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

Recognition of Service – C’Zarke Maza
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Recognition of Service – C’Zarke Maza

ATSILS Staff - C'zarke MazaATSILS CEO Shane Duffy, & our Director of Sector Engagement and Communications, Graham White were in Cairns last week and enjoyed a catch-up with previous ATSILS employee C’Zarke Maza, who is now the inaugural Commissioner – Meriba Omasker Kaziw Kazipa (Torres Strait Islander Traditional Child Rearing Practice).

C’Zarke was a much-valued member of the ATSILS family and spent over 10 years with us as a legal practitioner and as the Regional Manager of our Thursday Island Office. During his time with ATSILS, C’Zarke worked tirelessly to enhance access to justice for the most remote communities throughout the Torres Strait Islands and Northern Peninsula Area regions. He successfully established collaborative partnerships with communities, key government and non-government stakeholders to influence positive change and enhance the delivery of high-quality legal services to these regions.

In recognition of his important contribution to ATSILS history of service, the executive took the opportunity to present C’Zarke with a 50-year commemorative polo shirt while in Cairns.

Client Services Trainee Graduate – Brisbane
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Client Services Trainee Graduate – Brisbane

Congratulations to Akotapu Paongu who has graduated as one of our Client Services Trainees in Brisbane,

While undertaking her traineeship with ATSILS, Akotapu Paongu also took the initiative to become a Justice of the Peace as was sworn in at the Brisbane Courts just over a year ago. Since then she has been delivering JP services to support the team from our reception in Brisbane.

We congratulate Akotapu on all her achievements and great work and we wish her all the best on her journey ahead with ATSILS.

Welcoming new members of the team in MT Isa
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Welcoming new members of the team in MT Isa

Our Chief Executive Officer, Shane Duffy and our Principal Legal Officer, Greg Shadbolt spent several days out on Kalkadoon country this week catching up with our Mt Isa staff and stakeholders.
It was a good opportunity to meet and yarn-up with newer staff for the first time as well as provide support to our new Regional Manager at Mount Isa, Dominique (Dom) Leong. It was also great to catch up with His Honour District Court Judge Nathan Jarro – who was on court circuit this week in Mount Isa.
L to R
Greg Shadbolt, Leith Seymour (CSO); Shane; Katie Rose (lawyer – crime); Mariah Wilde (seated – CSO); Dominique Leong (RM); Alenza Mariana (lawyer – crime); Shay-Lee Laing (lawyer – crime); Amrit Prihar (lawyer – crime); Scott Sier (seated – lawyer – crime – Normanton office); Tjabadungah Yanner (admin – his last day today); and Natasha Burns (Through Care – Youth
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flag raising – QEII Courts of Law Complex in Brisbane
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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flag raising – QEII Courts of Law Complex in Brisbane

This week our Principal Legal Officer, Greg Shadbolt attended a ceremony to mark the raising of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags outside the QEII Courts of Law Complex in Brisbane.

The event was held on 09/02/2023 and presided over by Her Honour, Chief Justice Helen Bowskill. The raising of the Aboriginal flag and the Torres Strait Islander flag acknowledges the original owners and custodians of the land and waters in and around the whole of the State of Queensland.

From 09/02/2023 forward, the flags will permanently fly alongside the Australian and Queensland flags as a symbol of recognition and respect and to recognise our shared history.

 

ATSILS Adopts New Branding
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ATSILS Adopts New Branding

Today, 1st February 2023, ATSILS officially adopts its new branding. 
Our staff have been working tirelessly over the past month to transition all of our communication resources to the new branding and from this date forward we will operate under a new logo and visual identity.
 
Our 50th anniversary of service was seen as a great opportunity to embrace a new corporate identity in a way that honours our proud history and helps usher in a new era of advancing the legal and human rights of our clients.
 
Our new logo represents a journey through the legal system supported by ATSILS. The concept forms a subtle ‘Q’ that gives a sense of location and also forms a magnifying glass to reference our role in monitoring the legal system to ensure the rights of our clients are upheld. The colour palette selected reflects the rich diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities throughout Queensland.
 
We’d like to thank strategic design agency Relative Creative for their work in developing the branding and Goreng Goreng contemporary artist Rachael Sarra for creating the specialty artwork that helps connect the brand more deeply with the communities we serve.