Indigenous Law Bulletin 2013
Welcome to the latest general edition of the Indigenous Law Bulletin (‘ILB’). We begin this edition with an article by Loretta Kelly, AntonyBarac, Scott Hawkins and Stuart Barlo. In 2012 authors Kelly and Baracwon a Legal Aid New South Wales tender to deliver Indigenous ‘culturalcompetency’ training for private legal practitioners in NSW. Havingnow conducted four training workshops, the authors outline issues thatarose in designing the training package and discuss some of the morechallenging points that came up during the training.
We have Fiona Allison, Melanie Schwartz and Chris Cunneen discussingthe civil law issue of discrimination in light of the ongoing discrimination experienced by Indigenous people in some communities. In their articlethe authors reflect on fieldwork conducted in 2011 in the NT as partof the Indigenous Legal Needs Project (the ‘ILNP’), which identifieddiscrimination as an area of priority need.
In the context of the Australian Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee’s current Inquiry into the value of a justice reinvestment approach in Australia, Mick Gooda, Emilie Priday and Louise McDermott look at the applications for justice reinvestment in Australia, primarily in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and make recommendations for an Australian justice reinvestment approach.
Dr Shelley Bielefeld tackles the issue of compulsory income management under Stronger Futures laws, arguing that whilst it is often seen by governments as providing ‘greater choice and flexibility’ for welfare recipients, the scheme significantly erodes freedom of contract for those subject to it.
Kyllie Cripps and Robert McCreery look at Indigenous engagement with the recently announced Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse; providing some background to the Commission, the scope of its Inquiry and how it differs from previous inquiries into sexual abuse in Indigenous communities.
In an article that invites a comparison of different countries’ policy agendas, Masaki Oita, an employee of the Government of Japan, updates us on recent policy developments to promote and protect the culture of the Ainu: an Indigenous people most of whom live around the northern part of the Japanese Archipelago, especially in Hokkaido.
Finally, we have reproduced here comments made in Parliament earlier this year by Federal Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, in support of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Recognition Bill 2012. The Opposition Leader’s speech is a welcome addition to the debate on the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the Constitution.
Robert McCreery (Editor)
CONTENTS
Legal Practitioners Working more Effectively with Aboriginal Clients: Promising New Cultural Competency Training by Legal Aid NSW by Loretta Kelly, Antony Barac, Scott Hawkins and Stuart Barlo
‘That’s discrimination!’ Indigenous peoples’ experiences of discrimination in the Northern Territory by Fiona Allison, Melanie Schwartz and Chris Cunneen
Looking beyond offenders to the needs of victims and communities by Mick Gooda, Emilie Priday and Louise McDermott
Compulsory Income Management under the Stronger Futures Laws – Providing ‘Flexibility’ or Overturning Freedom of Contract? by Dr Shelley Bielefeld
Indigenous Engagement with the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse by Kyllie Cripps and Robert McCreery
Comparative Issues: Recent Policy Developments to Promote and Protect Ainu Culture in Japan by Masaki Oita
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Recognition Bill 2012: Second Reading SPEECH by Tony Abbott MP, Leader of the Opposition
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MONTHS IN REVIEW – March & April compiled by Robert McCreery
