Join the national Walk for Truth in Benalla

Part of the walk will be around Lake Benalla on Saturday, May 2.

Everyone in the community is welcome to participate.

The walk is led by Yoorook Justice Commission deputy commissioner Travis Lovett.

Yoorook undertook a formal truth-telling process to seek and record the truth about colonisation in Victoria, and was the nation’s first official truth-telling body.

Mr Lovett said truth-telling was about healing.

“First Nations people have long called for a process of truth-telling about our history, to acknowledge and address injustices and move forward together,” he said.

“When we face the truth with open hearts, we can build a better future together for us all. That is why we are walking.”

Truth-telling is the formal process of speaking openly and sharing information about settler colonisation in Australia, including the dispossession and genocidal violence unleashed upon the First Peoples of this land.

Supporter Rhona Rose said truth-telling was not about blame.

“Truth-telling is about learning the truth of our history, deepening our awareness of the ongoing structural injustices First Peoples continue to face and supporting long‑term healing and systemic reform,” she said.

“Following the process of truth-telling, we can walk forward together with First Nations people.”

The Benalla leg of the walk will follow part of the Lake Benalla walking path.

Registrations open at 9.30am, and the walk starts at 10am.

It will start from the corner of Ackerley Ave and the Lake Benalla walking path.

There will be a stop to discuss the site of a local massacre.

The Benalla walk will finish at about 12.30pm at the Benalla Aboriginal Garden, near the corner of Benalla St and the Lake Benalla walking path.

“This is an invitation to everyone to come together to walk side by side and be part of the call for national truth-telling,” Ms Rose said.

More information, including the complete route, can be found at walkfortruth.com