Print - Self-Determination Reform Framework Report 2024-25

Secretary’s Foreword

The Self-Determination Reform Framework (SDRF) is the government’s plan for the internal implementation of the Victorian Aboriginal Affairs Framework (VAAF).

Government action to enable self-determination acknowledges that First Peoples hold the knowledge and expertise about what is best for themselves, their families and their communities.

I am pleased to present the Department of Premier and Cabinet’s fifth report under the SDRF, demonstrating our commitment to embedding principles of self-determination into core business. Since the last SDRF Report, Victoria’s Statewide Treaty has been both negotiated and enacted.

The Statewide Treaty is a massive commitment to self-determination and will become the primary vehicle to negotiate the transfer of power and resources so that First Peoples can control matters which impact their lives. The SDRF complements this by holding government to account by committing departments to report on their self-determination reform actions.

The Statewide Treaty establishes Gellung Warl as an evolution of the First Peoples’ Assembly. The Assembly continues as a self-determined, democratically elected institution representing First Peoples and is complemented by two additional arms of Gellung Warl: Nginma Ngainga Wara as an independent accountability mechanism, and Nyerna Yoorrook Telkuna to establish local truth-telling and continue the healing journey begun by the Yoorrook Justice Commission. Gellung Warl will represent First Peoples in Victoria, advise the Parliament on matters that affect First Peoples and hold government to account on its commitments and impacts of its actions.

To better embed self-determination across the organisation, the 2024-2025 SDRF Report builds on existing self-determination commitments with new DPC-wide commitments. These pertain to matters which should be part of business-as-usual in a Treaty state. While this ensures that self-determination is considered across the department, there is still further work for systemic change.

Of the 21 self-determination actions that were reported on for 2024-2025 period, 15 are ongoing, 3 are in progress, 2 are delayed and one is completed. Key actions are being progressed to respond to the Yoorrook Justice Commission, educate the VPS in what Treaty means for them and increase Aboriginal employment.

I would like to thank the Minister for First Peoples, The Hon. Ros Spence MP, for her work advancing self-determination in Victoria. Importantly, I would also like to acknowledge the ongoing strength and advocacy of First Peoples communities and leaders, through which our work to enable self-determination sits.

Through this work, we have an opportunity to reframe our relationship with First Peoples in Victoria by transforming our way of working to truly deliver on self-determination reform.

Jeremi Moule
Secretary, Department of Premier and Cabinet

About this report

This is DPC’s fifth annual Report, covering both the 2024 and 2025 calendar year together.

It reports on the department’s progress toward embedding the VAAF self-determination enablers (figure 1) across all systems, processes and practices. It aims to measure where on the VAAF self-determination continuum (figure 2) our actions are landing and invoke reflection on how to move further along that spectrum.

Progress on current DPC self-determination actions and new 2025 actions

This year, the Report demonstrates some progress from across DPC. Key achievements and milestones towards each self-determination enabler are outlined below.

Prioritise culture

DPC induction program revised to include a dedicated session on Treaty.
All new infrastructure projects announced through the budget process will be considered for Traditional Owner naming where appropriate.
The DPC Aboriginal Staff Network meets fortnightly.
DPC will support 300 VPS places in Treaty Micro-Credential courses from March 2025 to June 2027.

Address trauma and support healing

Two collective in-person apology events were delivered to Stolen Generations across 2024 and 2025, with continued support for written apologies.
DPC is coordinating the State's final response to the Yoorrook Justice Commission, which will include a response to each of the 100 recommendations contained in Yoorrook for Transformation.
FPSR continue to meet regularly with Ngaweeyan Maar-oo at various levels to discuss the Closing the Gap Partnership Forum.

Address racism and promote cultural safety

Survey results show a high and growing proportion of staff reporting having a strong understanding of cultural safety and self-determination.
The Diversity on Victorian Government Boards Guidelines have been implemented.
Victoria's Anti-Racism Strategy publicly launched in November 2024.

