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News & Media

Amplifying Traditional Owner voices in the media, raising Traditional Owner concerns through advocacy and celebrating Traditional Owner vision through policy is at the core of our work.

We do this through publications, media and engagement.

Discussion Papers

The development of the Federation’s treaty Discussion Papers was funded by the Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC) to support Aboriginal Victorians with the transition to treaty.

The Federation released six papers, developed to align with the insights and questions posed during Traditional Owner treaty engagement meetings.

The discussion papers successfully stimulate ideas, discussion and debate about treaty and agreement making in Victoria.

View all Discussion Papers

Annual Reports

The Federation publishes its financial statements detailing the group’s financial performance and that of its subsidiary companies.

The accounts are prepared in accordance with Australian Accounting standards, and as a registered charity, the Federation is subject to regulation by the Australian Charities and Not for Profits Commission.

View all Annual Reports

Media Statements

Clean energy strategy investment respects Traditional Owners as partners and rights-holders (6 December 2024)

Traditional Owner groups welcome recommended reforms for economic self-determination (27 November 2024)

Law reform to power Indigenous economic development a welcome step towards self-determination (26 November 2024)

Traditional Owner groups welcome Treaty negotiations (21 November 2024)

Traditional Owners must be at the heart of managing culturally significant native species (25 September 2024)

Victorian Government must protect and respect native dingoes, say Traditional Owner groups (7 September 2024)

Federation celebrates Wamba Wemba Aboriginal Corporation’s formal recognition (13 August 2024)

Victorian Opposition must end racist blame and get the facts straight on cultural heritage (29 July 2024)

Victorian Traditional Owner groups ready for cultural management of Country through increased IPAs (12 July 2024)

Aboriginal dispossession must wind up with VicForests (30 June 2024)

Traditional Owner groups welcome dedicated education funding as a step towards self-determination (31 May 2024)

Stolen water wealth must be returned to Traditional Owners through Murray-Darling Basin buybacks (20 May 2024)

Governments must restore and respect Traditional Owners’ authority for Budget pledges to be meaningful (15 May 2024)

Historic Bakaru Wayaparrangu agreement will redress past injustice and enable Traditional Owners’ prosperity (14 May 2024)

Victorian Government ministers must follow Yoorrook Justice Commission testimony with action (2 May 2024)

Victorian Government doesn’t fully understand self-determination, Yoorrook Justice Commission hears (17 April 2024)

Victorian Government must commit to Aboriginal-owned water title for Murray-Darling Basin (12 April 2024)

Declaration of the Southern Ocean offshore wind area does not respect Traditional Owner rights and responsibilities for Sea Country (18 March 2024)

Aboriginal Culture and Healing Flood Recovery Grant Program (6 March 2024)

Governments must commit to the work of Closing the Gap (7 February 2024)

View all Media Statements

Strategic Plans

The Federation is the Victorian state-wide body that convenes and advocates for the rights and interests of Traditional Owners while progressing wider social, economic, environmental and cultural objectives.

We support the progress of agreement-making and participation in decision-making to enhance the authority of Traditional Owner Corporations on behalf of their communities. Together, our joint purpose is to facilitate and amplify a strong voice for Traditional Owners and progress our shared interests.

View all Strategic Plans

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Hello from another working week at the Federation! Here’s what some of our team are getting stuck into. ✨

🌩️ Daniels reviewing the draft guidelines for VicGrids renewable energy connections and access regime, and exploring the best way to support Traditional Owner groups in their advocacy for the best outcomes in this space.

💧 Jill’s pulling together a big round of feedback to Ngaweeyan Maar-oo on specific actions to meet three socio-economic targets: target 8 (economic development and employment), target 15 (land and waters), and target 17 (digital inclusion) – and has a minute to catch her breath before revising our draft final report to Emergency Recovery Victoria for administering the Aboriginal Culture and Healing Flood Recovery Grant Program.

