Opinion
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services – the key to closing the justice gap
9th Feb 2023
We are in a pivotal moment in history and there is potential to go beyond the empty gestures of the past. We call upon this Australian Government to abolish policies and procedures that acquiesce to the inhumane treatment of those in prison and closed environments. It is a fundamental issue of rights and freedoms. There must be a political will nationally and internationally to avoid what is senseless and preventable.
Governments must acknowledge the key role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (ATSILS) play in empowering our people and communities to understand and protect their rights and ensure contact with the legal system is minimised at every opportunity.
Salary parity with legal aid is unambitious as what needs to be considered is the effort scale on each file at ATSILS because when ATSILS have the opportunity to operate at our best we offer a phenomenal service.
We will continue to work with Government to establish the prominence of National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS) and ATSILS as key spokespeople in justice.
Long term investment is needed, however, our ATSILS are at the forefront of the immediate crisis, absorbing numerous pressures. It is fundamental that the Government consult with NATSILS to discuss justice investment.
ATSILS across Australia have the solutions and when the money is not allocated in a meaningful way ATSILS will inevitably alleviate that combustion, and we do that in our devotion to the recommendations of the Royal Commissions into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.
ATSILS were at the genesis of self-determination, they were the engine room for reform, and they are still the advocates and the protectors of the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
ATSILS have the solutions to drive down incarceration. ATSILS are significant and influential stakeholders in this country and there is great cost-benefit in the solutions driven by ATSILS.
Justice policy should be led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
It is the ATSILS who absorb the pressures when the Government doesn’t invest funding into services in a meaningful way. We have the solutions for our communities. It only takes a conversation with the CEOs of the ATSILS to reveal comprehensive knowledge and expertise of solutions, and cost-effective ones at that.
What is evident is that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services deliver support in communities around the country every day and while we know what our communities need, there must be a commitment from Government to deliver these outcomes, true partnership and accountability functions.
We have a right to culture. What needs to be in reverence is the principle that culture is a strengthening agent that should underpin the delivery of services, policy and legislation that affects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
This is an edited version of an article originally published in the National Indigenous Times on 23 January 2023.
The ALA thanks Jamie McConnachie for this contribution.
Jamie McConnachie is the Executive Officer of National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services
The views and opinions expressed in this article are the authors’ and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA).
CONTACT DETAILS
SEND ENQUIRY