· In short: The Victorian government has so far offered its full support to just four of 46 recommendations proposed by an inquiry into child protection and criminal justice.

· That includes a call to stop jailing children under 16, leaving commissioners of the Yoorrook inquiry "disappointed".

· What's next? The government has committed to recommendations including mandating cultural awareness training for child protection workers.

The Victorian government has rejected calls to stop jailing children under 16, leaving commissioners of a First Peoples-led truth-telling inquiry "disappointed".

The government offered its full support to just four of the 46 recommendations proposed by the Yoorrook Justice Commission's inquiry, and "in-principle" support to 24 others.

The inquiry into Victoria's child protection and criminal justice systems found evidence of ongoing systemic racism and gross human rights abuses committed against First Peoples.

Its recommendations amounted to a sweeping overhaul of Victoria's child protection and criminal justice systems.

Government rejects calls to raise criminal age of responsibility immediately, bail reforms

The state government rejected three Yoorrook recommendations.

That included a call for the state government to stop detaining children under 16 and to raise the criminal age of responsibility to 14, without exception.

The government said it would instead maintain its plans to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 12 this year, and to 14 by 2027, with exceptions. 

It also rejected proposals to allow people to bring a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal proceeding against the government for breaching human rights. The government said going ahead with the recommendation would involve an expansion of the tribunal's remit, which it did not support.

The inquiry also recommended significant bail reforms that would significantly strengthen the presumption in favour of bail, but the government said its ongoing bail reforms already "align with the intent" of this advice.

Chair of the commission and Wergaia/Wamba Wamba elder Eleanor Bourke said the rejections were disappointing.

"Given the weight of evidence presented throughout the inquiry, which included deeply personal accounts from First Peoples witnesses of suffering which many continue to experience every day, commissioners are disappointed by the government's decision not to support three recommendations," Professor Bourke said in a statement.

"Recommendations regarding the Bail Act and the minimum age of criminal responsibility and detention are crucial … they go to the heart of addressing ongoing injustice against First Peoples."

Minister for Treaty and First Peoples Natalie Hutchins described Yoorrook's work as "globally groundbreaking".

"Every Yoorrook Justice Commission inquiry allows the Victorian government to develop a deeper understanding of the discrimination that has been built into state government policies and approaches," she said.

"We thank First Peoples who participated in the inquiry and appeared before the commission for their ongoing strength and resilience."

Cultural awareness training for child protection workers

The four recommendations supported in full by the government include a proposal to mandate cultural awareness training for child protection workers, along with a commitment to better reporting of the distribution of child protection funding.

It will also introduce legal changes to protect confidential information shared with Yoorrook, and monitor police conduct following the decriminalisation of public drunkenness.

The government also offered in-principle support to a further 24 recommendations, such as amending the Sentencing Act to require courts to consider alternatives to prison for all offenders, including Aboriginal offenders.

"Agreement on these recommendations demonstrates the importance and effectiveness of truth-telling," Professor Bourke said.

'Light on detail and commitments'

Victorian Aboriginal advocates also criticised the state government's response to the inquiry's proposed reforms.

The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service described the response as "light on detail and commitments" and "unworthy of the heart-wrenching truths" told.

"It reads like it was slapped together overnight," CEO Nerita Waight said.

"It is so disappointing that the Victorian government did not take this more seriously and develop a more detailed response that supported in full all recommendations."

The First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria said the government's response showed it was not moving "moving fast or hard enough ahead of Treaty negotiations".

Assembly co-chair and Wamba Wamba, Yorta Yorta, Dhudhuroa and Dja Dja Wurrung woman Ngarra Murray said she was frustrated by how long the government had taken to respond and disappointed about the disrespect shown to community members who had participated in the truth-telling process.

"We know that unfair laws and policing practices hit Aboriginal people the hardest and are particularly harmful to our young children when they get caught up in the youth justice system," she said.

"So the government's stubbornness when it comes to the slow timeline for raising the age is very frustrating. We won't let it rest."

Meanwhile the Human Rights Law Centre described the government's response as "feeble".

"The Allan government has dismissed this opportunity handed to them by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, who have always had the answers," the centre's managing lawyer Monique Hurley said.

"The evidence is clear — prisons do not make communities safer. As heard by Yoorrook, discriminatory laws, systemic racism and racist policing are a toxic combination resulting in an unjust legal system that enables the mass imprisonment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people." 

Responding to the criticism, the minister rejected suggestions the government was not listening, saying its response was a "good start".

"[The recommendations] are very complex, they suggest a lot of change … huge systemic changes," Ms Hutchins said.

The government would not rush these decisions, instead planning to consult and "get the process right", she said.

"This is not a rejection of what the commission found, I would say that's the government acknowledging and taking those recommendations seriously."

Some recommendations still under consideration

Fifteen recommendations remain "under consideration", including Yoorrook's proposal to create an independent police oversight authority, and the handing over of control to First Peoples within the child protection and criminal justice systems.

Professor Bourke said she expected to see progress on these in the months to come, noting that Yoorrook may call additional accountability hearings later in the year to test government officials.