✍🏽 Sophie’s drafting our September monthly newsletter (message us if you’re a Traditional Owner Corporation staff member who’s not yet on our mailing list!), before heading up to Sydney for media training with Kaley – who’s in danger of being out of town as her beloved Cats line up for a grand final…

🏕️ Steph has just sent two significant Cultural Landscape Strategy reports to Traditional Owner Corporations – the Year 2 activities report on Strategy implementation, and the report capturing outcomes from the monitoring and evaluation process – and is looking forward to their review and any feedback from corporation members. 

👷🏾‍♀️ And Gabby’s continuing a reorientation of the Workforce Development Strategy’s approach, based on direct feedback from Traditional Owner Corporations and in consultation with our staff – to ensure it’s an authentic expression of Traditional Owners’ worldviews and priorities.

(📷 Kaley and Sophie with media trainer Simon on a sunny arvo in Chippendale – thank you Cox Inall Ridgeway! Thank you Sydney spring!)

Hello from another working week at the Federation! Here’s what some of our team are getting stuck into. ✨

🌩️ Daniel's reviewing the draft guidelines for VicGrid's renewable energy connections and access regime, and exploring the best way to support Traditional Owner groups in their advocacy for the best outcomes in this space.

💧 Jill’s pulling together a big round of feedback to Ngaweeyan Maar-oo on specific actions to meet three socio-economic targets: target 8 (economic development and employment), target 15 (land and waters), and target 17 (digital inclusion) – and has a minute to catch her breath before revising our draft final report to Emergency Recovery Victoria for administering the Aboriginal Culture and Healing Flood Recovery Grant Program.

✍🏽 Sophie’s drafting our September monthly newsletter (message us if you’re a Traditional Owner Corporation staff member who’s not yet on our mailing list!), before heading up to Sydney for media training with Kaley – who’s in danger of being out of town as her beloved Cats line up for a grand final…

🏕️ Steph has just sent two significant Cultural Landscape Strategy reports to Traditional Owner Corporations – the Year 2 activities report on Strategy implementation, and the report capturing outcomes from the monitoring and evaluation process – and is looking forward to their review and any feedback from corporation members.

👷🏾‍♀️ And Gabby’s continuing a reorientation of the Workforce Development Strategy’s approach, based on direct feedback from Traditional Owner Corporations and in consultation with our staff – to ensure it’s an authentic expression of Traditional Owners’ worldviews and priorities.

(📷 Kaley and Sophie with media trainer Simon on a sunny arvo in Chippendale – thank you Cox Inall Ridgeway! Thank you Sydney spring!)
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We’re thrilled to say the Victorian Traditional Owner Economic Development Roadmap is a national excellence finalist!

A few weeks ago, we entered the Roadmap in the National Economic Development Awards for Excellence – which recognise excellence in driving growth and prosperity, held by the peak body, Economic Development Australia – in the strategic thinking category.

Together with SGS Economics and Planning, we submitted the Roadmap as a first-of-its-kind, transformative approach to economic development that offered new empirical evidence about First Nations’ economies and reoriented the research approach away from ‘Western’ industry and towards Traditional Owners’ priorities.

And it’s one of three national finalists!

We’re up against the councils of Sydney and Casey, and winners will be announced in Newcastle in late October. 

The Roadmap is a collaborative and costed blueprint for how investment in Traditional Owner Corporations could bring self-determined prosperity for Victorian Aboriginal communities – and offer $1 billion in health, employment, tourism and productivity benefits to all Victorians, from a $300 million investment over 40 years.

Cross your fingers for the Roadmap, and learn more about it here 👉🏾 https://fvtoc.com.au/sections/roadmap/

We’re thrilled to say the Victorian Traditional Owner Economic Development Roadmap is a national excellence finalist!

A few weeks ago, we entered the Roadmap in the National Economic Development Awards for Excellence – which recognise excellence in driving growth and prosperity, held by the peak body, Economic Development Australia – in the strategic thinking category.

Together with SGS Economics and Planning, we submitted the Roadmap as a first-of-its-kind, transformative approach to economic development that offered new empirical evidence about First Nations’ economies and reoriented the research approach away from ‘Western’ industry and towards Traditional Owners’ priorities.

