Victoria is on the brink of a historic milestone, poised to become the first Australian state to negotiate a treaty with its Indigenous population. 

The First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria has formally announced its readiness to engage in treaty discussions with the state government.

This development was marked by an official entry into the Treaty Authority’s Negotiation Database, and the declaration will be ceremonially presented to the authority this week.

Assembly co-chair Rueben Berg, a Gunditjmara man, said the development represents the culmination of extensive efforts by Victoria’s traditional owner groups and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. 

The Treaty Negotiation Framework provides a structured approach for these discussions. It allows traditional owners to form delegations to negotiate treaties that address the specific priorities and aspirations of their respective areas, while the assembly itself will focus on a statewide treaty aimed at broader structural reforms.

All parties entering into treaty negotiations, including the assembly and the government, must demonstrate to the Treaty Authority, which acts as an independent umpire, that they are maintaining agreed standards.

Ngarra Murray, the assembly’s co-chair and a woman of Wamba Wamba, Yorta Yorta, Dja Dja Wurrung, and Dhudhuroa heritage, says it is “an exciting time for First Peoples in Victoria, we’ll be sitting down to negotiate the first treaty in Australia”.