- Published:
- Friday, 26 May 2023 at 11:00 am
By Chief Executive Officer, Victoria Legal Aid, Louise Glanville
First Nations people have endured generations of colonisation, dispossession and exclusion, and continue to face harm to this day.
These years of systemic racism mean First Nations people are overcriminalised by our justice system, and in child protection. First Nations children are 22 times more likely than other kids to be kept in out of home care, away from their family, community and culture.
In the legal sector, we can do much more to ensure First Nations peoples' right to self-determination. Saying ‘sorry’ is just the first step. We have to take action to right these wrongs.
Supporting self-determination
Solutions to improving legal outcomes for First Nations people must be led by First Nations people themselves.
At Victoria Legal Aid, we’re working to embed self-determination in our legal services to improve quality and accessibility for First Nations people. This includes active engagement with Aboriginal community-controlled organisations and services.
But we’re far from reaching where we need to be.
We can’t contribute to meaningful self-determination without having more First Nations people in our own ranks. Last financial year, although seven per cent of our clients identified as being First Nations people, only 3.2 per cent of our staff did.
We’ll continue to proactively increase the number of our First Nations staff in both legal and non-legal roles, including through ongoing investment in opportunities which support First Nations students to pursue a career in the legal sector. It’s incumbent on us all to do so.
However, we’re pleased to have recently elevated the head of our First Nations Services program to an executive position. As a member of Victoria Legal Aid's senior leadership, this First Nations-identified role will lead how we deliver legal assistance to First Nations communities in a way that’s self-determined, culturally appropriate, and responsive.
Putting clients first
Listening to our clients and putting their voices at the heart of our programs and services is core to our client-first strategy.
We recently asked First Nations clients about their experience with Victoria Legal Aid and found opportunities to enhance the quality and accessibility of our services. Going forward, we’ll find ways to embed the lived experience of First Nations people in our everyday practice.
Client stories are also the driving force and soul of our advocacy and calls for reform.
In our submissions to the Yoorrook Justice Commission, we told the story of Mikala, a Gunditjmara woman who was removed from her Aboriginal family and had her own children removed from her. She didn’t know her father or his family until he passed away when she was 24 years old. She wants her children to grow up knowing their identity.
Mikala’s experience speaks to the many ways in which Victoria's child protection system causes harm to First Nations children and families, reminiscent of the traumas of the Stolen Generations.
We have a responsibility to use our position to elevate the voices, truth-telling and lived experiences of First Nations people and to support their calls for systemic change.
Improving cultural capability
The tragic death in custody of Veronica Nelson in 2020 highlighted the failures of the justice system to protect those in most need. Ms Nelson, a proud Gunditjmara, Dja Dja Wurrung, Wiradjuri and Yorta Yorta woman, died three days after being refused bail for shoplifting.
In the Coronial Inquest findings, Coroner Simon McGregor recommended ongoing First Nations cultural awareness training for lawyers – a welcome finding.
Improving our staff’s cultural capability is an ongoing process. We have a five-year cultural learning strategy, which requires our staff and Board to build their understanding of the cumulative effects of colonisation through training. We also provide training on legal issues, including representing First Nations clients on remand.
To achieve wider change, we’re partnering with the Law Institute of Victoria to develop a First Nations cultural capability framework in close collaboration with First Nations stakeholders. It will set out cultural capability standards and performance indicators as a foundational step for legal practitioners. Having a consistent framework across the sector, including best practice, training, quality measures, standards and accreditation, will be a step in the right direction.
The risks faced by First Nations clients are urgent and demand immediate action.
This National Reconciliation Week, we stand ready to work hand in hand across our sector towards a system that is just and fair for all.
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