QUT Community Stall – Promoting Legal Careers with ATSILS
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QUT Community Stall – Promoting Legal Careers with ATSILS

Last week, ATSILS took part in the Community Stall Expo, which was part of Queensland University of Technology’s (QUT) Pre-Orientation Program for the Oodgeroo Unit community of students at the Kelvin Grove campus. The Oodgeroo Unit at QUT offers educational and support programs and spaces specifically for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, aiding them in their higher education journey.
During the expo, new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students starting their studies had the opportunity to connect with various organisations, including ATSILS. These organisations work closely with the community and can serve as valuable networks for students pursuing law at QUT. We were pleased to see many students engaging with our stall, and we hope this interaction inspires them to consider working with us in the future!
Hervey Bay Community engagement and Service Access
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Hervey Bay Community engagement and Service Access

ATSILS Hervey Bay

Our team in Hervey Bay joined the vibrant community Colour Run organized by @DeadlyChoices this week. Hundreds of Indigenous and non-Indigenous kids participated in the 2km Fun Run, along with some young-at-heart adults.

Our team was thrilled to be a part of this exciting event, and attended alongside local community organizations that included PCYC, The Neighbourhood Centre, Deadly Choices, and The Wesley Financial Counselling Service. We had a great time engaging with the local community and spreading awareness about our services.

More than 600 kids attended the event and were sprayed with coloured powder creating a kaleidoscope of colour. There was great community spirit present, and you could see it wasn’t just about winning, but about enjoying the experience to the fullest. The positive energy and infectious enthusiasm made it a day to remember.

 

 

🌟 Community Legal Education Workshop on Palm Island 🌟
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🌟 Community Legal Education Workshop on Palm Island 🌟

Our Community Legal Education Team in the Northern Region, led by Paige Ryan, recently delivered an insightful workshop on Palm Island. At the request of the Palm Island Community Company, the team covered important topics such as the recent changes (in September this year) to the Evidence Act regarding preliminary complaint witness evidence in DFV offences, s229BC of the Criminal Code, and the use of counselling notes in sexual offence proceedings.
 
Paige, along with Nico Rump, one of our Criminal Lawyers from the Townsville office, co-wrote and presented the CLE session with Molly Mahlouzarides, in-house Counsel for LAQ in Townsville. The session was well received and attended by staff from various providers servicing the Palm Island community.
 
The team thoroughly enjoyed the experience and noted it was a stunning summer’s day to travel to Palm! 🌞
Engaging with police recruits to enhance understanding of services and communities
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Engaging with police recruits to enhance understanding of services and communities

ATSILS @ QPS Market Day 


On 20 November 2024, ATSILS Brisbane’s CLE team attended the Queensland Police Academy Market Day. This event invites various agencies, organisations, and QPS units to the Queensland Police Service Academy to showcase their services and how they might be relevant to recruits’ future policing duties. ATSILS had a stall at this event alongside the deadly team at Murri Watch Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Corporation.

Close to 900 current police recruits attended this event and had the opportunity to engage with our stall and ask questions about what ATSILS does. Many police recruits stopped by and advised that they were already aware of ATSILS, as part of their training included information about the obligation on police officers to facilitate a call to ATSILS in the event of an arrest of an individual who identifies as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander so that the individual can have access to legal advice at that critical stage.

There were many productive conversations with police recruits about the importance of cultural training and understanding to give pause and consideration of the impact of intergenerational trauma, other challenges that an individual at risk of being in contact with the criminal justice system might have and their story. There were also many discussions about the importance of diversion away from the criminal justice system to allow a pathway to addressing key needs and providing key supports to those at risk. Some recruits were not aware of the policy work that ATSILS does with respect to Closing the Gap, prevention and early intervention and the delivery of community legal education and it was great to be able to share that information as well.

Masterclass event on the changes to the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991
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Masterclass event on the changes to the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991

The UQ Pro Bono Centre and Community Legal Centres Queensland recently held a Masterclass event on the changes to the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 for legal practitioners in the community legal assistance sector.

At this event, there were short presentations from ATSILS, the @Institute of Urban Indigenous Health, Legal Aid Queensland, the Queensland Human Rights Commission, The University of Queensland and Queensland Advocacy for Inclusion.