Transfer power and resources to communities

DPC currently exceeds the whole of government 2 per cent target for Aboriginal employees and a 2 per cent target for each group is sought moving forwards.
Victoria supported the establishment of a national Data Policy Partnership by Joint Council decision in June.
The VAAF data dashboard increased the amount of data visualised, specifically, in the amount of data disaggregated by geography.
FPSR undertakes continued enhancements to the Victorian Government Aboriginal Affairs Report annually.
DPC has provided resourcing for all Victorian Government departments for Treaty roles and Treaty Executive Coordinators.

Figure 1. Self-determination enablers

The self-determination enablers as part of the Self Determination Reform Framework: Prioritise culture; Address trauma and support healing; Address racism and promote cultural safety; Transfer power and resources to communities

Barriers and opportunities

Common barriers to completing actions observed across groups include loss of institutional knowledge and momentum due to staff turnover, ongoing competition for Aboriginal staff and difficulty collecting relevant data to track performance against all VAAF goals.

Common opportunities identified across the groups include a strong interest in learning about Treaty, induction materials reflecting Victoria as a Treaty state, considering cultural safety as part of professional development and identification of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Staff during the onboarding progress to connect with relevant staff networks, peer mentoring and existing culturally safe organisational support.

DPC acknowledges that significant transformation is required to overcome the legacy of colonisation and dispossession. We must challenge existing ways of working to strive towards transferring decision-making control to First Peoples on the matters that affect their lives.

Figure 2. Self-determination continuum

Inform; Consult; Collaborate; Partnership; Co-ownership; Decision-making and resources control

DPC’s First Peoples workforce

DPC is on track to meet the Barring Djinang First Peoples employment target of 2 per cent for the Victorian Public Service. As of 30 June 2026, DPC’s workforce data indicated that 16 DPC staff identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. This is a reduction of 6 since the previous year, where 22 DPC staff identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.

While the Aboriginal Staff Network continues to play an important role in supporting First Peoples staff, there is a significant need for DPC to increase the representation of First Peoples in DPC and across the VPS, while also improving the quality of the workplace and experiences of current and future First Peoples staff. This will in turn, build the capacity of the VPS to enable self-determination in all policies and programs.

Changes to commitments during 2024-25 period

A review of DPC's commitments under the SDRF lead to certain modifications for 2024-25.

In 2024, a review of DPC commitments under the SDRF was undertaken and identified several commitments should apply or could be modified to become appropriate for all groups to work towards.

Through this approach, commitments such as considering Treaty and truth processes, improving cultural safety capability and working towards a two per cent Aboriginal employment target are the responsibility of every group. The table below shows where previous commitments have been superseded.

Group	Superseded Commitment	New Commitment (DPC-wide)
Public Administration	Ensure that staff assisting in Treaty and truth processes, and other matters involving First Peoples, such as Land Justice, are trained appropriately and supporting these processes.	All staff ensure Treaty and truth processes, and other matters involving First Peoples, are accounted for in their work.
Social Policy	Support actions and implementation of DPC Aboriginal Workforce Strategy and create more career opportunities, informed by the strategy once finalised.	All Groups work toward a two per cent Aboriginal employment target. All Groups investigate opportunities to support First Peoples’ employment programs such as cadetships and Barring Djinang internship program.
Social Policy	All staff engage in at least one training session per calendar year to embed self-determination and cultural safety into core business and workplace culture of DPC by ensuring all staff develop capability and apply to day-to-day work and interactions, such as in reviewing budget bids, funding agreements and in providing policy advice to government	All staff improve cultural safety capability and understanding of self-determination.
Public Administration	OGC will incorporate self-determination considerations, where appropriate and relevant, when providing legal advice to lead policy and law reform branches in DPC. For example, OGC to be conscious of self-determination principles when reviewing documents such as funding agreements involving First Peoples	All staff improve cultural safety capability and understanding of self-determination.
First Peoples – State Relations	Increase all staff awareness of how self-determination relates to their work. Continue to ensure self-determination informs everyday policy thinking and interactions with other departments, including budget considerations	All staff improve cultural safety capability and understanding of self-determination.
Economic Policy & State Productivity	Ensure all economic policy advice includes self-determination considerations by delivering training and/or resources to policy teams	All staff improve cultural safety capability and understanding of self-determination.

