Who We Are
Village Response Collective (VRC) is a Pasifika-led community organisation founded and led by Dr. Marion Muliaumaseali'i, Pacific ethnographer, service designer, and youth justice systems researcher. VRC is the intellectual property owner of the One Moana Action Plan and has been formally named the operational arm of the United Pasifika Council of Victoria (UPCOV), the peak body representing Pasifika (from Melanesian, Micronesian, Polynesian descent) communities across Victoria, through a signed Memorandum of Understanding.
The submission referenced throughout this brief was co-signed by Dr. Muliaumaseali'i and Teo Anthony Sofe, President of UPCOV. It represents not one organisation's request but the formal position of the Victorian Pacific community peak body.
The Rite of Passage (ROP) program is VRC's flagship youth justice initiative, a culturally grounded mentoring and reintegration program for Pasifika (from Melanesian, Micronesian, Polynesian descent) young men aged 12 to 19 in Melbourne's outer western suburbs, currently in its third and final year of philanthropically funded delivery. We are the only Pacific-led organisation in Victoria running an evidenced youth justice program. We have not received a dollar of Victorian Government funding.
What We Asked For, and What Was Ignored
In March 2026, VRC submitted a formal document titled Pasifika Community Perspectives on Youth Justice Reform in Victoria to the then-Minister for Youth Justice, The Hon. Enver Erdogan MLC. Following the cabinet reshuffle, the submission was resubmitted to the new Minister, The Hon. Paul Hamer MP.
The submission was co-signed by the President of UPCOV and accompanied by a community petition, Before Implementing Adult Time, Adult Crime, Consult Pasifika Communities, which had gathered 330 signatures at time of lodgement, coordinated by a volunteer organisation with no paid advertising budget.
The submission made five specific recommendations:
- Provide a transparent account of consultation undertaken during development of the reforms, including whether Pasifika communities were engaged and how their perspectives informed the legislation.
- Meet with Pasifika community representatives, including the Village Response Collective and UPCOV, to discuss implementation safeguards and culturally informed engagement.
- Establish structured engagement mechanisms, such as a Pasifika Advisory Group, to support ongoing community participation in implementation and review of youth justice reforms.
- Commit to public reporting on the impact of the reforms, including disaggregated data relating to remand, sentencing and justice system outcomes affecting Pasifika young people.
- Support collaboration between government and Pasifika community leadership to strengthen prevention, rehabilitation and reintegration pathways.
The submission also highlighted the disproportionate representation of Pasifika young people in the justice system, making up approximately 8.5% of youth detention populations nationally while representing approximately 2% of the population, and noted that the Attorney-General had acknowledged that aspects of the reforms may be incompatible with the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006.
The submission was not a complaint. It was a constructive, formally documented, peak-body-endorsed request for partnership. It presented existing community frameworks, the Village Response Plan, the Reintegration Pathway, and the Rite of Passage programme, as evidence that Pacific communities already have the solutions government is looking for.
What the Minister Said
A Two-Page Letter That Answers Nothing
On 14 July 2026, a signed response was received from The Hon. Paul Hamer MP, Minister for Youth Justice. The letter:
✓ Acknowledges receipt of the submission
✓ Acknowledges the Pasifika community's contribution to Victoria
✓ Acknowledges VRC's advocacy work
The letter then describes the VRU, its Glasgow and London origins, the $33 million budget, and the Adult Time for Violent Crime laws. It closes: "Thank you again for taking the time to write to me and for your continued work on behalf of the Pasifika community. I trust that this information is of assistance."
The letter does not address Recommendation 1, no account of whether Pasifika communities were consulted during development of the reforms.
The letter does not address Recommendation 2, no meeting offered, no meeting arranged, no timeline given.
The letter does not address Recommendation 3, no Pasifika Advisory Group proposed or acknowledged.
The letter does not address Recommendation 4, no commitment to disaggregated data or public reporting.
The letter does not address Recommendation 5, no mention of partnership with Pacific-led organisations.
The Rite of Passage program is not named once. The Village Response Collective's request for a meeting, made in the submission, in five phone calls, across two VRU meetings, and via parliamentary question, is not acknowledged.
The ministerial response is not a rejection. It is something more troubling: it is a letter that acknowledges the community exists, describes what the government is already doing, and treats that description as a response to a community that asked for something specific. It is procedurally complete and substantively empty.
The community asked: were we consulted? The Minister did not answer.
The community asked: will you meet with us? The Minister did not answer.
The community asked: will you report on the impact on our young people? The Minister did not answer.
