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.

Media Release – Our Communities Have The Solutions
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Media Release – Our Communities Have The Solutions

JOINT MEDIA RELEASE
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (QLD) Ltd and Tablelands Community Justice Group.
Atherton, Far North Queensland – November 22, 2024 – The CEO and Executive members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (QLD) Ltd (ATSILS) recently met with the Tablelands Community Justice Group (TCJG) Elders in Atherton to discuss the systemic justice issues driving youth offending, incarceration, and affecting community safety in the region and to hear about some of the community-led responses making a real difference.
Indigenous youth in Queensland are 26 times more likely to be incarcerated than their non-Indigenous peers and it is a sad state of play that this rate continues to spiral year after year. Factors such as childhood trauma, socioeconomic disadvantage, mental health and substance abuse are the main drivers of offending behaviour.
Youth detention centres in Queensland are often operating at over-capacity which leads to children being detained in adult watch houses and prisons. These facilities are ill-equipped to ensure their safety, compromise their human rights and can exacerbate trauma and mental health issues, increasing the likelihood of reoffending and more serious offending.
Addressing these issues requires respectful, culturally informed approaches, increased resources for rehabilitation and diversion programs, and systemic changes to reduce reliance on detention for young people. Developing stronger relationships with police to foster community-engaged policing, rather than over-policing communities, is a crucial element to this.
Local communities must be involved in the solutions, and we call on the new State Government to engage more effectively with local Elders and grassroots and community-controlled organisations in the development of therapeutic justice responses. Organisations such as the TCJG, which is comprised of local Elders, are uniquely positioned to understand and address cultural and social dynamics within their communities, leading to more effective interventions such as ‘On Country’ Elder led camps. Ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth have access to community-led rehabilitation and diversion services, such as ‘On Country’ Elders camps, is vital to breaking the cycle of offending. Cultural camps provide opportunities for young people to learn respect, connect with their heritage and understand their cultural identity. This connection fosters a sense of pride and belonging and sets the foundation for them to engage more effectively with further education and rehabilitation services and ultimately, successful reintegration into the community.
Quotes:
• “ATSILS and TCJG call for more culturally informed justice reinvestment practices to address youth offending and increase community safety,” said Mr. Shane Duffy, CEO of ATSILS. “By engaging the community at the local level, we can better understand the challenges to tailor our service delivery to community need and develop more effective solutions that engage youth in rehabilitation.”
• “Our Elders network plays a crucial role in helping to set our youth on as path to rehabilitation to break the cycle of offending,” said Julie Go Sam, TCJG Justice Coordinator. “Our united presence, support in community and involvement in ‘On Country’ cultural camps are an invaluable foundation for teaching youth respect for self and others and guiding them away from the justice.”
For an insight into ‘On Country’ camps and aspirations to develop a Youth Centre to address offending please view: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tINIi7WDeI
About the Tablelands Community Justice Group:
The Tablelands Community Justice Group is dedicated to restorative justice practices and community/justice sector engagement, aiming to create a safer, more cohesive community.
About the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (QLD) Ltd:
ATSILS provides innovative and professional legal services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across Queensland. [For more information: www.atsils.org.au ]
Media Contact for Mr Shane Duffy (ATSILS CEO) – Joshua Herd (Email: Joshua.herd@atsils.org.au )
Media Contact of Tablelands Community Justice Group – Julie Go Sam (Email:  j.gosam@mypathway.com.au )
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.
Court Link Rockhampton
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Court Link Rockhampton

Members of the ATSILS Rockhampton team attended the official launch of the Court Link initiative that kicked off this week in Central Queensland.

Aunty Niki Hatfield performed the Welcome To Country and enlightened the audience about why such is important to First Nations peoples. The Court Link Team gave great insight into the initiative which is to give participants acute support while on bail and navigating the judicial system.

We are excited to see the initiative begin in Rockhampton, noting our office has already referred one participant on the second day of its operation.

Thanks to the Court Link team for providing great insight, a lovely lunch, and congratulations on a successful launch.

Elders for Change – Townsville
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Elders for Change – Townsville

Our CEO along with our Close the Gap Policy and Sector Engagement and Communications teams spent valuable time with Elders for Change while in Townsville this week.

The team provided insights into our Close the Gap Policy approach and discussed the complex justice issues facing the local community. The passion and vision shared by the Elders concerning their intervention and prevention approach were inspiring. The grass-roots justice reinvestment approach they deliver to the community is critical to addressing the drivers of offending and unacceptable incarceration rates.

ATSILS has long advocated for community-led justice reinvestment initiatives and it is great to see the Federal Government invest in this approach in Townsville. Elders for Change are helping to prevent deaths in custody by providing cultural support and, with the Elders’ guidance, offenders and prison staff are building better relationships which makes our prisons safer. They’re also building strong relationships with service providers in the justice sector to enhance service delivery to their community and divert people from contact with the justice system. These important connections with grass-roots-led programs certainly assist organisations like ours to fine-tune our service delivery in line with the needs of the local community.

We thank ‘Elders for Change’ for taking the time to share their wisdom and look forward to strengthening our relationship in the future.

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.