Commitments across whole of DPC

Read about DPC's commitments under the SDRF.

DPC commitments

All staff ensure Treaty, truth and other matters involving First Peoples are accounted for in their work and reflected in internal and external communications

Timing	Ongoing
Domain	Systems
Enablers	Address racism and promote cultural safety Transfer power and resources to communities
Status	Intended outcomes Increase DPC Staff understanding to ensure communications take into consideration Treaty, truth and other matters involving First Peoples. Current status Work and communications account for and reflect Treaty, Truth and other matters where applicable. EPSP EPSP People Committee consider cultural safety capability as part of staff development opportunities. PA Staff participated in Treaty micro-certification course. A presentation on Treaty was delivered for Office of the General Counsel. Ongoing treaty awareness raised at team meetings. OGC developing internal resources to support OGC advice on Treaty implementation. SP People Matter Survey results show a high and growing proportion of staff reporting having a strong understanding of cultural safety and self-determination. Briefing advice to senior DPC officials and the Premier reflects strong understanding of self-determination and cultural safety. Staff are actively encouraged and supported to undertake learning & development opportunities to strengthen cultural safety and self-determination. Professional Development Plans have been written to reflect an emphasis on cultural competency. FPSR FPSR continues to provide updates, information and deep dives on issues relating to Treaty, Truth and First Peoples at appropriate staff events. FPSR plays a leading role in progressing reforms to respond to Yoorrook recommendations and Treaty implementation. Detailed information about Treaty and Truth is available on the FPSR website. Discussions have commenced between government and the First Peoples’ Assembly on the process to implement the requirements of the Statewide Treaty.
Barriers/risks	Accounting for Treaty, truth and other matters involving First Peoples can be limited when teams have elevated workloads, competing priorities, or when there is a high rate of staff turnover. The scale, breadth and speed of changes in the Treaty and First Peoples’ environment has meant that information and process may quickly become out of date.
Next steps	Information dissemination in relation to the First Peoples Assembly election and the establishment of Gellung Warl. Induction materials to closely reflect Victoria as a Treaty state and what it means for DPC’s work. Review Aboriginal Workforce Strategy when finalised, communicate to staff, and incorporate into relevant processes and actions. Prepared to engage with Aboriginal Workforce Strategy once developed.

All Groups work toward a two per cent Aboriginal employment target.

Timing	Delayed
Domain	People
Enablers	Transfer power and resources to communities
Status	Intended outcomes Increase in Aboriginal staff employed at DPC. Current status DPC currently exceeds the whole of government 2 per cent target for Aboriginal employees, however all of DPC’s Aboriginal staff are based within the Treaty and First Peoples' portfolio. A 2% target for each group is sought moving forwards.
Barriers/risks	Resourcing constraints and ongoing competition for Aboriginal staff may limit DPC’s ability to fulfil targets or requirements for Aboriginal staff.
Next steps	Supporting culturally safe and appropriate employment for First People at DPC. Encouraging hiring managers to identify suitable candidates for vacant positions that are Aboriginal, while working to ensure DPC is a culturally safe environment for Aboriginal staff.

All Groups investigate opportunities to support First Peoples’ employment programs such as cadetships and Barring Djinang internship program.

All staff improve cultural safety capability and understanding of self-determination

Economic Policy and State Productivity

Read about Economic Policy and State Productivity (EPSP) branch's commitments under the SDRF.

