The final destination, reached on 18 June, was the Victorian Parliament House in Melbourne, where the Yoorrook Justice Commission presented a landmark report detailing the enduring impacts of colonisation on First Nations communities in the state.
The walk started on 25 May in Portland, a coastal city significant as the location where colonisation first took root in 1834 in what is now known as Victoria. There, a British family established a settlement that initiated a long history of disruption and violence for the Gunditjmara people, custodians of the land for tens of thousands of years.
The report delivered in Melbourne is the result of four years of work by the Yoorrook Justice Commission. More than 9,000 people contributed through hearings and submissions, sharing painful testimonies, including the forced removal of children and the massacre of entire families. The report is expected to include over a hundred recommendations, among which reforms in education and social justice policy.
Walk organiser and Yoorrook Commissioner Travis Lovett described the initiative as a journey of listening, not blame. Speaking to ABC Breakfast before the walk began, he said:
“It’s not about blaming people about the past. What we’re asking people to do is to open their minds and open their hearts to the full story of what’s happened here.”
His call resonated widely. Over 12,000 people joined the walk, many inspired by the courage of Aboriginal communities of the past who resisted colonisation through generations.
Moments of Day 1 of the walk.
Among the walkers were Sion Sisters Denise Cusack, Angela Bayliss, and Patricia Fox. They enjoyed connecting with fellow hikers along the way, hearing their reasons for taking part and quietly contemplating the walk’s significance. Day 1 of the walk began at the site where the Thistle docked in 1834, and concluded some twelve kilometres further along the coastline at the Convincing Grounds, the site of the first recorded massacre.
It was here that speeches and a moving ceremony took place. The walkers were invited to take off their shoes and socks and walk into the water, for some moments of quiet reflection.
A stillness filled the air as they mingled on the shoreline, Travis Lovett, a proud Kerrupmara/Gunditjmara man and Deputy Chair and Commissioner of the Yoorrook Justice Commission, among them.
Upon the walkers’ arrival at each day’s destination, the local community gave Commissioner Lovett a carved and painted message stick – a traditional means for conveying important information over long distances. These message sticks were presented alongside the report at Parliament House.
Arrival at Parliament House in Melbourne.
Sr Denise was one of those who contributed to the inquiry. She told ABC News that during her schooling some decades ago she learnt almost nothing about First Nations history, only becoming aware of it as an adult.
“We would have known, growing up, that the Aboriginal people were here,” she said. “But nowhere near the awareness of their sovereignty, what happened to them, what happened to the country.
She described the revelation of “a tangible grief” that she only came to understand later in life.
Sister Patricia echoed the call for systemic change, pointing to the ongoing challenges of Indigenous incarceration and deaths in custody.
“We’ve heard all these stories,” she said. “But the systemic injustice hasn’t changed. People are saying: ‘We want change.’”
The walk’s timing followed the defeat of the 2023 referendum proposing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament. Though the referendum did not pass, Sr Patricia believes it strengthened the resolve of those advocating for justice.
“The referendum should never have been defeated,” she said. “But the defeat has given more energy to the cause.”
She was especially encouraged by the presence of numerous school groups in Melbourne, seeing their participation as a sign of hope for the future.
Sisters Patricia, Angela, Denise and all the Sion sisters in Australia and beyond hope and pray that the initiative will help heal deep cultural wounds and ignite a new spirit of intercultural understanding in Victoria – one that might resonate around the world.
Visit the website of the Yoorrook Justice Commission.