Since the late 90s, we've certainly seen changes in the relationship between Victoria's Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples, and particularly the relationship with the Victorian government.
Now, instead of the government making policies that affected Aboriginal peoples, and then Aboriginal peoples reacting to them, we are more and more in a situation where the Aboriginal community says 'this is where we want to go and what we'd like to do, and this is where you do (or don't) fit in to that'.
How did we get there?
If I relate the journey to the theme of this year's NAIDOC week, 'Get Up, Stand Up, Show Up', it's simple — it's because we got up, we stood up and we showed up.
We did this by changing the narrative of who we are — we are not a series of disconnected problems to be 'fixed', but instead, we are a people of unrealised potential and all we lack is the opportunity to fulfill that potential.
We did it through community action to take ownership of looking after our own, by supporting each other to make real our collective aspirations, and by continually advocating and making our voices heard.
We did it by having Aboriginal people work in government, particularly the public service, so that they were in decision-making positions inside departments, working closely with ministers.
Ian Hamm is a Yorta Yorta man who has overseen major policy and strategic reforms for government and community organisations. Source: Supplied
Since the early years of this century, Victoria has really shifted the dial.
It has resulted in us doing Treaty; the most progressive Stolen Generations Redress Scheme in the country; the Victorian Aboriginal Affairs Framework, on which the Commonwealth 'Closing the Gap' framework is based (which itself was driven by the Aboriginal community sector rather than the public service); the Aboriginal Justice Agreement; and, when the Native Title Act failed for us, we achieved the Traditional Owner Settlement Act – land rights for the circumstances of the Victoria's Traditional Owners.
I am not surprised though that we have done these things. After all, Melbourne is the most socially progressive city in Australia, and capital of the most socially progressive state.
The progress we have made is not only a reflection of where we are but, more importantly, who we are, and to an extent, who we have always been.
From William Barak in the 1900's, to William Cooper in the 1930s; from the campaigners of the '67 referendum to the reformers of the 21st century, Melbourne has always been the place where the expectation of justice stood its best chance of life.
So, while we have a focus this year of 'getting up, standing up and showing up' — really, that's been the Aboriginal ethos all along.
What do Aboriginal peoples need to do?
The theme of 'Get Up, Stand Up, Show Up' aligns well with the movement for an Indigenous Voice.
In seeking a voice to the federal parliament, we need to get up, stand up, show up — ultimately we need to be in it, to win it.
If we want to win a referendum about there being an Aboriginal voice to parliament, we have to get out there and argue the case ourselves.
This means attending the town hall meetings, doing the stump politics and at the end of the day, getting the job done.
Allies can get up, stand up and show up too.
The simple weight of numbers says that we need non-Aboriginal people to buy into this, and not just buy into it, but be proactive in prosecuting our agenda for change.
Last month a landmark Treaty Authority bill passed in the lower house of the Victorian parliament. Source: AAP
We cannot do this alone, and we are not asking for anything unreasonable, so it should be an easy thing for non-Aboriginal people to do.
We need people to speak with us, act with us, and do what needs to be done, with us.
Because ultimately, it benefits everybody.
Moving forward
So where does this lead us? There are big things that we need to think about and these need to form part of the discussion.
Nationally, it is about reform of the constitution for both recognition and an Aboriginal voice to parliament, and we all need to be talking about that.
We can't be idle as we all need to be actively involved in the discussions that have the potential to take us forward.
At a state-based level, every Victorian has skin in the game on treaty — this isn't just about Aboriginal peoples, it's about all Victorians.
We need people to get up, to stand up, to show up and to be part of the discussion and the debates, to be part of developing what is a fundamental bedrock moment for our country.
Victoria is leading the way in the treaty process, and everyone else is watching us to see what happens.
Every day is not just about what we have achieved, it's also a case of setting an example; everybody is watching us to see how we progress, so that they can follow.
Government needs to continue playing its part.
As the most multicultural city and one whose cultural identity is ever-evolving, while it's been hard for us,
Aboriginal peoples have felt that this is the state with perhaps the greatest opportunity to reassert who we are, to find our proper place in society.
It's not perfect by a long shot — we still have police issues, we still have economic issues and much more, but the opportunity to do something about those things is great in Victoria.
And when you have governments that generally put what is right above politics, that's enormous.
Successive Victorian governments of both colours, from the 1980's onwards, have acted to advance Aboriginal Victorians — sometimes speedily, sometimes excruciatingly slowly, but always forward.
It is imperative that future governments maintain this momentum and continue this tradition of social progression.
There's something about this state, its governments and its people, which has meant the Aboriginal agenda has come as far as it has.
We're a small state, but it's not the size that counts. We can continue to do these things, as long as we get up, stand up and show up, just like we have for so long.
Forty years the difference, and we can go the distance.
This year the theme is so much more than a call-to-action, it's a call-to-reflection, of just how far we have come as a state, and for just how long we have been getting up, standing up and showing up.
I look back on things when I was a young bloke and first connecting with the community (I am one of the stolen children).
I look at what I found and where we were, and now I look at where we are and see that we have come so far.
It's 40 years next year since I first started finding my way in the community; there wasn't even talk of a stolen generation because nobody was really aware of the scale of the removal of children.
Two years ago, I chaired the committee that designed the Victorian Stolen Generations Reparations Package.
That's the thing about possibility and potential in Victoria, which is why I believe it is fitting that Melbourne is the host city for the NAIDOC Awards Ceremony this year.
We have come so far and there is still a long way to go, but I am confident that we will stay the course — after all, that's who we are as Victorians.
A Yorta Yorta man, Ian Hamm has over 30 years of extensive government and community sector experience, particularly at executive and governance levels. He is the chair and board member of a number of non-for-profit and public purpose organisations devoting himself to improving the representation of Aboriginal people on boards and other high-level governance, through strategic action, advocacy and mentoring.
