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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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Resources

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It’s great to hear Malarndirri McCarthy’s ‘looking at what we can do’ to progress national truth-telling. 

The Minister for Indigenous Australians told the ABC this week:

Now is the time, I hope, as we go forward, that we can look at what we can do at a federal level in regards to taking the steps that are required around truth-telling… now is the time to see action.”

An easy and immediate step: picking up the proposed national Truth and Justice Commission put forward by (her now-Labor colleague!) Dorinda Cox in a bill last year.

The Federation was pleased to contribute a submission and testimony to that bill – strongly supporting a federal Makarrata Commission that centres Traditional Owner groups’ cultural and regional authority in pursuit of systemic change, owned and led by First Peoples.

Read the news 👉🏾 bit.ly/44SL6mJ
Read our submission 👉🏾 bit.ly/4eH9lI5

—

Senator Malarndirri McCarthy - Northern Territory Senator Dorinda Cox ABC Indigenous ABC News SBS News

It’s great to hear Malarndirri McCarthy’s ‘looking at what we can do’ to progress national truth-telling.

The Minister for Indigenous Australians told the ABC this week:

"Now is the time, I hope, as we go forward, that we can look at what we can do at a federal level in regards to taking the steps that are required around truth-telling… now is the time to see action.”

An easy and immediate step: picking up the proposed national Truth and Justice Commission put forward by (her now-Labor colleague!) Dorinda Cox in a bill last year.

The Federation was pleased to contribute a submission and testimony to that bill – strongly supporting a federal Makarrata Commission that centres Traditional Owner groups’ cultural and regional authority in pursuit of systemic change, owned and led by First Peoples.

Read the news 👉🏾 bit.ly/44SL6mJ
Read our submission 👉🏾 bit.ly/4eH9lI5



Senator Malarndirri McCarthy - Northern Territory Senator Dorinda Cox ABC Indigenous ABC News SBS News
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All smiles in Mildura to catch up with our friends at First Peoples 🌞

Our interim CEO Kaley and Nation Building manager Jill headed up to Mildura last week to visit First Peoples of the Millewa-Mallee Aboriginal Corporation (that’s their interim CEO Chris Marshall with Kaley).

It was fantastic to discuss the First Peoples’ project under the Resource Pool Program – strengthening the organisation’s governance and organisational structure – and deepen our relationships, under that beautiful Mallee sun.

Thanks for having us, Chris and team!

All smiles in Mildura to catch up with our friends at First Peoples 🌞

Our interim CEO Kaley and Nation Building manager Jill headed up to Mildura last week to visit First Peoples of the Millewa-Mallee Aboriginal Corporation (that’s their interim CEO Chris Marshall with Kaley).

It was fantastic to discuss the First Peoples’ project under the Resource Pool Program – strengthening the organisation’s governance and organisational structure – and deepen our relationships, under that beautiful Mallee sun.

Thanks for having us, Chris and team!
... See MoreSee Less

It’s 50 years of NAIDOC Week! ✊🏾

2025 marks 50 years since the first all-Aboriginal NAIDOC committee decided its annual event of mourning, celebration and protest should span a full week.

This year’s NAIDOC Week theme – ‘The Next Generation: Strength, Vision and Legacy’ – honours Ancestors past and Elders present, and uplifts those shaping the future. 

This week, and always, we acknowledge the strength of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the depth of our cultures, and the ongoing fight for truth, Treaty, justice and rights.

It’s 50 years of NAIDOC Week! ✊🏾

2025 marks 50 years since the first all-Aboriginal NAIDOC committee decided its annual event of mourning, celebration and protest should span a full week.

This year’s NAIDOC Week theme – ‘The Next Generation: Strength, Vision and Legacy’ – honours Ancestors past and Elders present, and uplifts those shaping the future.

This week, and always, we acknowledge the strength of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the depth of our cultures, and the ongoing fight for truth, Treaty, justice and rights.
... See MoreSee Less

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