ATSILS’ Kate Greenwood and Pree Sharma presented to the group on key changes to vilification laws in Queensland. It is hoped that this event will help equip civil lawyers to understand key changes to the legislative framework so that they can best assist their clients with discrimination and vilification matters once the changes come into effect next year.

International Men’s Day – Cairns
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International Men’s Day – Cairns

Today our Cairns CLE team attended the first International Men’s Day event in Cairns. There was a big turnout in the Cairns heat and it was great to join the locals to celebrate “Positive Male Role Models” and recognise their contributions to our community.

We thank the hosts for organising the games, free BBQ lunch & drinks. It was an honour to connect with the locals and various organisations sharing our legal education resources, creating awareness of our services, and providing referrals to assist.
ATSILS Community Legal Education Outreach – Mt Isa and Cloncurry
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ATSILS Community Legal Education Outreach – Mt Isa and Cloncurry

ATSILS Community Legal Education outreach is just one of the ways we assist clients in overcoming the tyranny of distance in remote locations to enhance access to justice. These sessions help ensure the community is more aware of its legal rights and the range of legal services available from ATSILS.

Paige (Solicitor – Coronial, Community Legal Education & Public Sector Monitoring) from our Townsville office recently partnered with NQWLS to deliver DFV Community Legal Education and stakeholder engagement sessions in Mt Isa.

The team met with AIDRWA and discussed DFV and Child Protection matters, to increase staff understanding of these legal topics to better support their clients and discussed local ‘hot’ issues the service is seeing. They spent valuable time with the community justice group (NWQICSS), 54 Reasons, Gidgee Healing (Family wellbeing team) and the social worker team at the Mt Isa Hospital (NWHHS) to discuss future CLE opportunities, ATSILS & NQWLS services, referral pathways and NQWLS’ monthly legal clinic in Mt Isa.

The team also journeyed to Cloncurry where Paige partnered with Sharn Fogarty from Mitakoodi Aboriginal Corporation (Cloncurry), Joshua Gibson (criminal solicitor at our Mt Isa office), Natasha Chong (Throughcare, Mt Isa based) to deliver in-person CLE in Cloncurry. All in all the feedback received from the community and stakeholders was very positive.

 

CLE delivered to Vinnies Homeless Hostel and Support Service in Cairns.
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CLE delivered to Vinnies Homeless Hostel and Support Service in Cairns.

Our Cairns team fosters strong partnerships in the community services sector to ensure our legal services can reach those most in need in the community.

 
This week our Respect@Work CLE program was delivered by Solicitor Cicilia Halaholo at the Vinnies Homeless Hostel and Support Service in Cairns.
 
The audience was very receptive to the legal content presented, which was developed through engagement with Vinnies Support Workers to ensure that it catered to the clients’ needs.
 
We are committed to providing further support through this partnership and the participants were grateful to have access to ATSILS legal services in an environment they feel comfortable with.
 
We left the group with a range of legal information resources and merchandise to help them further and we look forward to building on this new partnership with Vinnies in Cairns.
Cooee Redlands Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander DFV Forum
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Cooee Redlands Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander DFV Forum

ATSILS Legal Practitioner – Brittany White & Court Support Officer – Mary James, recently attended the October 2024 – Cooee Redlands Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander DFV Forum.

The team found the forum very informative, with the issue of Domestic and Family Violence prosecution /defence and the recent amendments to the legislation regarding coercive control being presented by various stakeholders throughout the day.

CLE: Helping Deadly Young Mob avoid the pitfalls of Buy Now Pay Later!
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CLE: Helping Deadly Young Mob avoid the pitfalls of Buy Now Pay Later!

CLE ATSILS with IYMP StudentsAt the request of Indigenous Youth Mobility Pathways Project (IYMP) – Cairns, ATSILS delivered a timely Community Legal Education (CLE) workshop to a group of work-ready students on the common debt traps associated with popular Buy Now Pay Later credit systems such as AfterPay.
The students were fully engaged in the content and curious about how to make their future earnings work for them. The session gave them a range of tips on avoiding being caught in spiraling debt and key referral agencies that can assist with debt problems if they do arise. In addition, it highlighted the importance of maintaining a positive credit rating for future borrowings.
The students left feeling more empowered to manage their finances and better informed about where to seek assistance to deal with any future financial pitfalls that may arise.
Once again we thank IYMP as we continue to foster this important community-led partnership that assists in nurturing these deadly young leaders of tomorrow.