A Timeline of Outreach and Non-Response
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17 Dec 2025
Meeting held with VRU CEO Andrea Davidson and team. Rite of Passage evidence presented. One Moana, Statewide Pasifika Engagement Framework, shared. Rite of Passage's current impact within the Youth Justice Wave shared. Second meeting arranged.No follow-up response received
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22 Dec 2025
Second VRU meeting, held in person at 1 Treasury Place, Melbourne. Andrea Davidson (interim CEO) unable to attend due to illness. Meeting proceeded with Jennifer Hill, Senior Executive Assistant to the interim CEO, Violence Reduction Unit.No follow-up received
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22 Jan 2026
Follow-up email sent to the Violence Reduction Unit following the December meetings.No response, no invitation to follow up from the earlier meetings
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Jan 2026
Community petition Before Implementing Adult Time, Adult Crime, Consult Pasifika Communities submitted with 330 signatures, still open, now at 358 signatures. Coordinated by the One Moana team, a group of volunteers managed under VRC, with no paid advertising.No response
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16 Mar 2026
Formal submission Pasifika Community Perspectives on Youth Justice Reform in Victoria lodged with then-Minister Enver Erdogan MLC. Co-signed by VRC and the President of UPCOV. Five recommendations made. Meeting requested.No response from Minister Erdogan
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24 Mar 2026
Follow-up sent to Minister Erdogan's office requesting an update on the submission.No response
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1 Apr 2026
Question raised in Victorian Parliament by the first Pasifika member of the Victorian Parliament, calling on Minister Erdogan to meet with VRC and UPCOV.No ministerial response to the question
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2 Apr 2026
Further follow-up phone calls placed to Minister Erdogan's office requesting an update.Calls noted by office staff, no response
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8 Apr 2026
Meeting convened by Pauline Richards MP (Member for Cranbourne, Chair of the African Community Action Plan) with ten other Victorian Labor MPs, Mathew Hilakari, Bronwyn Halfpenny, Lauren Kathage, Stephen McGhie, John Lister, Dylan Wight, Sheena Watt, Natalie Hutchins, Belinda Wilson and Gary Maas, together with Multicultural Commissioner Sylvia Coombe, Teo Anthony Sofe (UPCOV) and VRC. One Moana presented. Meetings with the Premier and the Minister for Multicultural Affairs were promised.No meetings delivered
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Apr 2026
Three follow-up emails sent through April chasing the promised meetings with the Premier and Minister for Multicultural Affairs. Several phone calls placed to Pauline Richards MP's office.Calls noted, no response to emails or calls
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16 Apr 2026
Following the cabinet reshuffle, the Pasifika submission was resubmitted to the new Minister for Youth Justice, The Hon. Paul Hamer MP, and to Attorney-General The Hon. Sonya Kilkenny MP in her new portfolio as Minister for Violence Reduction. Called on both Ministers to meet with Pacific communities.No immediate response
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27 May 2026
Follow-up emails sent to the offices of both Minister Hamer and Minister Kilkenny requesting an update.No response
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4 Jun 2026
Follow-up phone call placed to Minister Kilkenny's office.Call noted, no written response
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14 Jul 2026
Signed ministerial response received from The Hon. Paul Hamer MP. Letter acknowledges submission and describes existing government programs. Does not name the Rite of Passage program. Does not address the request for a meeting. Does not respond to any of the five recommendations. Closes: "I trust that this information is of assistance."Response received, 0 of 5 recommendations addressed
What Rite of Passage Has Achieved
Rite of Passage is a three-year, philanthropically funded mentoring and reintegration program for Pasifika (from Melanesian, Micronesian, Polynesian descent) young men in Melbourne's outer western suburbs. It is grounded in the Samoan philosophical framework of Teu le Vā, the active tending of the relational space between people, and is directly aligned with the Scottish VRU's public health model at the relational and cultural level.
Two full cohorts (2025, 2026). Ages 12–20. Samoan and wider Pasifika (from Melanesian, Micronesian, Polynesian descent). In-school and outreach. Outer western suburbs.
Zero re-offending across sustained outreach participants over two years. Court-recognised program impact. Independent appointment attendance demonstrating growing autonomy.
School attendance tripled for a participant previously attending 2 days/week. Significant mental health disclosure safely managed within program. Sibling of 2025 graduate enrolled 2026.
Teu le Vā, Unconditional Re-entry Framework. Grounded in Samoan and wider Pasifika (from Melanesian, Micronesian, Polynesian descent) relational epistemology. Developed from Dr. Muliaumaseali'i's RMIT doctoral research (2017) applied to service design (ServDes 2020) and youth justice reintegration.
Participant journey maps developed using doctoral-level ethnographic methodology. Currently being validated with program mentors and school partners before final rendering. The journey maps are the evaluation, built with the people who delivered the program, not written about them.
