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Welcome to the Federation of Victorian Traditional Owner Corporations

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.

About Us

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land we work on as the First Peoples of this Country.

Country

Healthy Country means healthy communities. Our work recognises Traditional Owners’ rights and responsibilities to care and make decisions for Country.

Traditional Owner groups have knowledge, rights and responsibilities, stemming from 65,000 years of experience on Country. The Federation works in the following areas to embed Traditional Owner voices in management of Country.

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Community

Community wellbeing means strong culture, people and place.

The Federation’s work recognises Traditional Owner groups as authoritative decision-makers with rights and power. Our advocacy, programs and services enable Traditional Owners to get on with the business of caring for Country, culture and community.

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Impact

The Federation’s advocacy shapes the landscape in which Victorian Traditional Owner corporations do their important work.

We have put cultural fire and cultural water on the agenda for government, sought greater protections for Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property, fought for a fair place in the expanding native foods and botanicals industry, championed treaty and self-determination, supported a drastic reconsideration of how our cultural heritage is approached at both state and national levels, and worked to have economic development considered as more than just small business grants.

 

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About

The Federation is the Victorian state-wide body that convenes and advocates for the rights and interests of Traditional Owner groups 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.

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Talking TOCs economic development at the tennis!

Our CEO Kaley was grateful to be a guest of Hans Bokelund from the Victorian Governments Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions at the Australian Open last night.

DJSIR is the department that funded our massive five-part program of research across 2024-25 that looked at the state, size and opportunities for Victorias Traditional Owner economy – culminating in the Victorian Traditional Owner Economic Development Roadmap.

Were never *not* talking about full implementation of the Roadmap, and were glad to again have that opportunity in these seats with Hans, Barengi Gadjin Land Councils wonderful partnerships manager Dinesha, and Justin and Janine Mohamed, who are the ambassador for First Peoples and a senior First Nations executive at the NDIA, respectively.

Thanks DJSIR for the yarn and de Minaur for the great game!

Talking TOCs' economic development at the tennis!

Our CEO Kaley was grateful to be a guest of Hans Bokelund from the Victorian Government's Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions at the Australian Open last night.

DJSIR is the department that funded our massive five-part program of research across 2024-25 that looked at the state, size and opportunities for Victoria's Traditional Owner economy – culminating in the Victorian Traditional Owner Economic Development Roadmap.

We're never *not* talking about full implementation of the Roadmap, and were glad to again have that opportunity in these seats with Hans, Barengi Gadjin Land Council's wonderful partnerships manager Dinesha, and Justin and Janine Mohamed, who are the ambassador for First Peoples and a senior First Nations executive at the NDIA, respectively.

Thanks DJSIR for the yarn and de Minaur for the great game!
... See MoreSee Less

We’re a full team again with our last leave-takers returning from break! 😎

Here’s what some of the Federation’s team are up to this week. 

📚 Sophie’s drafting our monthly newsletter (give us a message if you’re not on the list and would like to be!).

🏨 Ken’s locking in a venue, accommodation and catering for that two-day cultural heritage management policy workshop we’re helping to convene next month.

🔥 Lisa’s making steady progress on the funding opportunities paper for the Cultural Fire Leadership Group, and meeting DEECA tomorrow to kick off a policy reform working group.

💎 Daniel’s chatting with Resources Victoria to learn about their work for the year (and where opportunities for Traditional Owners might lie). 

🧾 Jill’s received and reviewed the final invoice (of approximately 48 over two years!) for the Aboriginal Cultural and Healing Flood Recovery grant program, ahead of that program’s final report’s deadline of 31 January.

✍🏾 Kaley’s planning the agenda for our team strategy day, and conducting internal recruitment for our new Team Leader position. 

💸 Steph’s drafting two key letters: one’s a request to the water minister to visit Traditional Owners’ work, following the minister’s appearance at the last TOC Caucus meeting, and the other’s a template for Traditional Owner Corporations to use in their advocacy for core funding (this follows that modelling we commissioned last year into exactly what it costs to sustain a viable corporation).

📸 Gabby’s continuing writing case studies and sourcing photos for the Workforce Development Framework – and with it, creating us a new, streamlined process for seeking informed consent for photography use.

🍛 And Bossa Nova on Johnston Street is where some of us went for lunch today – weve got five more Tuesdays left in Carlton before we move to our new office on Collins Street!

We’re a full team again with our last leave-takers returning from break! 😎

Here’s what some of the Federation’s team are up to this week.

📚 Sophie’s drafting our monthly newsletter (give us a message if you’re not on the list and would like to be!).

