‘The following is extracted from Catherine Heywood’s report about Treaty written for VRM:

Call to action:

‘If people from all walks of life stand together with proud support for truth and Treaty, Victoria can lead the way for the whole country to follow. But if the community goes quiet, First Nations people will be left on the front lines of attacks from racist far-right groups, who are pushing divisive campaigns to wind back our rights.

That’s why it’s so important we talk with our friends, neighbours and politicians about why we support building a brighter future through Treaty.’

Larissa Baldwin-Roberts Campaign Director, Together for Treaty

How did we get here?

The First People’s Assembly of Victoria (FNAV) was first established in in 2018, and first met in 2019. Since the end of last year,the FPAV has been in negotiation with the State Government for a Treaty for Victoria. The final document has come to Parliament in September 2025 for debate and approval. Originally the establishment of the Assembly and work towards Treaty was a bi-partisan policy, but in 2024 the  Coalition Opposition decided to no longer support it.

What is Treaty?

The FPAV website explains it this way:

‘After nearly a decade walking the path to Treaty with our communities, and generations of resistance and activism from First Peoples, Australia’s first Treaty is here. This is a chance for all Victorians to acknowledge our past, heal and move forward together.’

• It resets the relationship between First Peoples and the State because doing things differently is the only way to achieve real change.
• It puts decision-making in the hands of those who know best: ‘Treaty recognises that Aboriginal people are the experts on our own communities, culture and Country. Treaty will mean we can use our local knowledge to come up with and deliver practical solutions to improve health, education and housing outcomes for our communities.’

This is an historic moment and means that the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria (FPAV) will now be a permanent representative and decision-making body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people here in Victoria.

The Assembly will form part of a new entity, Gellung Warl, which will also include an accountability arm and a truth-telling body.

The truth-telling body, called Nyerna Yoorrook Telkuna will continue the Truth-telling and healing process so hopefully everyone across the state can understand the past and share a better future.

The accountability mechanism to monitor programs and services for First Peoples, called Nginma Ngainga Wara, will look at the ways in which the government responds to the recommendations of the Yoorook (Truth) Commission.

This state-wide Treaty will be followed by parallel local Treaty negotiations. For more detail see the Treaty website:

https://www.treatyvictoria.vic.gov.au/

. This Treaty is about more than recognition, it is a detailed blueprint for a change process in Victoria, a new start, based on the recommendations of the Yoorook Commission.

What does Treaty mean to you?

Such a good question to panel members at the Launch. Their personal responses echoed the above, and added that Treaty creates a new middle space to address unfinished business.

What does it mean to me (Catherine Heywood)?

In Treaty I see respect and acknowledgment of First Peoples, at last. Australia is the only Commonwealth country without a treaty with its first peoples. I also see application of ‘nothing about us without us’, which is expressed more legalistically in the UN Charter of Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Treaty means that future generations of children, and new arrivals to our community, will learn the truth about our history, and will be able to find an honest way forward into new relationships. The truth will set us free.

What can we do?

First Peoples are asking us to inform ourselves about Treaty, then to have conversations with friends, family, neighbours and community. We don’t have to be experts, just know why we care, why we think Treaty is important. They encourage listening, respectful conversations, the kind that Quakers value. People who have doubts, are unsure, need to trust that they can be heard, and safely explore ideas, without being harangued. On the other hand, if someone is very dogmatic, there’s probably not much possibility of a conversation. Just walk away.

First Peoples would like us to be visible allies: wear a badge, put a sticker on your car, a corflute in your front garden, a poster in your window.

They’d like us to encourage our local politicians, even if they are members of the government, through a phone call or sending a postcard.

What can Victoria Regional Meeting do?

VRM can provide a space for Friends to first inform ourselves, become clear about what we can each say. A group of Friends met at VQC in September. They suggested that VRM could write a letters of support to the government, and letters to the Opposition to encourage them to re-think their opposition to treaty. This has been done, under the auspices of the AYM First Peoples Concerns Committee.

Resources

The excellent FNAV website About TREATY for Victoria | The First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria has more detail about the content of the Treaty, including a PDF of the text of the proposed Treaty:

https://www.treatyvictoria.vic.gov.au/