Skip to main content

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

Connect With Us on Social Media

FacebookInstagramTwitter
Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons
January 26 is the day dispossession began. 

Its not a date to celebrate.

We stand with Traditional Owner groups strengthening their Country, culture and communities – recognising them as representative, authoritative and proudly self-determining groups who are continuing thousands of years of work caring for Country.

Heres some small ways you too can support Traditional Owners.

January 26 is the day dispossession began.

It's not a date to celebrate.

We stand with Traditional Owner groups strengthening their Country, culture and communities – recognising them as representative, authoritative and proudly self-determining groups who are continuing thousands of years of work caring for Country.

Here's some small ways you too can support Traditional Owners.
... See MoreSee Less

Donald Trump might want Greenland, but it’s the people’s right to decide what happens to them.

Greenlandic people’s rights to decide their own lives were recognised in a 2008 referendum that laid the legal foundation for future independence, if they choose, and affirmed their inherent right to self-determination.

Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Bourup Egede said in a press conference this weekend: 

“We have a desire for independence, a desire to be the master of our own house… This is something everyone should respect. Greenland is for the Greenlandic people. We do not want to be Danish, we do not want to be American. We want to be Greenlandic.”

Greenland is an example of the importance of recognising and respecting a peoples’ right to self-determination, without interference – which is what we’re interested in here in Victoria for Traditional Owners.

The fundamental right of a people to decide the course and circumstances of their own lives, and make decisions about matters that affect them, is universal and paramount.

If you believe a US president-elect and a Danish monarchy shouldn’t decide the lives of Greenlandic people, you support self-determination.

Donald Trump might want Greenland, but it’s the people’s right to decide what happens to them.

Greenlandic people’s rights to decide their own lives were recognised in a 2008 referendum that laid the legal foundation for future independence, if they choose, and affirmed their inherent right to self-determination.

Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Bourup Egede said in a press conference this weekend:

“We have a desire for independence, a desire to be the master of our own house… This is something everyone should respect. Greenland is for the Greenlandic people. We do not want to be Danish, we do not want to be American. We want to be Greenlandic.”

Greenland is an example of the importance of recognising and respecting a peoples’ right to self-determination, without interference – which is what we’re interested in here in Victoria for Traditional Owners.

The fundamental right of a people to decide the course and circumstances of their own lives, and make decisions about matters that affect them, is universal and paramount.

If you believe a US president-elect and a Danish monarchy shouldn’t decide the lives of Greenlandic people, you support self-determination.
... See MoreSee Less

Fire is a natural and functional part of the Victorian landscape – but, as we’re seeing again this summer, the climate crisis brings fires that are more frequent, severe and unpredictable.

Traditional Owners know the ways they’ve cared for Country over tens of thousands of years could help heal Country damaged by fire, mitigate future risk, and strengthen their connection to culture.

Six years of sustained advocacy by Victorian Traditional Owners brought last year’s welcome news that the Victorian Government’s new ten-year Bushfire Management Strategy would explicitly include Traditional Owner cultural fire approaches.

These principles – and Traditional Owners’ ambitions for reinvigorating cultural fire, across all types of Country and land tenure – were captured in the Traditional Owner Cultural Fire Strategy. It’s a landmark document prepared by Traditional Owners, in a process we facilitated, which would enable Traditional Owners to fulfil their obligations to care for Country.

We were honoured to help facilitate the Strategy, and to advocate for its incorporation in the government’s Bushfire Management Strategy, through direct engagement with government and a written submission.

Our thoughts are with the tireless emergency service workers and affected communities on this summer’s fire fronts, and our hopes for the future are courageous policy decisions that address the climate crisis and enable Traditional Owners to heal Country.
... See MoreSee Less

Load more