One year after the Voice Referendum, Toward Truth legal truth-telling project kicks off
One year ago, six million Australians supported an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament but sadly, despite years of work by First Nations leaders and tens of thousands of Australian volunteers, the referendum failed to pass.
While a lack of political leadership has allowed fear and ignorance to persist and delivering justice for First Nations people all too slow, over the last year, other efforts have gained momentum, including the Towards Truth project. Towards Truth, developed by the Indigenous Law Centre and the Justice and Equity Centre (formerly the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, PIAC) is a world first legal truth-telling project allowing First Nations people to tell their stories.
Towards Truth is the first attempt to map in detail how decisions of our parliaments and governments have dispossessed and disempowered First Nations people, and where they have sought to protect and provide for reparation. Since its launch in 2023, the Towards Truth website has shown how laws and policies in areas including child removals, housing and citizenship have shaped Aboriginal lives since 1788.
The Towards Truth project also shines a light on the resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the face of historic and on-going dispossession – resilience that was demonstrated by First Nations leaders in the wake of the referendum result. The response to the project has been impressive as well as the ways in which people have engaged with it.
“The goal isn’t to lay blame, but to shed light,” said Sally Treveton, a Biripi woman and lawyer, of the project.
The last year has also seen the power of truth-telling made clear. In Queensland, after the heads of seven government agencies gathered before the Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry, Chair Joshua Creamer concluded their evidence had shown how government had failed Aboriginal people “for 160 years in various forms.”
At Victoria’s Yoorrook Justice Commission, Premier Jacinta Allan confessed previous ignorance of massacres perpetuated close to her home in Bendigo, Dja Dja Wurrung Country and she committed to ensuring “the fundamental truth” of Victoria’s history was taught in schools.
The Towards Truth project was conceived of and founded by Professor Megan Davis, Professor Gabrielle Appleby, Jonathon Hunyor and Daniela Gavshon. The database that supports the website was designed by our former Technology Officer, Erol Gorur.
The project is on track to complete its research in just under three years but needs more financial support to ensure its success. For more information or to follow the progress of the Towards Truth project see the Towards Truth website here.
