South Australia Launches Indigenous Truth-Telling Body

Seven years after making a promise, South Australia is pushing forward with a truth-telling commission for Indigenous communities, proving that national setbacks don't have to stop local progress.

Acting Premier Kyam Maher announced the state will invest $8.5 million in a commission launching within months. The body will guide truth-telling processes and advise on potential treaty negotiations with First Nations South Australians.

The commitment dates back to 2019, when South Australian Labor pledged to respond to the Uluru Statement from the Heart. That historic 2017 declaration called for three things: a Voice to Parliament, treaty negotiations, and truth-telling about Indigenous history.

South Australia already took the first step. The state legislated its own Voice to Parliament in March 2023, creating a 12-member advisory body elected by and from Indigenous South Australians.

That Voice survived two state elections and now advises the government on health, education, justice and community matters. About half the original members won re-election recently, while new voices joined, creating what Maher calls substantive advice the government can act on.

The progress stands out against a difficult national backdrop. In October 2023, over 60 percent of Australians voted against a federal constitutional Voice to Parliament referendum, with every state except the Australian Capital Territory voting no.

The Ripple Effect

South Australia's path shows other communities what's possible when governments honor long-term commitments. Victoria launched Australia's first treaty process in May under its Statewide Treaty Act, making its First Peoples' Assembly permanent.

But the landscape remains mixed. Queensland repealed its treaty laws in late 2024, and the Northern Territory scrapped its process in early 2025.

Maher acknowledges the division. His office still receives dozens of letters monthly about the issue, and South Australia recorded one of the country's highest "no" votes in the referendum.

Yet he frames the work as fulfilling a promise made before the national debate even heated up. Building the Voice without any Australian precedent meant "building the plane as you're flying it," he said, creating infrastructure for something that had never existed.

The commission represents the next phase of that same vision. For Indigenous South Australians whose voices shaped the Uluru Statement, it means their call for truth-telling won't go unanswered in at least one corner of the country.

When governments keep promises across election cycles and political headwinds, they prove that meaningful change doesn't require perfect conditions, just persistent commitment.