Village Response Plan, Reintegration Pathway, and Rite of Passage Programme, all presented to government in the March 2026 submission as existing, evidence-based Pacific community solutions. None acknowledged in the ministerial response.
Why This Is the Model the VRU Needs
The Victorian VRU adopted Scotland's public health model: violence is preventable, not inevitable. Rite of Passage reaches the same conclusion through Pacific epistemology, the Vā framework understands violence as a symptom of a damaged relational space, not an innate characteristic of certain young people.
For Pasifika (from Melanesian, Micronesian, Polynesian descent) young men whose crisis is rooted in colonial rupture, intergenerational family violence, cultural disconnection, and the absence of a safe male figure from their own cultural world, a generic program is insufficient. The medicine must come from within the culture. This is not an adaptation of the VRU model. It is its Pacific expression, and it already exists, already has evidence, and is already running out of funding while the government describes programs it is funding elsewhere.
Who Is Funded, and Who Is Not
VRU-Funded Programs
- Lived Experience Mentoring Program, pairs at-risk young people with trained mentors, including from organisations like 16 Yards
- Early Intervention Officers in Schools, embedded in select schools to support students showing early signs of disengagement
- Early Intervention Sports and Activities Menu, structured sport, recreation and creative activities, with partners including Melbourne Storm, Melbourne Victory and Western Bulldogs
- Community Mental Health Service expansion, $26.7M, expanding the Community Forensic Youth Mental Health Service
- Youth Mental Health Collaboration, west metro region, improving service coordination and referral pathways
- Project Sunrise, culturally tailored alcohol and other drug program for African communities aged 12–34; running since 2021, extended January 2026
- Community Support Group sports and employment program, $5.3M, employment and sport pathways for multicultural young people
- Boost to Community Support Groups, dedicated funding for three South Sudanese Community Support Groups, including an embedded clinician
- Community violence and anti-grooming interventions, $4.7M, including a gang-exit pilot and an anti-grooming education program delivered with Think Village
Unfunded, Despite Evidence, Submission, and Peak Body Endorsement
- Village Response Collective / Rite of Passage, the only Pacific-led, evidence-based youth justice program in Victoria. Three years of outcomes. Endorsed by UPCOV.
- One Moana Action Plan, the only Pacific community-led framework for a dedicated Victorian Pasifika Action Plan. Co-signed by UPCOV president. Submitted formally to two ministers. No response.
The submission noted that Pasifika young people make up approximately 8.5% of youth detention populations nationally while representing 2% of the population. The outer western suburbs, where ROP operates, have some of the highest rates of youth offending, family violence, and school disengagement in Victoria. The Pacific community in Victoria numbers over 76,000, with the largest age cohorts being children and young adults.
The government's $33 million Violence Reduction Unit budget contains zero dollars for Pacific-led programs. The only Pacific-led organisation with three years of evidence received a form letter that describes what is already being funded, and calls it assistance.
The Bigger Picture, One Ocean, Many Voices
Census data underestimates the size of the Pasifika population in Victoria because a significant proportion identify as New Zealand-born, not Pacific Island-born. This means services are systematically under-resourced relative to actual need. In practice, Pasifika churches, community organisations, and family networks fill the gap, providing youth development, family support, cultural identity programs, and crisis intervention as volunteers, unpaid, without recognition.
The African community achieved government recognition and an Action Plan after a high-profile community tragedy galvanised collective advocacy. They received $800,000 in their first year. Pacific communities have built their framework proactively, through evidence and leadership, without waiting for a tragedy. One Moana is that framework. The Rite of Passage program is its justice wave. The government has had it in their hands since December 2025.
What We Are Calling For
Fund Rite of Passage as a VRU Partner Program
Rite of Passage is in its final year of philanthropic funding. Without government investment, the only Pacific-led evidence-based youth justice program in Victoria closes. We call on the Victorian Government to fund ROP as a formal VRU partner program, recognising three years of evidence, a culturally grounded methodology, and formal endorsement from the Victorian Pacific peak body.
Establish the One Moana Pasifika Action Plan
Commit to developing a dedicated Victorian Pasifika Action Plan, co-designed with and led by Pacific communities through the One Moana framework, endorsed by UPCOV and developed by VRC. This is not a new program. It is the recognition and funding of community infrastructure that already exists and is already working.
Respond to the Five Recommendations
The five recommendations made in the March 2026 submission remain unanswered. We call on the Minister for Youth Justice to respond specifically and formally to each recommendation. A description of existing government programs is not a response to a community that asked specific questions and made specific requests, and said so formally, in writing, co-signed by the Victorian Pacific peak body president.
Signatories
Delivery & Peak Body Partners
Village Response Collective delivers Rite of Passage in formal partnership with:
United Pasifika Council of Victoria (UPCOV)
The Catalyst House