The deputy chair of Victoria's indigenous truth-telling commission has dismissed media reports of infighting at the top of the organisation, and says public hearings are just weeks away.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Sue-Anne Hunter told AAP any talk of discord between Yoorrook commissioners is "absolutely false", and declined to comment on the recent resignation of the commission's chief executive.
"We are quite united in the way we are moving forward and the way we are doing things... I am honoured to stand beside every single other fellow commissioner," she said.
After COVID-19 thwarted three attempts to get commissioners out on country, the Wurundjeri and Ngurai illum Wurrung woman said public hearings would begin as early as March or April, with the commission already fielding inquiries from potential witnesses.
Yoorook is Australia's first truth-telling inquiry to investigate injustices against Aboriginal people.
At the start of this month the justice commission appointed its top counsel assisting, Fiona McLeod SC and Tony McAvoy SC, a man widely regarded as Australia's most senior first nations barrister.
Mr McAvoy was the senior counsel assisting the Don Dale Royal Commission, which delved into the harrowing failings of the Northern Territory's child protection and youth detention systems.
"The telling of these stories through a truth telling commission is without doubt a difficult, personally taxing affair," the Wirdi man told AAP.
But he said the opportunity to participate in Yoorrook was one he could not pass up, despite the cost.
"Many people from the first nations community of Victoria will come forward and take the opportunity to truly be heard and listened to, as to the things that they know from their oral history and they things that they personally experienced," he said.
"It is also my expectation that there will be many non-first nations people who know what occurred who will be wanting tell their story and unburden themselves and their families from their past."
Ms Hunter said she is confident that Mr McAvoy understands "the mammoth task ahead".
"He comes with a deep knowledge of our people, not only within the legal system and what that means, but also cultural knowledge," she said.
Both insisted the commission's interim report would be delivered by the June deadline, despite the delays in hearing from witnesses.
Mr McAvoy said similar forums in other countries have been an opportunity for change - particularly in societies where the truth has been kept silent for years.
"This particular period of time in Victoria will I think be remembered as a time of transformation to a mature, caring and more equal society," he said.
Formal truth-telling processes have been held in more than 30 other countries including Canada, New Zealand and South Africa.
Yoorook has a three year timeframe to establish an official public record of First Peoples' experiences since the start of colonisation and recommend reform and redress, with its work to also help guide the state's treaty negotiations.
The commission will also implement cutting-edge data sovereignty rules, so that witnesses can control how and where their evidence is used in future.
Establishing a process to facilitate truth-telling in Australia was one of the recommendations in the Uluru Statement from the Heart in 2017.
Australian Associated Press