EPSP's commitment

**Promote early engagement with Traditional Owners in the naming of any new infrastructure overseen by EPSP branches using governance forums and briefing processes**
Timing	Ongoing
Domain	Systems
Enablers	Prioritise culture
Status	Intended outcomes Increase focus on embedding early engagement as part of any infrastructure decision making process. Current status All new infrastructure projects announced through the budget process will be considered for Traditional Owner naming where appropriate.
Barriers/risks	Victoria's infrastructure pipeline is stabilising, with most projects in delivery and less new projects being announced.
Next steps	Continue with the current approach.

Publication Administration

Read about the Public Administration branch's commitment under the SDRF.

Public Administration's commitment

Continue to support the implementation of the Diversity on Victorian Government Boards Guidelines to ensure Aboriginal Victorians are represented on both ‘mainstream’ boards and those with specific mandates for Treaty and First Peoples, given all areas of policy impact Aboriginal Victorians
Timing	Completed
Domain	Systems
Enablers	Address racism and promote cultural safety Transfer power and resources to communities
Status	Intended outcomes Support the transfer of power to First Peoples by promoting their involvement on government boards. Current status The Diversity on Victorian Government Boards Guidelines are now embedded across the VPS and the implementation process is complete.
Barriers/risks	This initiative has been completed with the introduction of the Guidelines.
Next steps	Departments are responsible for ensuring compliance with the Diversity on Victorian Government Boards Guidelines.

First Peoples - State Relations

Read about the First Peoples - State Relations (FPSR) branch's commitments under the SDRF.

FPSR's commitments

Use the DPC Board of Management’s Subcommittee on Self-Determination Reform to progress areas of work committed through this Report and identify further areas are progressing, and accountable to, their actions under the SDRF

Timing	In Progress
Domain	Systems
Enablers	Prioritise culture Transfer power and resources to communities
Status	Intended outcomes Support department-wide prioritisation of self-determination reform initiatives at the executive level. Current status The Subcommittee on Self-Determination Reform met three times in both 2024 and 2025. The Terms of Reference have been revised to refocus the subcommittee to Treaty Implementation.
Barriers/risks	N/A
Next steps	The Subcommittee on Self-Determination Reform will be repurposed to focus on Treaty Implementation. Monitoring processes through this report will be reviewed and supported by a different governance arrangement in future.

Continue to support regular meetings of the Aboriginal Staff Network (ASN), encouraging new staff participation and events

Support the Multicultural Affairs portfolio to ensure that the experiences and voices of First Peoples contribute to the development of anti-racism initiatives

Ensure the Victorian Government is meeting its data sharing obligations and priority data development commitments under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap (National Agreement)

Progress work to ensure the Victorian Aboriginal Affairs data dashboard provides local or regional level data where available

Report on our progress against the Implementation Plan through the VGAAR

Publicly measure progress against the VAAF through the VGAAR

Upgrade VAAF data dashboard to improve dashboard accessibility

Continue work with DJCS to ensure the Stolen Generations Reparations Package is rolled out in a timely manner

Continue to work with Aboriginal organisations to increase engagement with and a level of accountability to the Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCO) sector across governance groups and forum.

**Full commitment:** Continue to work with Aboriginal organisations to increase engagement with and a level of accountability to the Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCO) sector across governance groups and forum. Coordinate work to establish a new sector-based Partnership Forum to enhance the self-determined nature of government’s Closing the Gap partnership
Timing	In Progress
Domain	Accountability
Enablers	Address racism and promote cultural safety Transfer power and resources to communities
Status	Intended outcomes Promote self-determination in decision-making partnerships, including through broad and representative engagement with First Peoples’ communities. Current status FPSR continue to meet regularly with Ngaweeyan Maar-oo at different levels specifically about the Partnership Forum and to progress work in partnership. The Partnership Forum met three times in 2025, with one meeting delayed due to scheduling clashes with the Statewide Treaty. At the last meeting of 2025, the Forum noted progress on the Independent Aboriginal-led Review of Closing the Gap as well as Victoria's new Closing the Gap Implementation Plan (Implementation Plan).
Barriers/risks	Scheduling alignment is a challenge for the Partnership Forum due to the level of seniority within its membership.
Next steps	Progress actions from Victoria's new Closing the Gap Implementation Plan. Maximising the potential of the Partnership Forum for substantive discussion and consequential decision-making to progress Victoria’s commitments under the National Agreement.

