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Welcome to the Federation of Victorian Traditional Owner Corporations

We’re the state-wide body fighting for the rights and interests of Victorian Traditional Owner Corporations while progressing wider social, economic, environmental and cultural objectives.

About

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 with Country. The Federation’s policy, advocacy and government relations work helps restore Traditional Owners’ authority in frameworks for managing of Country.

View our work for Country

Community

Community wellbeing means strong culture.

The Federation’s work recognises Traditional Owner Corporations as authoritative and representative decision-makers with rights, power, and responsibilities. Our advocacy and services support Traditional Owners to care for Country, culture and community.

View our work for community

Economy

Strong and independent economies sustain Traditional Owner communities and enable self-determination.

The Federation’s research, grant administration, knowledge-sharing and advocacy promote rights-based economic development for Traditional Owner Corporations.

View our work for economy

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 rights, 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 Traditional Owners’ economic development considered as more than just small business grants.

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.

Founded in 2013 by Traditional Owner Corporations who recognised they could be stronger together, we are by and for Traditional Owners: their policy and advocacy body, helping to enhance their authority on behalf of their communities.

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Discussion papers

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Federation of Victorian Traditional Owner Corporations

17 hours ago

Critical minerals, CEO Forum, and a new cultural fire policy paper: heres what some of our team are up to this week.

🟡 It’s milestone time for our newest project, and Dan’s writing up the results of weeks of Traditional Owner engagement! We’re completing a first draft of our first milestone report on the review of the Traditional Owner Game Management Strategy’s implementation next week.

🟡 Thursday’s our next CEO Forum, and November’s our next closed Cultural Fire Leadership Group meeting, and Lisa’s steering both of them – while standing up a working group with DEECA for Traditional Owner Corporations to explore streamline grant processes and design.

🟡 Ken’s successfully pulled off our MYOB migration and confirmed payments are flowing through (always good news).

🟡 Kaley’s hot off her appearance at yesterday’s critical minerals parliamentary inquiry, and keeping economic development on her radar: top of the to-do list is coordinating an upcoming meeting on international business investment opportunities for Traditional Owners.

🟡 Steph’s back into our TOCC secretariat role, holding interviews with Traditional Owner Corporations on a critical minerals ‘partnership framework’ project, and progressing actions from the last TOCC meeting.

🟡 Sophie’s drafting our monthly newsletter, full of jobs, grants, sector updates and more – message us if you’re not on the subscriber list and would like to be.

🟡 Our process princess Gabby is sorting out how to make our TOCC processes even better, and putting pen to paper on our next cultural fire policy paper.

🟡 And Ben’s organising meetings of our Board’s committees and scheduling Federation Enterprises director interviews, before starting a week of well-deserved leave.

Critical minerals, CEO Forum, and a new cultural fire policy paper: here's what some of our team are up to this week.

🟡 It’s milestone time for our newest project, and Dan’s writing up the results of weeks of Traditional Owner engagement! We’re completing a first draft of our first milestone report on the review of the Traditional Owner Game Management Strategy’s implementation next week.

🟡 Thursday’s our next CEO Forum, and November’s our next closed Cultural Fire Leadership Group meeting, and Lisa’s steering both of them – while standing up a working group with DEECA for Traditional Owner Corporations to explore streamline grant processes and design.

🟡 Ken’s successfully pulled off our MYOB migration and confirmed payments are flowing through (always good news).

🟡 Kaley’s hot off her appearance at yesterday’s critical minerals parliamentary inquiry, and keeping economic development on her radar: top of the to-do list is coordinating an upcoming meeting on international business investment opportunities for Traditional Owners.

🟡 Steph’s back into our TOCC secretariat role, holding interviews with Traditional Owner Corporations on a critical minerals ‘partnership framework’ project, and progressing actions from the last TOCC meeting.

🟡 Sophie’s drafting our monthly newsletter, full of jobs, grants, sector updates and more – message us if you’re not on the subscriber list and would like to be.

🟡 Our process princess Gabby is sorting out how to make our TOCC processes even better, and putting pen to paper on our next cultural fire policy paper.

🟡 And Ben’s organising meetings of our Board’s committees and scheduling Federation Enterprises director interviews, before starting a week of well-deserved leave. ... See MoreSee Less

Federation of Victorian Traditional Owner Corporations

23 hours ago

Were always going on about the Closing the Gap meetings were at, but theyre so much more than a call. Heres why Closing the Gap matters.

We're always going on about the Closing the Gap meetings we're at, but they're so much more than a call. Here's why Closing the Gap matters. ... See MoreSee Less

Federation of Victorian Traditional Owner Corporations

2 days ago

You can repeal a treaty, but you can never undo the reasons why it was made.

That's Ngarra Murray in today's The Age, leading a long and informative piece on why no government can unilaterally dismantle Statewide Treaty, what the agreement does, and why Jess Wilson's dislike of Treaty is out of step with her electorate's values and priorities.

Māori leader Kelvin Davis:

“Any parliament around the world has the right to make laws that they see fit and to repeal laws. So they’ve got the right to repeal the law, the Statewide Treaty Act. But that doesn’t mean that the treaty just disappears. The treaty is there.

“My advice to Victorians is ignore the treaty at your peril.

"The First Peoples have been around for 70,000 years and they’ll be around for another 70,000. As happened in New Zealand, governments throughout the decades after treaty was signed tried to hide it, push it into under the carpet, never to be heard from again. Māori did not forget. We used white man’s processes to make sure that it reclaimed its status, and it is now costing New Zealand government billions to rectify all the broken commitments and promises." ... See MoreSee Less

‘Ignore the treaty at your peril’: Warning for Victorians as Wilson vows to repeal sacred covenant

www.theage.com.au

Opposition Leader Jess Wilson, who has promised to repeal Victoria’s treaty laws, is being buffeted in her seat of Kew from both sides of the debate.

Federation of Victorian Traditional Owner Corporations

2 days ago

Weve just stepped off the witness stand at a national critical minerals inquiry.

Federation CEO Kaley Nicholson was called to speak to the parliamentary inquiry examining the factors shaping social license for critical minerals mining projects, including engagement with Traditional Owners and regional economic development – two things Traditional Owner Corporations know a lot about.

Their work to co-design models for agreement-making and equitable benefit-sharing in mining formed the backbone of our submission and testimony: practical, pragmatic and proven examples of how to balance interests, create certainty, respect self-determination, and ensure new forms of mining dont repeat the mistakes of the past.

Read more 👉🏾 bit.ly/4e4R5td

We've just stepped off the witness stand at a national critical minerals inquiry.

Federation CEO Kaley Nicholson was called to speak to the parliamentary inquiry examining the factors shaping social license for critical minerals mining projects, including engagement with Traditional Owners and regional economic development – two things Traditional Owner Corporations know a lot about.

Their work to co-design models for agreement-making and equitable benefit-sharing in mining formed the backbone of our submission and testimony: practical, pragmatic and proven examples of how to balance interests, create certainty, respect self-determination, and ensure new forms of mining don't repeat the mistakes of the past.

Read more 👉🏾 bit.ly/4e4R5td ... See MoreSee Less

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