🏨 Ken’s locking in a venue, accommodation and catering for that two-day cultural heritage management policy workshop we’re helping to convene next month.

🔥 Lisa’s making steady progress on the funding opportunities paper for the Cultural Fire Leadership Group, and meeting DEECA tomorrow to kick off a policy reform working group.

💎 Daniel’s chatting with Resources Victoria to learn about their work for the year (and where opportunities for Traditional Owners might lie).

🧾 Jill’s received and reviewed the final invoice (of approximately 48 over two years!) for the Aboriginal Cultural and Healing Flood Recovery grant program, ahead of that program’s final report’s deadline of 31 January.

✍🏾 Kaley’s planning the agenda for our team strategy day, and conducting internal recruitment for our new Team Leader position.

💸 Steph’s drafting two key letters: one’s a request to the water minister to visit Traditional Owners’ work, following the minister’s appearance at the last TOC Caucus meeting, and the other’s a template for Traditional Owner Corporations to use in their advocacy for core funding (this follows that modelling we commissioned last year into exactly what it costs to sustain a viable corporation).

📸 Gabby’s continuing writing case studies and sourcing photos for the Workforce Development Framework – and with it, creating us a new, streamlined process for seeking informed consent for photography use.

🍛 And Bossa Nova on Johnston Street is where some of us went for lunch today – we've got five more Tuesdays left in Carlton before we move to our new office on Collins Street!
... See MoreSee Less

AIATSIS Summit dates, tickets and abstract deadlines have just been announced.

Dont forget: sponsored delegate spots are available (and Virgins having a sale right now!).

Wed love to see as much Victorian Traditional Owner insight represented on this national stage as possible, so give us a ring if youd like some help brainstorming your presentation.

Learn more 👉🏾 bit.ly/3YHNnO1 | AIATSIS

AIATSIS Summit dates, tickets and abstract deadlines have just been announced.

Don't forget: sponsored delegate spots are available (and Virgin's having a sale right now!).

We'd love to see as much Victorian Traditional Owner insight represented on this national stage as possible, so give us a ring if you'd like some help brainstorming your presentation.

Learn more 👉🏾 bit.ly/3YHNnO1 | AIATSIS
... See MoreSee Less

A quick peek at what our team’s up to this week. 👀

💸 Daniel’s returned from leave to good news from Resources Victoria: its promised payments to support Traditional Owner groups’ involvement in critical minerals mining are on their way! 

✅ Steph’s sifting through actions from the last TOC Cacus meeting – the eight live actions span administration, research, funding and process, and every single one (!) has her initials next to it – and is preparing for a Closing the Gap inland water target meeting next week.

👷🏽‍♀️ Gabby’s writing case studies for the Workforce Development Framework and the final report of the Nation Building Resource Pool grant program, illustrating the impact of good practice through real-world examples.

📣 Jill’s synthesising the feedback Traditional Owner Corporations provided last year to Closing the Gap’s socio-economic targets for Victoria’s new Implementation Plan, and progressing the final Resource Pool report.

🔑 Ken’s locked in our new office and is locking in to making the move happen (more on this soon!).

🤝🏽 Kaley’s preparing for two big fora for Traditional Owner groups – expect announcements from us on cultural heritage policy and Traditional Owner Treaty-making very soon. 

📝 And Sophie’s writing our monthly newsletter, supporting with comms for those two events, and swimming in the Birrarung at Eltham. Have a great week!

A quick peek at what our team’s up to this week. 👀

💸 Daniel’s returned from leave to good news from Resources Victoria: its promised payments to support Traditional Owner groups’ involvement in critical minerals mining are on their way!

✅ Steph’s sifting through actions from the last TOC Cacus meeting – the eight live actions span administration, research, funding and process, and every single one (!) has her initials next to it – and is preparing for a Closing the Gap inland water target meeting next week.

👷🏽‍♀️ Gabby’s writing case studies for the Workforce Development Framework and the final report of the Nation Building Resource Pool grant program, illustrating the impact of good practice through real-world examples.

📣 Jill’s synthesising the feedback Traditional Owner Corporations provided last year to Closing the Gap’s socio-economic targets for Victoria’s new Implementation Plan, and progressing the final Resource Pool report.

🔑 Ken’s locked in our new office and is locking in to making the move happen (more on this soon!).

🤝🏽 Kaley’s preparing for two big fora for Traditional Owner groups – expect announcements from us on cultural heritage policy and Traditional Owner Treaty-making very soon.

📝 And Sophie’s writing our monthly newsletter, supporting with comms for those two events, and swimming in the Birrarung at Eltham. Have a great week!
... See MoreSee Less

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