And it’s one of three national finalists!

We’re up against the councils of Sydney and Casey, and winners will be announced in Newcastle in late October.

The Roadmap is a collaborative and costed blueprint for how investment in Traditional Owner Corporations could bring self-determined prosperity for Victorian Aboriginal communities – and offer $1 billion in health, employment, tourism and productivity benefits to all Victorians, from a $300 million investment over 40 years.

Cross your fingers for the Roadmap, and learn more about it here 👉🏾
... See MoreSee Less

The weather’s warming up and our team’s hard at work. Here’s another look into what some of the Federation staff are up to! 🌞

Jill, Nikita, Gabby and Sophie have completed a first draft of our final report for Emergency Recovery Victoria for the Aboriginal Culture and Healing Flood Recovery Grant Program – a grant program we administer that supported 14 Aboriginal organisations to design and deliver 16 incredible projects healing Country and community after the October 2022 floods.

Lisa and Kurt held a fantastic closed session for the Traditional Owner group representatives on the Cultural Fire Leadership Group, and Kurt’s continuing with our trust-based evaluation of the Nation Building Resource Pool Program: he had a great chat with BBunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporationfor their semi-structured interview, to close their reporting.

Gabby’s hard at work on the Workforce Development Strategy: she’s spoken with representatives from 10 Traditional Owner Corporations, and is now turning what she’s heard into a useful, de-Westernised framework for how employment needs to change.

Reece is preparing to present on our work ensuring Indigenous food sovereignty is recognised and respected at next week’s Australasian Seed Science Conference, and joined the national First Nations Cultural Heritage Alliance’s meeting to workshop changes to national cultural heritage legislation following Rio Tinto’s destruction of Juukan Gorge in 2020.

Steph’s also turning to cultural heritage management policy ahead of a Traditional Owner Corporation workshop we’re running – more on that next month! – and resting her eyes and voice after a full-day inland water target workshop (where she volunteered for a working group to formalise the definition of an ‘Aboriginal organisation’ for the purpose of understanding when Closing the Gap water entitlement targets have been met).

And Sophie had a short week, because she spent four days on beautiful Yorta Yorta Country near Echuca – but, after swimming at Dunghala and photographing these two Wigilupka, she got stuck back into editing the Federation’s annual report.

The weather’s warming up and our team’s hard at work. Here’s another look into what some of the Federation staff are up to! 🌞

Jill, Nikita, Gabby and Sophie have completed a first draft of our final report for Emergency Recovery Victoria for the Aboriginal Culture and Healing Flood Recovery Grant Program – a grant program we administer that supported 14 Aboriginal organisations to design and deliver 16 incredible projects healing Country and community after the October 2022 floods.

Lisa and Kurt held a fantastic closed session for the Traditional Owner group representatives on the Cultural Fire Leadership Group, and Kurt’s continuing with our trust-based evaluation of the Nation Building Resource Pool Program: he had a great chat with BBunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporationfor their semi-structured interview, to close their reporting.

Gabby’s hard at work on the Workforce Development Strategy: she’s spoken with representatives from 10 Traditional Owner Corporations, and is now turning what she’s heard into a useful, de-Westernised framework for how employment needs to change.

Reece is preparing to present on our work ensuring Indigenous food sovereignty is recognised and respected at next week’s Australasian Seed Science Conference, and joined the national First Nations Cultural Heritage Alliance’s meeting to workshop changes to national cultural heritage legislation following Rio Tinto’s destruction of Juukan Gorge in 2020.

Steph’s also turning to cultural heritage management policy ahead of a Traditional Owner Corporation workshop we’re running – more on that next month! – and resting her eyes and voice after a full-day inland water target workshop (where she volunteered for a working group to formalise the definition of an ‘Aboriginal organisation’ for the purpose of understanding when Closing the Gap water entitlement targets have been met).

And Sophie had a short week, because she spent four days on beautiful Yorta Yorta Country near Echuca – but, after swimming at Dunghala and photographing these two Wigilupka, she got stuck back into editing the Federation’s annual report.
... See MoreSee Less

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