A major Aboriginal-led inquiry in Australia has found that British colonists committed genocide against the Indigenous population in Victoria. The Yoorrook Justice Commission, which began in 2021 as Australia’s first formal truth-telling inquiry, discovered that violence and disease severely reduced the local Indigenous population by three-quarters within twenty years of the state’s colonization in the early 1830s.
The commission’s detailed report, after four years of hearings and over 1,300 submissions, revealed that the Indigenous population of Victoria dropped from an estimated 60,000 in 1834 to 15,000 by 1851. The report stated plainly, “This was genocide,” holding various harmful practices responsible for the near-total destruction of Victoria’s Indigenous community. These practices included mass killings, the introduction of diseases that Indigenous people could not fight off, sexual violence, systematic exclusion, linguicide (the destruction of languages), cultural erasure, environmental damage, and the forced removal and assimilation of children.
The Yoorrook Justice Commission was set up to investigate both historical and ongoing injustices faced by Indigenous peoples in Victoria. Its scope included a wide range of issues, such as land and water rights, cultural violations, acts of killing and genocide, as well as weaknesses in health, education, and housing. The commission’s findings highlight a national push in Australia towards reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Community leaders believe this should involve enquiries into history, treaty negotiations, and better political representation for First Nations people.
Among its roughly 100 recommendations, the report called for measures to acknowledge human rights violations, suggesting that reparations might be part of this acknowledgement. The commission proposed a major change in the education system. It called for more input from Indigenous people in creating the curriculum. It also recommended that the government apologize to Aboriginal soldiers who served in the World Wars but were excluded from land-gifting programs given to other returning service members. Regarding the state’s health system, the report pointed out existing racism and urged increased funding for Indigenous health services. It also called for policies aimed at recruiting more Aboriginal staff for healthcare.
Three of the five commissioners, Sue-Anne Hunter, Maggie Walter, and Anthony North, chose not to support the inclusion of unspecified key findings in the final report. However, they did not provide any additional details about their disagreement.
In response to the report, Victoria’s Labor government said it would carefully consider the findings. Premier Jacinta Allan noted that the report’s conclusions “shine a light on hard truths.” Jill Gallagher, who heads Victoria’s main organization for Aboriginal health and wellbeing, confirmed that the genocide finding was undeniable. She told the ABC that while no blame was placed on living individuals for these historical actions, it is the shared responsibility of today’s Victorians to acknowledge and reconcile with these truths.
