The Greens have welcomed the historic final reports of the Yoorrook Justice Commission and called on the Allan Labor Government to adopt all 100 recommendations, after Labor ignored or rejected around 85% of Yoorrook's interim recommendations.
Today the Government tabled Yoorrook's third and final report, Yoorrook for Transformation, and its public record of colonisation in the state, Yoorrook Truth Be Told.
Leader of the Victorian Greens Ellen Sandell thanked all Commissioners for their more than four years' of work recording vital evidence, as well as witnesses for delivering often devastating testimonies. Yoorrook's final report covers both areas for immediate reform, such as self-determination and education, as well as transformative proposals for the Treaty process.
Ms Sandell called on Labor to finally walk the talk and commit to all 100 final recommendations, after the Government fully accepted just 6 of 46 urgent reforms from Yoorrook for Justice, a 2023 interim report into child protection and criminal justice systems.
While some justice reforms may be negotiated through Treaty, Labor outright rejected three: strengthening the Victorian human rights charter; raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14; and creating a presumption of bail for all but the most serious offences.
The Allan Labor Government even rushed through knee-jerk bail laws against Yoorrook's recommendations, leading to record-high imprisonment of First Nations Victorians.
New figures from Corrections Victoria shows the overall prison population increased by 9.7% in the 12 months to May 2025. But this number is almost twice as high for Indigenous Victorians, at 18.8%, and is more than five times as high for Indigenous women at 51.6%.
Shockingly, almost two-thirds (65%) of Indigenous women in prison are now being held on remand without any finding of guilt, nearly all for minor offences.
Yoorrook's final reports were delivered to the Government and the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria last week.
The Greens strongly support legislation which would allow the First Peoples Assembly's work to continue in an ongoing way - advocating for solutions put forward by First Nations Victorians themselves.
As stated by Leader of the Victorian Greens Ellen Sandell:
"All Victorians will benefit from better understanding Victoria's true history and its enduring impacts on First Peoples.
"It takes bravery for Aboriginal Victorians to come forward and share stories about what their families endured through colonisation - and I also thank everyone who opened their hearts to hear these stories and think about how we can walk forward together for a better future.
"The Greens stand ready to work with the Victorian Government to deliver the solutions Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are calling for.
"I urge the Premier to finally walk the talk and adopt all the Yoorrook recommendations in full - instead of ignoring or rejecting them like Labor has done in the past."
As stated by Victorian Greens justice spokesperson, Katherine Copsey MLC:
"The Greens call on Labor to accept all recommendations of the Yoorrook Justice Commission - including the 85% of previous recommendations that Labor initially put in the too hard basket.
"Labor's knee-jerk bail laws have already put a record high number of unsentenced First Peoples in prison - particularly Aboriginal women who are languishing in prison without even going to trial yet, often for non-violent crimes.
"Indigenous Victorians, especially Indigenous women, pay the price for punitive 'tough on crime' changes to bail - when violent crimes are overwhelmingly committed by non-Aboriginal men."
