Towards Truth: Truth telling and the Uluru Statement from the Heart
09.06.2022
For many First Nations people, the oral stories passed from generation to generation shape our memories and identities. The stories of culture, of singing, and tradition, and more recently, stories of movement, of removal, of loss, and of sorrow. While the former elements of these spoken chapters can transport us to a distant past, the latter serve as a reminder of the repetitious and cyclical nature of trauma. An exercise in truth-telling in and of itself.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have shared lessons and histories this way for tens of thousands of years, and it remains vital to the longevity of our people. However, over the last 233 years, government laws and policies have torn families apart, separated communities, silenced our languages, and severed cultural connections and practices. Entire communities have been relocated and our stories have been siloed within our communities. For others, the historical policies have left scars so deep that this avenue is weakened or absent.
The Uluru Statement: local truth-telling overseen by Makarrata Commission
The delegates at the 2016-2017 First Nations Regional Dialogues understood the importance of truth-telling. Despite its absence as a formal reform option that was presented for consideration, there was a collective call from delegates in the Uluru Statement from the Heart for a nationally supported, but localised process of community-based truth-telling.
First Nations communities are diverse in their histories, tradition and culture: there is no one-size-fits all. But there are many similarities amongst them. They share proud cultural ties, oral story-telling traditions, and calls for truth. This is why the Uluru Statement from the Heart called for the establishment of a Makarrata Commission, to oversee a process of agreement-making and truth-telling, after the constitutional enshrinement of a Voice to Parliament. A Makarrata Commission would provide guidance and support for local communities undertaking truth-telling processes. While there is no form of truth-telling that will work for every community, there is a benefit in knowledge-sharing and reflecting on lessons learnt. This will empower First Nations communities to undertake truth-telling at their own pace, on their own terms, with local councils, historical or community groups, and with the support they need from the Makarrata Commission.
Towards Truth: Foundational work by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre & Indigenous Law Centre
To provide some of the foundational work that such processes might draw on, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre is working in partnership with the Indigenous Law Centre at the University of New South Wales, to develop an accurate, detailed map of the impact of laws and policies on First Nations people throughout Australia’s history. As the Project Officer for the project, called Towards Truth, I worked with a team of First Nations researchers to create a database that will soon become a publicly accessible website. It will be available to provide legislative and policy related contextual understanding for localised, community-based truth-telling, as called for in the Uluru Statement from the Heart. From child removal policies to land rights, to the suppression of languages, and over-policing, Towards Truth will allow First Nations communities to ground their personal truth and oral histories in the law that enabled it. The database is document-based, mapping legislative and policy developments through the analysis of government and parliamentary records, academic commentary, media articles and case studies.
I transitioned from my role coordinating the Towards Truth project in August 2021 to a role as a graduate at Herbert Smith Freehills, where I help lead a team of pro bono researchers to conduct the analysis that will form the content of the database. Herbert Smith Freehills is one of many pro bono partners of Towards Truth, without which the project would not be where it is today.
Since the Towards Truth project began in 2019, the analysis has highlighted not only the disproportionate impact of law and policy on First Nations people throughout history but the inability of governments to listen to them. This can be demonstrated by the 2018 changes to the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW), which were heavily criticised by Indigenous advocates due to the potential that they could create a new ‘Stolen Generation’. Nonetheless, as outlined in the 2019 Family is Culture Report, the reforms were passed. While there are areas of law that have positively impacted Indigenous people (such as the revitalisation of Aboriginal languages), the Towards Truth database demonstrates the results of decisions being made at a government level with little input from the people who the decisions will impact the most. It shows why a constitutionally enshrined Voice to Parliament is essential because, without a say in the matters that affect us, First Nations are left to suffer the consequences.
Truth-telling: why is it sequenced last?
Some may wonder if truth-telling is so important, why is it sequenced in the Uluru Statement to come last? First, it is important to remember that the sequencing of the Uluru Statement reforms is not to rank each reform in terms of importance. Treaty comes second, yet it was widely supported by the First Nations delegates and is the culmination of our agenda. Instead, they are sequenced to ensure that we achieve the best possible outcome. Without a constitutionally enshrined Voice to Parliament, First Nations people will lack the structural power and representative certainty required for treaty negotiations. One must only look to the Victorian Treaty process, where they immediately elected a representative body to set up the structures to allow for negotiations.
Truth-telling, an ongoing process, is not sequenced third because it is less important or less timely, but because we are rightfully cautious of the implications of indicating to the State that truth-telling should come first. Truth-telling processes create an opportunity for reflection, but at a governmental level, can also be used as a can-kicking exercise, delaying substantive reform in exchange for top-down processes of truth-telling and historical reflection. While such national truth-telling processes evidently have significance in the collective consciousness of the Australian people (such as the Bringing them Home report, Kevin Rudd’s Sorry speech, or the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody), they must result in substantive legislative and policy changes to have a concrete impact on future generations. It has been argued that had all of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody been implemented, First Nations lives could have been saved. Only time will tell whether the recently established of the Victorian Yoorook Commission, which is tasked with investigating historical and ongoing injustices committed against Aboriginal Victorians since colonisation and preparing recommendations for institutional and legal reform, will result in a similar fate.
This is why it is crucial that the Uluru Statement from the Heart movement remains focused on the constitutional-enshrinement of the Voice to Parliament, as we must not give governments an opportunity to delay long-overdue reforms before we even start. The Towards Truth database tracks countless reports, inquiries and government-led ‘truth-telling’ processes, but without rectification of our structural powerlessness, the resulting recommendations are left to sit on the shelf.
We know, from previous experiences, that truth-telling can be meaningful, cathartic, and emotional. Throughout the Regional Dialogues, delegates shared stories of past trauma, racism, and emotional family histories through a platform that gave a voice to the voiceless. The dominant narrative which has arisen in the Australian collective memory often fails to account for the truth of our history. How can we be expected to move forward as a country and understand our history when we are reading history from different books?
The Towards Truth Database
The work of the Towards Truth project so far has demonstrated how truth can be told in a powerful and informed way through an enhanced understanding of Australia’s past. Information within the database is categorised by thematic issues, such as hunting and fishing or language. We anticipate that local First Nations communities will be able to partner with local councils or historical groups, to host truth-telling processes. Using the information within Towards Truth, participants will be able to ground their community or personal history in historical law or policy. Questions as to how communities relocated or moved throughout NSW could be answered by looking at the legislative regimes that enabled the NSW government to force individuals off reserves. Confusion as to why some Aboriginal children were removed over others can be contextualised by the government’s blood quantum-based assimilation policies.
While understanding the legal and policy underlying their history cannot negate the trauma it caused, empowering individuals in this way helps pave the way towards a better understanding of their identity and an understanding of not just the historical trauma, but also the protests and the triumphs. This all contributes to both individual and collective healing.
There is no single universal truth of Australia’s history, and there will unlikely be a universal narrative that adequately includes all perspectives, but there can be collective ownership of a shared history. A fabric of stories, grounded in personal experiences and laws and policies, which speak to the truth of our nation’s past. As we move towards creating a Voice to Parliament, the database can serve as a useful reminder of the implications of failing to consider Indigenous voices when creating legislation and policy. As was recognised in the Uluru Statement and explained by Professor Megan Davis, we cannot move forward as a country without appropriate recognition of our history.
__
Kishaya Delaney is a proud Wiradjuri woman and a member of the Uluru Statement Youth Dialogue.
