2025-12-18
The Treaty Era has arrived in Victoria
By Ellen Sandell, Leader of the Victorian Greens
In August I shared an update about the journey to Treaty here in (so-called) Victoria. I am so pleased to share that we now finally have Treaty in law!
It has been one of the greatest honours of my time as an MP to be part of this Treaty process, led by incredible First Nations leaders from across our state. They never gave up, they never took their eye off the main game, and they have delivered a Treaty that truly shifts power from colonial governments back into the hands of First Nations communities, with true self-determination at its heart.
It was an absolute privilege to use our votes as Victorian state Greens MPs to ensure Treaty passed through the Parliament. Through this process I was reminded of how fortunate I am to work with smart, strong, principled Greens MPs who stood alongside mob in this fight, and I’m thankful for our movement of Greens who walked with us along this path and stood up as allies to take action when it was needed.
As part of Treaty, the Government also recently made an historic Apology to First Nations Victorians for the harms, injustices, genocide and trauma caused by and since colonisation. It was a huge honour to be one of only four MPs in the state chosen to give a speech on the Apology - you can watch my speech here.
Unfortunately, although we now have Treaty, the fight for justice is not over. At the same time as the historic Treaty signing and Apology was happening, the Labor Victorian state Government introduced and passed new laws to put children through the adult court system and potentially give kids life sentences - something that Aboriginal communities have been warning will disproportionately affect First Nations children.
This is on top of punitive bail laws that Victorian Labor has also introduced which are disproportionately affecting First Nations women, who are being held on remand (in prison before they’re even sentenced) at unprecedented rates.
This is a reminder that we must keep fighting for justice, and how Labor never ceases to amaze us in how cruel they're willing to be for a headline or to win votes.
But with Treaty, Governments from now on will need to involve First Nations communities in policies like this that affect them.
The passing of the ‘Statewide Treaty Bill 2025’ marks the first time in Australia’s history that a Treaty – a legitimate agreement between First Peoples and the Victorian government – has been enshrined in our laws.
Treaty transforms the First People's Assembly into a permanent, elected arm of a new First Nations body called Gellung Warl (Gunaikurnai language).
Gellung Warl will be able to decide on things like place-naming and cultural practices, support truth-telling education in our schools, and run events like NAIDOC week. The Assembly must also be consulted by the state government on all legislation affecting Aboriginal people.
Two other arms of this body will have other important powers. Nginma Ngainga Wara (Wadi Wadi) will have the power to question Ministers directly and hold them accountable on things like Closing the Gap. And Nyerna Yoorrook Telkuna (Wamba Wamba) will continue vital truth-telling and healing work, following the formal conclusion of the Yoorrook Justice Commission this year.
After Treaty passed through Parliament, it was given both ‘royal assent’ by the Governor and also ‘cultural assent’ by the First Peoples Assembly and First Nations community.
Then, Victoria’s Treaty era officially began at an incredible celebration at John Cain Arena on 12th December. We started with a public signing ceremony, before moving onto music by Briggs, Baker Boy, Missy Higgins and more. It was an unbelievable night which ended, of course, with an incredible live performance of ‘Treaty’ by Yothu Yindi!
Walking this journey to Treaty, alongside First Nations mob in Victoria has been the biggest honour of my time as an MP.
Thank you to the generations of First Nations people who have fought for this historic moment. I’ve been thinking about the elders who fought so hard for this moment but did not live to see the day - but also of the young people who will have a brighter future because the power is finally in their hands.
The Greens will always stand with First Nations communities, and that means listening and being led by the solutions they tell us are needed. That’s what Treaty is all about.
We hope this historic, successful process serves as a guiding light for other states and territories, and the federal government, to commit to their own Treaty and Truth processes.