Skip to content
Government VIC, Indigenous

Historic Walk for Truth culminates at Parliament House, Melbourne on Wednesday morning

Yoorrook Justice Commission 2 mins read

MEDIA ALERT Walk for Truth culminates on Wednesday June 18

King’s Domain to Parliament House walk: Wednesday’s walk will begin at the King George V monument at King’s Domain by the Sidney Myer Music Bowl with a Smoking Ceremony and Welcome at 9am. The Walk will arrive at the steps of Parliament House on Spring Street around 11am. Yoorrook Deputy Chair Commissioner Travis Lovett will then address the crowd. There will be a lectern where media can place microphones.


Media doorstop: A short doorstop with Deputy Chair Commissioner Lovett will be held at the top of the Parliament House steps around 11.50am.


Federation Square event: A public celebration of Yoorrook’s work will take place at Federation Square from 2pm. The event will include a traditional dancing Tanderrum, speeches and musical performances.


Media enquiries: Evan Schuurman | 0408 847 385 | [email protected]

*All media must confirm attendance with Yoorrook’s media team (details below) prior to the walk and register online at www.yoorrook.org.au/walkfortruth

 

MEDIA RELEASE

Over the past 23 days, Yoorrook Deputy Chair and Commissioner Travis Lovett has led the historic Walk for Truth  across more than 480km of Victoria.

The Walk is part of the final events of the Yoorrook Justice Commission, Victoria’s formal truth-telling process and the first of its kind in Australia.

On Wednesday, more than 3,500 people are expected to join the final symbolic walk from King George V monument at King’s Domain, beginning with a Smoking Ceremony and Welcome to Country. The Walk will finish at the steps of Parliament House on Spring Street where Commissioner Lovett will address the crowd.

Commissioners, First Peoples Elders and leaders will then move inside Parliament House where Premier Jacinta Allan will be presented with a message stick that has been carried the full length of the walk. The presentation of the message stick honours a cultural practice that stretches back thousands of years, linking past, present, and future.

After starting in Portland on May 25, the Walk for Truth has passed through Port Fairy, Warrnambool, Camperdown, Colac, Geelong and Werribee.

Yoorrook Deputy Chair and proud Kerrupmara Gunditjmara man, Commissioner Travis Lovett said:
“We’ve walked for more than three weeks, across country and through all kinds of weather, carrying the truths of our people with us. Now, we’re just days away from reaching Parliament House.

“This walk is about more than the past – it’s about truth, understanding and the future we can build together. It’s about walking side by side, listening deeply with respect and taking steps toward a fairer Victoria for everyone.

“I’m incredibly thankful to everyone who has joined the journey – whether by walking, volunteering, or learning from Traditional Owners along the way.

“With two days remaining, I invite all Victorians to be part of this moment. Let’s walk the final steps together – to the place where decisions are made that can transform our future and show that truth-telling and justice matter to all Victorians.”

More from this category

  • Environment, Indigenous
  • 12/07/2025
  • 07:52
Australian Conservation Foundation

Welcome recognition of Murujuga rock art highlights urgent need to safeguard its values

The Australian Conservation Foundation has welcomed news the Murujuga rock art on WA’s Burrup Peninsula has been added to the World Heritage list and called on Environment Minister Murray Watt to safeguard the site’s outstanding values by rejecting Woodside’s application to extend its North West Shelf gas export hub to 2070. Overnight, UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee added Murujuga to the World Heritage list – without imposing previously recommended conditions that Australia end industrial emissions on the Burrup Peninsula to protect the rock art. This change followed intense lobbying by the Australian government to remove the conditions. “The ancient rock art…

  • Government Federal, Indigenous
  • 12/07/2025
  • 05:25
Climate Media Centre

MEDIA ALERT – Murujuga officially listed as Australia’s latest Cultural World Heritage site

Friday 11 July 2025 Murujuga, the world’s largest rock art site located on the Burrup Peninsula in West Australia, has officially been confirmed as a Cultural World Heritage Site at the 47th World Heritage Committee (WHC) at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. Murujuga was listed with an amendment by UNESCO member states for the Australian government to continue research and monitoring of industrial impacts on the site; this is reference to the impacts of pollution from Woodsides North West Shelf LNG processing facility, which research has shown is accelerating the weathering and degradation of the over one million petroglyphs which…

  • Energy, Indigenous
  • 11/07/2025
  • 10:39
Jemena

Jemena Announces Recipients of 2025 First Nations Community Grants Program

Leading energy infrastructure company, Jemena, is proud to announce the recipients of our 2025 Community Grants Program – First Nations Stream, supporting Indigenous-led initiatives…

  • Contains:

Media Outreach made fast, easy, simple.

Feature your press release on Medianet's News Hub every time you distribute with Medianet. Pay per release or save with a subscription.