Yoorrook Justice Commission appoints new chief executive

By Caitlyn Grant

May 31, 2022

Truth-telling: Yoorrook Justice Commission has announced a new chief executive. Photo by Megan Fisher

The Yoorrook Justice Commission has announced the appointment of new chief executive Hugh de Kretser.

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The appointment will come into effect from July 4.

Mr de Kretser has a history in human rights advocacy, having been the executive director of the Human Rights Law Centre since 2013.

Mr de Kretser said Yoorrook was critical in shaping the future of Victoria.

“The stories of Victoria’s First Peoples must be told,” he said.

“This history and these truths must become everyone’s history and everyone’s truths if we are to create a shared understanding and achieve real change.

“I look forward to working with Yoorrook commissioners and staff to continue to build this historic truth-telling process.”

He has also served as a commissioner of the Victorian Law Reform Commission and a board member of the National Association of Community Legal Centres.

Mr de Kretser had a role in founding knowmore, a service that provides free legal advice and support to survivors of child abuse, which began to provide legal help for people navigating the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The Yoorrook Justice Commission is the first formal truth-telling process into injustices experienced by First Nations people, looking into both historical and ongoing effects.