Continue to implement the priority reforms as outlined in Victoria’s Closing the Gap Implementation Plan, within DPC and across government

Coordinate the State’s response to the Yoorrook Justice Commission (Commission), including providing information, developing policy submissions and responding to the Commission’s interim and final reports

Timing	In Progress
Domain	Accountability
Enablers	Address trauma and support healing Address racism and promote cultural safety
Status	Intended outcomes To support genuine, transparent, and purposeful government participation in the Commission’s truth-telling inquiry. Current status The Commission formally ended on Tuesday 24 June 2025 with the delivery of its final report to the Governor and the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria. FPSR is coordinating the State’s final response to the Commission, which will include responses to the 100 recommendations contained in Yoorrook for Transformation. FPSR is also working with DPC shadow branches and DTF to undertake coordinated consideration of 2026-27 State Budget bids that support the implementation of Yoorrook for Transformation recommendations. On 3 April 2024, the Victorian Government’s response to the Commission's Yoorrook for Justice report was published. In October 2024, the Government delivered the implementation plan progress report responding to the recommendations included in the Commission's Yoorrook for Justice report.
Barriers/risks	Given the significance of the Commission’s findings and recommendations, the State response could have significant operational implications and requires careful collaboration across government.
Next steps	FPSR is coordinating the State’s final response to the Commission, which will include responses to the 100 recommendations contained in Yoorrook for Transformation.

Office of the Secretary

Read about the Office of the Secretary's commitments under the SDRF.

Office of the Secretary's commitments

**Continue and strengthen whole of government Treaty engagement**
Timing	Ongoing
Domain	People
Enablers	Transfer power and resources to communities
Status	Intended outcomes Promote Treaty preparedness across government. Current status DPC also chairs the Treaty Executive Taskforce to provide thought leadership on Treaty implementation and negotiation matters and coordinate First Peoples’ related matters, including Treaty, truth and self-determination across the whole of the Victorian Government. DPC has provided resourcing for all Victorian Government departments for Treaty roles and Treaty Executive Coordinators. The Statewide Treaty was signed and brought into effect in December 2025.
Barriers/risks	Establishment of Gellung Warl will be closely monitored and further Statewide Treaty negotiations will be done through Gellung Warl.
Next steps	Preparations for further Treaty chapters and Traditional Owner Treaties are underway. Transitional arrangements and logistical implementation of Treaty through Gellung Warl is being prepared and implemented.

**Continue supporting relevant VPS staff to undertake the Treaty Micro Certification series in 2025**
Timing	Ongoing
Domain	People
Enablers	Prioritise culture Address racism and promote cultural safety
Status	Intended outcomes Promote Treaty preparedness across government Whole of government engagement supports Treaty negotiations. Current status DPC will support 300 VPS places in Treaty Micro-Credential courses from March 2025 to June 2027. The first Treaty Micro-Credential units for the 2026 cohort will commence in February 2026, with 60 VPS learners to enrol in the 'Understanding Treaty' Micro-Credential. 120 VPS learners completed a Micro-Credential in 2025. 98 VPS learners completed a Micro-Credential in 2024. 21 executives from the Treaty Executive Taskforce from each department and Victoria Police participated in a Masterclass on Treaty in 2024.
Barriers/risks	There are a limited number of Micro-Credential places available.
Next steps	A new cohort of VPS Staff across departments will be enrolled into the Treaty Education program in 2026.

Self-Determination Reform Framework Report 2024-25

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