Assisting our most remote clients in Far NW QLD
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Assisting our most remote clients in Far NW QLD

Last week, ATSILS mobile legal practitioner Kevin Amantea undertook the remote court circuit in the Gulf country to assist clients and to help ensure our most remote communities have access to justice. Kevin said, ‘I enjoyed traveling to the Northwest QLD region of the Gulf of Carpentaria for work…. It was one of the most rewarding and challenging experiences of my legal career.

ATSILS currently employs two mobile legal practitioners as part of our innovative and agile workforce. Our highly experienced mobile legal practitioners travel far and wide across Queensland to assist with service delivery continuity and demand. They can be deployed to targeted regions to enable ATSILS to be more responsive to the legal needs of a community.

Happy NAIDOC Week 2024
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Happy NAIDOC Week 2024

Happy #NAIDOC2024

❤️💛🖤💙🤍💚
‘Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud’ celebrates the unyielding spirit of First Nations communities.
This year’s deadly NAIDOC Week poster ‘Urapun Muy’ (One Fire) is by Torres Strait Islander artist Deb Belyea.

Respect@Work – Community Legal Education – Cairns
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Respect@Work – Community Legal Education – Cairns

Last week ATSILS’s solicitor Cicilia Halaholo presented our Respect@Work CLE session to a deadly group of students from the Indigenous Youth Mobility Pathways Project (IYMP).

IYMP in Cairns provides a training program for youth from the Torres Strait Islands and Cape York.

Our Respect@Work Legal Service focuses on preventing Workplace Sexual Harassment with casework and community legal education offered as part of the program.

Students showed keen interest during the workshop and are now armed with better legal knowledge to support their journeys into the workforce. The students were also given a range of ATSILS merchandise and legal resources to take home and reinforce their learning on the topic.

ATSILS looks forward to forging more community partnerships with IYMP to nurture a solid future for our youth.

Please contact ATSILS for more information on the Respect@Work legal service. https://atsils.org.au/contact/

ATSILS’s Managers’ Conference 2024
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ATSILS’s Managers’ Conference 2024

Last week the ATSILS’s Managers’ Conference was held in Brisbane. It was fantastic to have all ATSILS leaders in one place to discuss the key workforce challenges and opportunities impacting service delivery.

Congratulations to our HR Team on the success of the event. The team delivered a highly engaging program designed to equip our managers with more tools to manage change, address conflict, and overcome the common challenges impacting team dynamics which was well received by all.

Torres Strait Islander Traditional Child Rearing Practice Events – December 2023
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Torres Strait Islander Traditional Child Rearing Practice Events – December 2023

Torres Strait Islander Traditional Child Rearing PracticeTorres Strait Islander Traditional Child Rearing Practice

Upcoming Events – North QLD

Bowen 6th December 2023 (9am – 3pm)

Mackay 7th December 2023 (9am – 3pm)

Join Cultural Support Officers from the Office of the Commissioner – Meriba Omasker Kaziw Kazipa, for upcoming events on Torres Strait Islander traditional child-rearing practice.

Delivering Community Legal Education to Hymba Yumba Students
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Delivering Community Legal Education to Hymba Yumba Students

Members of our Brisbane CLE team were out in the community last week empowering students at the Hymba Yumba Independent School to understand their legal rights.

Pree Sharma and Michelle Rabbidge delivered the community legal education session to the deadly young group. The session focussed on teaching the jarjums about their basic rights when interacting with police, what to do if they are stopped by the police, when to seek legal advice and what to do if they are a victim of a crime.

Approximately 30 students attended and were very engaged, asking great questions along the way. ATSILS regularly delivers legal education sessions to the community as part of our Prevention, Intervention and Community Legal Education Program.

Job Vacancies – Legal Practitioners – Family/Civil Law
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Job Vacancies – Legal Practitioners – Family/Civil Law

ATSILS seeks skilled Legal Practitioners in Family Law to join our statewide team. You will join a flexible and supportive work environment with dedicated team members that allow for diverse casework. Currently, we have positions in Cairns, Hervey Bay and Ipswich.

Applications close mid-November 2023

Please visit our vacancies page to find out more or to make an application.

Job Vacancies

 

Job Vacancy – Human Resources Manager
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Job Vacancy – Human Resources Manager

ATSILS is seeking a well-qualified Human Resources Manager to join our Brisbane team.

You will be uniquely positioned to provide services to a thriving social justice workforce across Queensland.  At least five years’ experience in Management and/or consulting is required.

Interviews will commence in November, commencement December or early January after our Christmas break by 10th January 2024.

Please visit our vacancies page to find out more or to make an application.

ATSILS Temporary Service Suspensions Update – September 2023
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ATSILS Temporary Service Suspensions Update – September 2023

Overview:
Throughout 2022 & 2023 ATSILS (QLD) had to make the difficult decision to temporarily suspend a range of services in several regions. The regions affected included Cairns, Townsville, Mt Isa, Maroochydore, Rockhampton, Brisbane, Beenleigh, Strathpine, Rockhampton and Ipswich (Richlands).

Due to additional funding provided by the Queensland Government, ATSILS (QLD) has been able to successfully recruit a number of new staff to mitigate most of the service suspensions in these regions. Below is a short update relevant to each location.

Cairns
Update September 2023: Cairns remains our greatest challenge due to a combination of factors. At this stage, the current temporary service suspensions are likely to continue at least until the end of October.

Rockhampton
Update September 2023: Rockhampton remains a significant challenge due to a scarcity of prospective recruits in or into the region. At this stage, the current temporary service suspensions will continue until at least the end of October – possibly longer.

Townsville
Update September 2023: Due to successful recruitment initiatives in this region, all service suspensions are expected to be lifted as of the end of September.

Brisbane Office
Update September 2023: Due to successful recruitment initiatives in this region, all service suspensions are expected to be lifted as of the end of September.

Maroochydore
Update September 2023: An additional legal practitioner allocated to Maroochydore out of the funding commences at the end of October – so it is likely that the temporary suspensions out of this office will need to remain in place at least until then.

Mount Isa
Update September 2023: All service suspensions were lifted at the end of August.

Ipswich
Update September 2013: Due to recent successful recruitments – the temporary service suspension (Richlands Courthouse) will end as of the 9th of October.

Beenleigh and Strathpine
Prior Suspensions – since lifted (Update September 2023: no changes – no suspensions in place).

In conclusion
ATSILS (QLD) received excellent funding outcome news in mid-June. This has seen a significant increase in staff morale and our retention and recruitment. We cannot thank the Attorney, the associated departmental staff, and all others concerned, enough.

Media Release – The Queensland State Budget delivers a welcome funding boost for ATSILS
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Media Release – The Queensland State Budget delivers a welcome funding boost for ATSILS

An additional $9.165 million in funding will be provided to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (QLD) Ltd (ATSILS) by the Queensland State Government for the 2023/24 financial year. The additional funds will be used to increase service delivery capacity and to implement a more competitive salary structure across every position within the business.

ATSILS CEO Shane Duffy said, “We welcome this response from the State Government who have been acutely aware of the funding crisis causing temporary service suspensions and negatively impacting access to justice in a number of locations across Queensland.”…

Date: 23 June 2023

View Full Media Release