This week, Aboriginal people from across Victoria will gather in Melbourne for two very important discussions about treaty.

As Victorian Treaty Advancement Commissioner, my job has been to ensure all Aboriginal people can be involved in the treaty process. This year I travelled across Victoria, meeting with 30 communities in every corner of the state. At those gatherings, I have spoken with more than 1,000 Aboriginal people.

Overall, I would describe the mood in those communities as one of cautious optimism. Nearly all Aboriginal people want a treaty, but many have learned, for good reason, not to put their faith in government promises.

Sovereignty was never ceded – all Aboriginal people know this. And we have long called for a treaty. The time that our sovereignty is recognised has now come.

For the first time in Australian history however, we have a law which provides a roadmap for the process, with requirements for the government to act honestly and in good faith in its dealings.

These are the concrete signs of a treaty process, which is well under way. And we also know what will come next. The new treaty laws require the establishment of an Aboriginal representative body, which will work as an equal with the Victorian government to lay the groundwork for treaty negotiations. Put simply, this means the “ground rules” – who can negotiate treaties, what can be negotiated and how we will ensure these negotiations are free and fair and not skewed for the benefit of any one party.

Which brings me back to the two very important discussions we will be having next week. On Tuesday, a gathering will be held for Aboriginal people in Victoria. There I will present a proposed model for the Aboriginal Representative Body. This has been developed from what we have heard from the community. We will discuss the merits of the proposed model, as well as any shortcomings the community may identify. It will be live streamed on the commission website.

But one of the most important questions to be answered is how we will make the elders of our community central to the processes of the Aboriginal representative body. Aboriginal society has always been led by the wisdom of our elders. Many of our laws and customs were disrupted by colonisation, but our elders still carry the same authority and responsibility. That is why I will host a separate elders’ forum on Monday. I will speak with Elders from across Victoria on the design of an elders’ voice within the Aboriginal representative body. I will also explain in detail the proposed representative body model. Without the involvement of our elders, treaty will not be legitimate. I am intensely aware of this fact and it has driven much of my work since I assumed my role in January last year.

I ask that everyone reading this involve themselves in the treaty process. The best way to begin is by learning more about Aboriginal culture and history from Aboriginal people themselves. The Deadly Questions campaign features precisely that: Aboriginal people telling their stories, and answering the questions which people often feel too embarrassed to ask about the lives of Aboriginal people.

Treaty is ultimately an agreement between peoples, and it will benefit all of us. I hope more and more Victorians join us on this journey.

• Jill Gallagher AO is the Victorian Treaty Advancement Commissioner