/021059e7440d45cba3c79e9ae03f3bbf_6.jpeg?resize=96%2C96&amp;quality=80 96w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 96px) 96px, 96px\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 13 Nov 2025<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">13 Nov 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>The first treaty between Indigenous people and a government in Australia has entered into law in the state of Victoria after it was finalised and signed.<\/p>\n<p>Members of the state\u2019s First Peoples Assembly gathered for a ceremony to sign the document on Wednesday evening before state Governor Margaret Gardner added her signature to the treaty on Thursday morning.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 4 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Jill Gallagher, a Gunditjmara woman and former commissioner of the Victorian Treaty Advancement Commission, told Australian public broadcaster ABC that the treaty represents \u201cthe story of the Aboriginal people\u2019s resistance\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel very happy. I\u2019m just over the moon,\u201d Gallagher said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday marks a turning point in our nation\u2019s history, a moment where old wounds can begin to heal and new relationships can be built on truth, justice and mutual respect,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Victoria\u2019s\u00a0Premier Jacinta Allan described the signing of the treaty as marking a \u201cnew chapter\u201d in the state\u2019s history.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is a chapter that is founded on truth, guided by respect and carried forward through partnership \u2026 a partnership to build a stronger, fairer, more equal Victoria for everyone,\u201d Allan said.<\/p>\n<p>Australia was colonised by the then-British Empire in 1788, with settlers first arriving in what is now known as Victoria in the early 1800s.<\/p>\n<p>While British powers entered into treaties with Indigenous peoples in other colonised countries, including Canada, New Zealand and the United States, no treaty was ever signed in Australia.<\/p>\n<p>The treaty, which has been described as historic by the United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk, formalises the creation of the permanent First Peoples\u2019 Assembly of Victoria.<\/p>\n<p>Turk said the treaty \u201caddresses the continued exclusion of and discrimination against the country\u2019s First Peoples \u2013 the result of colonisation\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The agreement, he added, had the \u201cpotential to be truly transformative, ensuring the First Peoples have a direct voice in advising and shaping laws, policies and practices that affect their lives\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The treaty process began in 2016 and included the Yoorrook Justice Commission, a formal truth-telling body which concluded in June this year and heard from Indigenous people harmed by colonisation, including members of the Stolen Generations, who were Indigenous children taken from their families and communities by state agencies and religious organisations.<\/p>\n<p>Australia held a referendum in 2023 that sought to change the constitution and create a permanent Indigenous voice to inform parliament on issues related to Indigenous people.<\/p>\n<p>The referendum failed to achieve enough support to change the constitution.<\/p>\n<p>The referendum followed after the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart petition, which had called for an Indigenous voice to inform parliament, and emphasised that Indigenous people had 60,000 years of ancestral ties to their land. This \u201csacred link\u201d could not be erased from world history in \u201cmerely\u201d 200 years, according to the statement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The treaty, which comes more than 220 years after the state was colonised, creates an assembly and truth-telling body. Published On 13 Nov 202513 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share The first treaty between Indigenous people and a government in Australia has entered into law in the state of Victoria [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1965,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}