24 November 2025
The Tasmanian Aboriginal community met in Launceston yesterday with a large number of Aboriginal people from across Lutruwita/Tasmania and the Bass Strait Islands unanimously reaffirming the call for a Treaty.
“The Aboriginal community’s position is clear. The Tasmanian Government must now act.” said Nala Mansell, Campaigns Coordinator for the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre.
Those in attendance specified that a Treaty must deliver on the recognised foundations of self-determination. This includes land return, political power sharing, economic advancement, and the protection and revitalisation of language, culture, and identity.
Four years ago, the Tasmanian Aboriginal community began work on implementing the recommendations of the Tasmanian Government’s own Treaty and Truth Telling Report which was handed down in 2021.
In response to the report, the Tasmanian Aboriginal community elected 11 Aboriginal representatives through our own processes. Those representatives then drafted enabling legislation required to commence Treaty negotiations. This was in line with recommendation 5 of the Treaty and Truth Telling report. We provided this work to the Tasmanian Government, but despite this, the process has stalled.
Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, Chief Executive Officer, Rebecca Digney said the Aboriginal community has exhausted its patience.
“We made every attempt to comply with the framework recommended by the Government’s own report. We elected our representatives. We drafted legislation. Four years later there is no action. The delay is no longer defensible. The community is tired of waiting.”
In 2025, the Tasmanian Government shocked the Tasmanian Aboriginal community by announcing it would preference a truth telling process over that of negotiating a Treaty.
The Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, Campaigns Coordinator, Nala Mansell said the weekend meeting wanted to send a definitive message to the Tasmanian Government.
“We have no interest in Truth Telling. Tasmanian Aboriginal people have told the truth for generations. The truth is known. What is required now is action, and that action is Treaty.”
In contrary to the recommendations of its own commissioned report, the Tasmanian Government appointed four advisers to advance Treaty negotiations in 2021, but this approach proved expensive and failed to produce any outcome.
“Despite substantial funding and extensive meetings with external stakeholders, such as politicians, interstate commissioners, and university academics, the advisory group appears to have failed in delivering any outcomes, even the long-awaited report the group was expected to hand down earlier this year seems to have gone by the wayside. The result has been more time and money wasted without any tangible progress for Aboriginal people” said Ms Digney.
Ms Mansell stated: “The Tasmanian Aboriginal community remains united and committed to securing a Treaty that provides land, decision making authority, resources, and real self-determination”. Adding, “Aboriginal sovereignty in Lutruwita/Tasmania existed in full prior to 1803, and it has never been ceded. Our people have been fighting for the recognition of our rights ever since the first bullet was fired upon our ancestors at piyura kitina/Risdon Cove. The Tasmanian Aboriginal community now calls for a complete re-boot of the Treaty process, as we collectively reaffirm our commitment to negotiating a Treaty in good faith”.
Accordingly, the Tasmanian Aboriginal community extend a formal invitation to Premier of Tasmania Jeremy Rockliff, and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Bridget Archer to meet with the Aboriginal community on country with an aim to recommence Treaty discussions without delay.
End.
Further information:
Rebecca Digney
Nala Mansell
