Yoorrook launches new focus on education, health and housing 

Everyone should have a safe home, quality education and healthcare that responds to their needs. Yet these basics remain out of reach for many First Peoples in Victoria, despite improvements driven by the tireless work and advocacy of many First Peoples individuals and organisations.

The Yoorrook Justice Commission has just released four issues papers calling for submissions for its inquiry into education, health and housing injustice affecting First Peoples in Victoria.  

Yoorrook invites all Victorians, organisations and government departments to make a submission on the extent, causes and consequences of injustice within the education, health and housing systems, barriers First Peoples face in accessing services and potential solutions to fix problems and improve accountability.  

Submissions can respond to the specific themes outlined in any or all of the issues papers or any other matter that might be relevant to these areas of inquiry.

Submissions can be made via the Yoorrook website using the response form for organisations or individuals. 

Submissions responding to the issues papers close on Friday 8 February 2024. 

Yoorrook will use submissions to make recommendations to right the wrongs of the past and make a better shared future for everyone.

For queries about the issues papers or making a submission please contact enquiries@yoorrook.org.au or 1800 YOO RRK (1800 966 775).

Hearing truth from young people

What did you learn about First Peoples' history and culture at school?

Yoorrook recently yarned with young people about their experiences in the Victorian education system and how it could be improved.

Watch Jeda-Lee and Gymea's truth telling below.

Yoorrook welcomes submissions from all Victorians, including young people.

You (or the young person in your life) can tell Yoorrook about your experiences in school, finding safe and secure housing, getting appropriate healthcare or anything else that relates to injustice against First Peoples in Victoria. You can also make a submissions about improvements you would like to see in the future. 

Submissions can be writing, videos, artworks or any other format that you are comfortable with. They can be made as an individual or as a group - for example your class or group of friends could make a submission together.

To make a submission, fill in the form on the website (link below).

Protections for people who want to share information with Yoorrook

Did you know that Yoorrook has a range of protections for people who want to share information with the commission?

Yoorrook aims to be a safe, supportive and culturally appropriate place where you can tell your story or share information about injustice against First Peoples in Victoria. 

Telling the truth can be challenging sometimes. You might want to talk about difficult things you’ve seen or heard at work or things that would usually be kept confidential. 

The Yoorrook Justice Commission has been set up as a Royal Commission. This means it has ways to protect you and your information when you tell your story.

Find out more in the link below.

189 years of colonisation in Victoria

19 November marked 189 years since Edward Henty invaded the land now known as Portland and established the first permanent European settlement in Victoria.

Henty came to take land and gain wealth for himself and his family, defying colonial orders that the area not be settled.

Within 5 years the Henty brothers owned 30,000 sheep & 500 cattle. The Gunditjmara people resisted the theft of their land and frontier violence, known as the Eumeralla Wars, followed. One of Henty's managers poisoned Aboriginal families by giving them arsenic-laced flour.

Henty claimed to have "turned the first sod in Victoria". In reality, the Gunditjmara people had been tending to the land for thousands of years through sophisticated aquaculture techniques that can still be seen at the Budj Bim UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Yoorrook is looking in to the impact of these events and others like them had on First Peoples. Have your say by making a submission

Yoorrook Operations

Holiday Office Closure

Yoorrook will be closed from Saturday December 23, 2023 to Tuesday January 2, 2024. We wish you a happy and safe holiday season.  

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and pay our respect to them, their culture and their Elders past and present.