Embedding self-determination in all the work we do will require new processes, cultures and systems in our department. First Peoples will exercise their right to decide what those should be. Meanwhile, our responsibility is to equip our staff to listen, act and hold ourselves accountable to the outcomes of the Yoorrook Justice Commission and Treaty negotiations. To increase our readiness to make the changes that Aboriginal Victorians will ask of us, we must:
- increase our cultural safety and awareness
- improve reporting, monitoring and evaluation of actions to support Aboriginal self-determination and closing the gap while reducing the burden on organisations
- strengthen data sovereignty practices across our department.
Over the next four years, we will continue to respond to the Yoorrook Justice Commission’s inquiries and support whole-of-government responses to the commission’s findings. We commit to implementing the commission’s recommendations when it concludes in June 2025.
We will also:
- implement Treaty negotiation outcomes including by:
- developing policies and legislative amendments
- conducting capacity- and capability-building activities and change management processes
- partner with Aboriginal communities to support data sovereignty at our department and across government
- strengthen Aboriginal governance to promote accountability for outcomes
- implement funding reform to better support Aboriginal organisations
- empower Aboriginal decision making to reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal children in care services, including by:
- continuing to implement Wungurilwil Gapgapduir and its nation-leading initiatives, including ongoing funding for care and case management of Aboriginal children in care by Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations
- implementing legislative changes to expand the role of Aboriginal agencies and introduce binding principles for all decision-makers in the system
- expanding the Aboriginal Children in Aboriginal Care program to support 774 more children by 2027
- engaging with Aboriginal stakeholders to design and progress towards an Aboriginal-led, end-to-end child and family services system
- elevate Aboriginal self-determination in housing and homelessness, family and sexual violence and other service systems, including by implementing the Dhelk Dja three-year action plan 2023–2025
- progress implementation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural safety framework across funded agencies, working alongside Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations.