Victoria to Adopt Majority of Yoorrook Justice Commission’s 46 Recommendations on Custody Laws

The majority of recommendations made by the Yoorrook Justice Commission, a body tasked with investigating historical injustices against Aboriginal Victorians have been accepted, but three relating to youth offenders have been rejected outright by the state’s government. Yoorrook, which means “truth” in the language of the Wemba/Wamba people was set up to provide a platform for Aboriginal Victorians to share their stories of the impacts of colonisation, dispossession, and systemic racism. It also investigates the past maltreatment of indigenous people such as the theft of land, forced removal of children, and other forms of discrimination and violence. It forms part of the government’s response to the final report of the royal commission into aboriginal deaths in custody, which highlighted the need for truth-telling and reconciliation to address systemic issues faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples....