Throughout its four-year inquiry, the Yoorrook Justice Commission investigated historical and ongoing injustices committed against Aboriginal Victorians since colonisation across all areas of social, political and economic life.
Aboriginal Victorians have been clear and consistent in the call for truth-telling as an essential part of the Treaty process. In June 2020, the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria (Assembly) passed a resolution seeking commitment from the State to establish a truth and justice process. In response, in July 2020 the Victorian Government committed to working with the Assembly to formally establish a truth and justice process.
The Victorian Government is committed to acknowledging the truth of Victoria’s history and laying the foundations for new, positive relationships between the State, Aboriginal Victorians and non-Aboriginal Victorians, which all Victorians can benefit from.
What is truth-telling?
It is widely acknowledged among First Peoples in Australia that we cannot talk about our shared future until we acknowledge our shared past. For decades First Peoples have advocated for truth-telling to recognise the impacts of colonisation and address historical and ongoing injustices.
Truth commissions offer a formal and legitimate process for this to happen, helping us understand our past and build a stronger shared future.
The Yoorrook Justice Commission
For generations Aboriginal Victorians have called on successive Governments to commit to a formal truth-telling process. Following months of work in partnership with the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, the Victorian Government established the Yoorrook Justice Commission as the nation’s first formal truth-telling process.
On 12 May 2021, the Governor of Victoria signed the letters patent, as required under the Inquiries Act 2014, to legally establish the Yoorrook Justice Commission as a Royal Commission and set its Terms of Reference.
Yoorrook is the Wemba Wemba / Wamba Wamba word for ‘truth’.
The Commission operated independently from government and is different to any other Royal Commission or inquiry undertaken in Australia because of its unique truth-telling purpose.
Throughout its four-year inquiry the Yoorrook Justice Commission:
- Received more than 1,300 submissions from individuals and organisations.
- Held over 67 public hearing days with more than 250 witnesses.
- Received over 7,000 documents from the State through notices to produce.
- Delivered interim reports in 2022 and 2023, and final interim and final reports in mid-2025.
Its work has brought about real change by:
- facilitating truth-telling and healing
- educating the wider Victorian community
- developing recommendations for institutional and legal reform.
Reports, finding and recommendations
The Commission delivered its first interim report, Yoorrook with Purpose, in June 2022. The Commission’s second interim report, Yoorrook for Justice, was released in August 2023.
In line with the Commission’s Letters Patent and the Inquiries Act, the Commission delivered its Final Reports to the Governor and the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria in June 2025. The Commission's Final Reports were tabled in Parliament and publicly released on 1 July 2025.
Yoorrook for Transformation is the Commission’s final interim report and contains findings and recommendations in relation to its Land and Social injustice lines of inquiry. Truth be Told is the final report of the Yoorrook Justice Commission and includes an Official Public Record based on First Peoples’ experiences of systemic injustice since the start of colonisation. The final report and Official Public Record will help Victorians understand the State’s history from the perspective of First Peoples, and how our past impacts our present.
All reports are available on the Yoorrook website.
Treaty and Truth
The work of the Commission helps us understand our history from the perspective of Aboriginal people, how it impacts on their present, and how Treaty can be the pathway to practical changes and solutions. The Commission’s findings and recommendations have informed the Treaty negotiation process.
You can find out more about Victoria’s Treaty process here.
State response to the Yoorrook Justice Commission
The State engaged openly and transparently with the Commission throughout its four-year inquiry. The Premier and 15 Ministers appeared in person and gave evidence and 20 written statements were provided by State witnesses. The government also produced over 7000 documents to the Commission in response to Notices to Produce.
The Victorian Government responded to the Commission’s Yoorrook with Purpose interim report in July 2022, and to the Yoorrook for Justice interim report in April 2024. The government also provided an update on progress implementing recommendations from Yoorrook for Justice in October 2024.
For more information on the Government’s response to the Yoorrook Justice Commission, contact yjcrebranch@dpc.vic.gov.au.
Letters Patent
The formal document that established the Yoorrook Justice Commission is called the Letters Patent. The Letters Patent were issued on 12 May 2021, with several amendments passed afterwards. The Letters Patent provided the rules for what the Commission could and could not do.
An archive of Yoorrook Justice Commission's Letters Patent and amendments is available on the Yoorrook website.
Updated