Victoria has spent more than two decades building a formal framework for Aboriginal justice reform — but as the state enters the implementation phase of its most ambitious commitments yet, the question is no longer what has been promised, so much as what is actually being delivered. The First Nations Justice Caucus sits at the centre of that accountability conversation, holding the thread between government pledges and lived community experience.
VCN acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we report, including the Yorta Yorta, Taungurung, Dja Dja Wurrung, Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Boon Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation, and pays respect to Elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.
What is the First Nations Justice Caucus? #
The First Nations Justice Caucus is the peak governance body that oversees implementation of the Aboriginal Justice Agreement (AJA), the long-running partnership between the Victorian Government and Aboriginal communities designed to reduce the overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the state’s justice system. The Caucus brings together Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, senior government representatives, Victoria Police leadership, corrections officials, and community Elders. It is not a court, a parliament, or an enforcement body — it is a structured mechanism for shared decision-making, and its authority rests on the political will of both government and community to honour it.
Critically, the Caucus operates on the principle that Aboriginal communities must drive the solutions to Aboriginal justice issues, rather than having government-designed programs handed down. In practice, that means Caucus members review data, scrutinise program rollouts, and formally advise government on where the AJA framework is falling short.
Aboriginal Justice Agreement Phase 4: The Current Compact #
The AJA has been running in various iterations since 2000. Phase 4, launched in 2021, is the most comprehensive version yet. It was developed with unprecedented community input and is built around a framework of self-determination — recognising that Aboriginal communities are not merely consulted on justice policy, but are partners in designing and delivering it.
AJA4 sets out commitments across four interconnected domains: healing and wellbeing, culture and community, safety, and justice. Within each domain are specific actions assigned to government departments, community-controlled organisations, and justice agencies including Victoria Police and the Department of Justice and Community Safety.
The Victorian Government has stated publicly that AJA4 is a living document, subject to review and revision as circumstances change. Progress reporting is published through the Caucus framework, though independent observers — including Yoorrook commissioners — have noted that transparency around implementation timelines and budget allocations has at times been uneven.
Wirkara Kulpa: The Youth Justice Strategy #
Among the most significant pillars of the current reform agenda is Wirkara Kulpa, Victoria’s Aboriginal Youth Justice Strategy, which runs to 2033. The title, drawn from Wergaia and Wemba Wemba language, broadly translates to a vision of young people flourishing and growing strong.
Wirkara Kulpa was developed following years of community-led consultation and was formally released in 2022. It directly confronts one of the most troubling features of Victoria’s justice data: Aboriginal young people are dramatically overrepresented at every point of the youth justice system, from first contact with police through to remand and supervised orders in custody.
The strategy is built on ten priority areas, including early intervention, cultural connection, family preservation, and diversion from the formal system. A central ambition is to shift the default response to young Aboriginal people in contact with the justice system away from criminalisation and toward healing and community-based support. The strategy explicitly names systemic racism as a driver of overrepresentation — a significant step in a government-endorsed document — and commits to addressing it through both structural reform and changed practice on the ground.
Implementation funding has been committed in successive Victorian budgets, though community organisations working directly with young people have told VCN that resourcing at the local level remains inconsistent, particularly in regional and rural communities where Aboriginal-controlled services are thinner on the ground.
The Yoorrook Justice Commission: History, Truth, and Follow-Through #
Running parallel to the AJA4 and Wirkara Kulpa processes is the Yoorrook Justice Commission — Australia’s first formal truth-telling process into historical and ongoing injustices experienced by First Peoples in Victoria. Established in 2021 under the Advancing the Treaty Process with Aboriginal Victorians Act 2018, Yoorrook has been gathering evidence from community members, government agencies, and institutions.
The Commission has already delivered findings on the child protection and criminal justice systems, two areas where Aboriginal Victorians are most acutely overrepresented. Yoorrook’s interim reports have made dozens of recommendations, many of which overlap with or reinforce the commitments already embedded in AJA4. The Commission has called out what it describes as systemic failures in how Victorian institutions have responded to Aboriginal people in contact with both child protection and criminal justice systems — findings the Victorian Government has accepted in principle, while committing to formal responses through Treaty and other processes.
The relationship between Yoorrook and the Justice Caucus matters because it creates a dual accountability structure. Where the Caucus monitors the operational delivery of agreed reforms, Yoorrook is generating a public, historical record of what has and has not worked over generations. Together, they are intended to keep government accountable not only to current community expectations but to the weight of documented history.
Where the Gaps Are #
Despite the breadth of these reform frameworks, community advocates and justice researchers have been consistent in identifying several persistent pressure points.
First, overrepresentation in the justice system has not materially reduced. Victoria’s own data shows Aboriginal adults are approximately 11 times more likely to be imprisoned than non-Aboriginal adults — a figure that has remained stubbornly elevated across successive AJA phases. For young people, the disparity is even more pronounced.
Second, the gap between policy aspiration and operational practice — particularly within Victoria Police — remains a live concern. Wirkara Kulpa and AJA4 both call for changes in how police engage with Aboriginal young people, including expanded use of cautioning and diversion. Community-controlled organisations have raised concerns that inconsistent implementation at the local level means young people in some areas still face a more punitive default response than the strategies intend.
Third, the Treaty process — which underpins the Yoorrook Commission’s longer-term authority — is still in progress. The First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, the democratically elected body representing Aboriginal Victorians in Treaty negotiations, continues that work, but formal Treaty agreements with the state remain ahead rather than behind. Until Treaty is settled, the full structural authority of community self-determination in justice matters remains aspirational rather than legally binding.
What the Reform Agenda Needs to Succeed #
Speaking to community leaders and justice workers across the Goulburn Valley and beyond, VCN understands that those closest to the work are broadly supportive of the frameworks that now exist, while being clear-eyed about the distance between a strategy document and a young person’s life trajectory. The consistent message is that sustainable reform requires not only government funding and policy commitment, but genuine transfers of decision-making power to community-controlled organisations — organisations that already carry deep relationships, trust, and cultural authority that no government agency can replicate.
The First Nations Justice Caucus, Wirkara Kulpa, and the Yoorrook follow-through represent the most serious attempt Victoria has made to address these entrenched inequities. Whether they succeed will depend on consistent investment, honest reporting of what the data shows, and a willingness to act on findings even when the findings are uncomfortable for government.
That accountability conversation is one VCN will continue to follow closely.
Support and Resources #
- 13YARN — 24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples: 13 92 76
- Lifeline — 24/7 crisis support: 13 11 14
- Beyond Blue — mental health support: 1300 22 4636
- Safe Steps — family violence response, 24/7: 1800 015 188
- 1800RESPECT — sexual assault and family violence support: 1800 737 732
- Crime Stoppers Victoria — anonymous tip line: 1800 333 000
- First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria — firstpeoplesassembly.com.au
