Voice, Treaty, Truth seminar

VU’s Community Identity & Displacement Research Network will host an online seminar with Alister Thorpe called 'Voice, Treaty, Truth' on Thursday 8 June at 12pm.

About the speaker

Alister Thorpe is a senior research fellow at VU’s Moondani Balluk Indigenous unit.

Mr Thorpe is a member of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, a democratically elected Aboriginal representative body established in 2019 to develop a treaty negotiation framework between First Nations and the State of Victoria.

As a member of the Gunai, Yorta Yorta, Gunditjmara and Wurrundjeri Woi Wurrung nations, he will be speaking on ‘Voice, Treaty, Truth: Creating a Pathway for Treaties with First Nations in Victoria'.

Decades of campaigning

Indigenous political activists in Australia have tirelessly campaigned for their rights since the 1930s, leading to the current national discussion about Indigenous representation, treaties, and truth-telling.

Building on the creation of the First Peoples’ Assembly, the Yoorrook (truth) Justice Commission was established in 2021 as the state’s first formal truth-telling process into historical and ongoing injustices experienced by First Peoples in Victoria.

These substantial achievements have created an environment that empowers First Nations to:

• negotiate treaties
• uphold their sovereignty
• recognise their inherent rights to lands and waters
• hold governments accountable for past injustices.

The outcomes in Victoria demonstrate the benefits of a rights-based approach supporting self-determination that provide important learnings for other jurisdictions.