Opening Conference Plenary
| Tuesday, September 5, 2023 |
| 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM |
| AFL Dining Room |
Overview
Professor Eleanor Bourke
Speaker
Professor Eleanor Bourke
Chairperson
Yoorrook Justice Commission
Records and recordkeeping in Australia’s first formal truth telling inquiry
Abstract Details
The Yoorrook Justice Commission was set up to investigate the systemic injustices experienced by First Peoples in Victoria from the start of colonisation up to today.
Yoorrook is both a truth telling process tasked with creating an official public record of the true history of Victoria, and a royal commission – a colonial legal structure that comes with significant powers, and responsibilities. How can the Commission meet its reporting requirements under the law, while ensuring its archives not only respect and reflect the voices and experiences of First Peoples, but are also held and controlled by First Peoples?
And how can Yoorrook create an immersive, living archive that helps all Victorians better understand the history of the lands upon which we all live.
Yoorrook is both a truth telling process tasked with creating an official public record of the true history of Victoria, and a royal commission – a colonial legal structure that comes with significant powers, and responsibilities. How can the Commission meet its reporting requirements under the law, while ensuring its archives not only respect and reflect the voices and experiences of First Peoples, but are also held and controlled by First Peoples?
And how can Yoorrook create an immersive, living archive that helps all Victorians better understand the history of the lands upon which we all live.
Biography
Professor Eleanor Bourke is a Wergaia/Wamba Wamba Elder and Chair of the Yoorrook Justice Commission. She has held executive positions in state and federal government agencies, including Co-Chair of Reconciliation Victoria, Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council Board Member and Board Member of Native Title Services Victoria where she participated in Victoria’s first positive native title determination for the Wotjobaluk, Wergaia, Jardwa, Jardwajarli and Japagulk peoples. Previously Professor of Aboriginal and Islander Studies, Director of Aboriginal Programs at Monash University, Associate Professor and Director of the Aboriginal Research Institute in the South Australia University, an inductee into the Victorian Honour Roll for Women and the Victorian Aboriginal Honour Roll and recently awarded Member of the Order of Australia in 2022.
Moderator
Moderator Staff
