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.
Congratulations Mr Lewis Shillito on being appointed to the bench.

Congratulations Mr Lewis Shillito on being appointed to the bench.

Mr Lewis ShillitoCongratulations to our departing Director of Criminal Law, Mr Lewis Shillito, who leaves us after being appointed as a Magistrate in the latest announcement by Queensland Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath.

It is a bitter-sweet moment as we say farewell to a consummate professional. Still, we are grateful for the time he dedicated to ATSILS and his immense contribution to the organisation in leading our Criminal Law Team.

Without a doubt, it is a big loss – but such is far more than compensated for by the fact that we are all so proud of his onward journey and that ATSILS has played a small part in his stepping stones towards the bench.

ATSILS is also proud that we have now had back-to-back appointments to the bench of our Directors of Criminal Law – with Lewis following in the footsteps of his predecessor Mr Andrew Hackett.

Lewis is a legal practitioner of the highest calibre, and on behalf of the ATSILS Board and CEO, we’d like to acknowledge the fantastic job he has done as our Director of Criminal Law over the past seven years. This is such a well-deserved appointment – and the whole team at ATSILS couldn’t be happier for Lewis.

Congratulations Lewis you are an inspiration to the team, all the best for the exciting journey ahead!

Media Statement:

https://statements.qld.gov.au/statements/101200

Mossman High School Careers Day – Inspiring the Next Generation!
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Mossman High School Careers Day – Inspiring the Next Generation!

Mossman Legal CareersOur Cairns team held a stall at the Mossman High School Careers Day yesterday. It was a fantastic opportunity to engage with the community and give young people an insight into a legal career where they can focus on advancing and protecting the rights of people most in need of access to justice. One student said it was important to see ATSILS presence at this event, allowing Indigenous students to consider the possibility of working in the legal profession. There was also a great turnout of local stakeholders wanting to explore how to collaborate with our new Respect@Work Program which offers Community Legal Education to school leavers and students in alternative learning programs.

All in all, it was a great day out and we hope we played a small part in encouraging the next generation of bright young minds to consider a rewarding career in the legal assistance sector. Thank you to Mossman High School for the opportunity to engage with this fine region of future leaders and community organisations.