The Victorian government has unveiled plans to effectively enshrine a state-based Voice to Parliament in law by making the First Peoples’ Assembly a permanent fixture — despite the fact that a majority of Victorians voted against a similar national proposal last year.

The First Peoples’ Assembly, a taxpayer-funded body created to facilitate Treaty negotiations, is set to expand its role and offer wide-ranging policy advice on behalf of Indigenous Victorians. This includes influence over laws and policies spanning health, education, crime and development. Yet, the government has declined to clarify whether there will be any limits to its scope.

The move effectively creates a state version of the Voice to Parliament, a concept decisively rejected by Australians in the 2023 referendum — with 60.06 per cent voting No nationwide, and 54.15 per cent of Victorians doing the same.

Despite this clear result, Premier Jacinta Allan plans to legislate the assembly’s permanency this year, including establishing a watchdog-style body to monitor spending on Indigenous programs and the state’s progress on 'Closing the Gap' targets.

We said ‘NO’, but DICTATOR JACINTA spits in the face of our constitution, the will of the people and a $500M ‘Voice to Parliament’ referendum announcing plans for Victoria to get own version of Voice as Treaty advisory body First Peoples’ Assembly made permanent. pic.twitter.com/F8nzlUu2gi

— Jackson Moon (@jacksonmoon) June 29, 2025

Warren Mundine, who led the national No campaign, called the move “concerning”.

“It’s the nonsense of it all,” Mundine told the Herald Sun. “It got voted down in Victoria by Victorians and now they are ignoring that democratic process.”

Victoria is set to get its own Voice to parliament, with the state government moving to beef-up and make permanent a taxpayer-funded body that could have a say in all policy areas on behalf of Indigenous Victorians.#victoria #politics pic.twitter.com/JdZLqPcRFb

— Herald Sun (@theheraldsun) June 30, 2025

Gunditjmara elder Aunty Jill Gallagher dismissed Mundine’s criticism, saying, “He should stay in his own state and look after his own mob.” She argued for more Indigenous representation, saying, “The most important thing is we have an independent voice, which can start making and monitoring government policies and hold them to account.”

Minister for Treaty and First Peoples Natalie Hutchins defended the plan, saying, “If you listen to the people directly affected by policies, you get better outcomes – that’s common sense.”

But critics say bypassing the clear referendum result shows a disregard for democratic will, with the Allan government forging ahead with its own agenda regardless of what Victorians decided at the ballot box.

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