The Australian state of Victoria has announced an inquiry into the impact of colonisation on Aboriginal people – the first probe of its kind nationally.
Aboriginal Australians were dispossessed of their land after British settlement in 1788 and have since endured systemic injustices.
Unlike some other Commonwealth nations, Australia has never formally examined the full impact of past policies.
The state government said a proper examination was long overdue.
Called the Yoo-rrook Justice Commission, the inquiry will be modelled on one established by Nelson Mandela in post-apartheid South Africa, and others that have taken place in Canada and New Zealand.
It will begin later this year and have the powers of a royal commission – Australia’s highest form of public inquiry – meaning it can compel witnesses to appear before public hearings. Findings are expected next year.
In announcing the inquiry, the government referred to past injustices including massacres of indigenous people by white settlers, and the state-sanctioned removal of children from their families last century – a group now known as the Stolen Generations.
