We all know kids have a right to learn, but last year Queensland state schools suspended and excluded nearly 3,900 more students than the year before – a total of 81,918 kids missed out on their right to learn. Join and share our A Right To Learn campaign now to keep the pressure on the government to call a full parliamentary inquiry!
Join the campaign here https://www.arighttolearn.com.au/pledge
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/
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.
ATSILS’ Community Legal Education Team recently delivered a talk to a group of young people participating in Youth Justice’s Transition 2 Success Program.
The talk covered topics including: why it is important to understand your rights when dealing with police; understanding the right to silence, the right to have a support person present and the right to ask if you are free to leave; the questions that you are legally obligated to answer in police interactions; understanding police searches; and what to do if you are a victim of crime or want to make a complaint about police conduct.
The young ones were very open and asked great questions. Many spoke of their own experiences and this generated even more yarns about what to do in certain scenarios and the importance of understanding your rights and obligations under the law when interacting with police.
We currently have a range of job vacancies available for suitably qualified Legal Practitioners, Throughcare Officers, Client Services Coordinators and more..
To view our current vacancies and to apply visit: Jobs – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (QLD) Ltd (atsils.org.au)
Recently this month our team held a stall at the Inala Community Connectors Forum (Government Licensing Muster event) at Our Meeting Place in Inala providing free legal advice and/or referrals.
The event was a joint initiative between Inala Wangarra Inc. and the Queensland Government. ATSILS joined other officers from Blue Card Services, SPER, Births, Deaths and Marriages, Centrelink, the Office of Fair Trading and Justice of the Peace to provide essential services all in one place for the community. The day was a success with many stopping by for a yarn about various topics from driver licence disqualifications, domestic and family violence to youth justice and opportunities for future community legal education talks from ATSILS
Work with the team advancing and protecting the rights of Mob in Queensland!
ATSILS teamed up with the members of the Queensland Legal Assistance Forum to produce a range of community legal education resources under the banner: Which Way – Protect Your Legal Rights!
The suite of resources was developed by First Nations Creative Agency – Gilimbaa and with key messaging aimed at enhancing community access to legal assistance options for domestic violence and child safety matters.
The resources were launched this week by our Director of Communications and Sector Engagement – Graham White and will be distributed throughout our partner networks to get the key messages out to our communities.
We thank the Queensland Government – Department of Justice and Attorney General for assisting in funding the project and all partners for their contributions.
Which Way – Protect Your Legal Rights!
We have a range of posters we would like to distribute throughout our partner networks to ensure our communities know there are a range of legal assistance providers available to assist them with Child Safety and Domestic Violence matters. If you would like a copy of the posters below please email: joshua.herd@atsils.org.au.
Alternatively, you are welcome to download and print a PDF version using the links below.
Download Posters [PDF]
Which Way – Legal Assistance for Child Safety Matters
Which Way – Legal Assistance for Domestic Violence Matters (Victim/Survivor)
Which Way – Legal Assistance for Domestic Violence Matters (Respondent)
Download/Share Videos
Today marks the 16th anniversary of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations delivered by former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.