Townsville Deadly Day Out! – NAIDOC
NAIDOC Townsville 2026Our Townsville ATSILS family had a fantastic day out connecting with the community at the recent NAIDOC Deadly Day Out. The energy was incredible, with thousands of people coming together to celebrate a massive milestone: 50 Years of Deadly!
 
It was a brilliant, fast-paced day, and our team was kept busy from start to finish—yarnin’, sharing vital resources, and connecting with community members all day long.
 
A huge thank you to everyone who stopped by to say hello, grab some information, or share a chat with us. We are deeply proud to represent the ATSILS family out in the field and to support our community where it matters most.
Until the next one, stay deadly! 💪🏾✨
 
#CommunityEngagement #LegalServices #Townsville #ATSILS #CommunitySupport #50YearsOfDeadly

🖤💛❤️🩵💚💙 Our Brisbane team had a brilliant time out with the community at the NAIDOC – Musgrave Park Family Fun Day, celebrating a massive milestone—50 years of Deadly!

 
It was an amazing display of culture, community, and deadly entertainment.
 
Our team was out in force, having a yarn with community, sharing our sample bag goodies, and handing out legal resources. We were proud to be on hand to support community members with legal enquiries and referrals, while catching up with other fantastic service providers and partners from across Southeast Queensland.
 
At its heart, NAIDOC Week is about celebrating the world’s oldest continuing culture and honouring the enduring strength and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It’s a time to recognise and thank the generations of Elders, leaders, and communities who have gone before us and paved the way.
A massive thank you to everyone who came by to see us, and a huge shout-out to all the team in attendance! 🙌🏾🖤💛❤️🩵💚💙
 
#NAIDOC #MusgravePark #Deadly50 #CultureAndCommunity #ATSILSBrisbane #CommunitySupport #SoutheastQueensland #CelebrateCulture #Meanjin #CommunityLegalEducation
Our Strathpine Office has a new home at 404 Gympie Road, Strathpine QLD 4500

ATSILS Strathpine🚚 WE HAVE MOVED! 🚚

Our Strathpine Office has a new home! To better serve our community, we have officially relocated to a new, central spot.
You can now find us at:

📍 404 Gympie Road, Strathpine QLD 4500

While our physical doors have shifted, reaching us hasn’t changed. Our phone number and all other contact details remain the same:

📞 Phone: (07) 3205 1253

Whether you have an upcoming appointment or need to get in touch, our team is settled in and ready to welcome you.

Sunshine Coast NAIDOC Family Fun Day 2026

☀️ What a beautiful day on Gubbi Gubbi Country!

Our Sunny Coast team had an incredible time celebrating “Fifty Years of Deadly” at the Kings Beach NAIDOC Family Fun Day. The sun was shining, the energy was amazing, and it was a wonderful showcase of community, culture, live music, and local market stalls.
Our team was on hand all day chatting with community members, answering legal queries, and handing out our sample bags—packed with fun goodies for the kids and helpful legal fact sheets covering family, civil, and criminal law to help everyone better understand their rights. 🙌🏽🖤💛❤️💚💙🤍
Thank you to everyone who stopped by to say hello and celebrate with us and congratulations to the local organising committee on a great event!
Congratulations to Hervey Bay – CSO Dianne Pickwick on your NAIDOC Award
NAIDOC 2026What a fantastic kick-off to NAIDOC Week for our Hervey Bay team on Butchulla country! 🖤💛❤️💚💙
🎉🏆 Huge congratulations to long-serving Court Support Officer Dianne Pickwick, who was awarded Community Person of the Year at yesterday’s Fraser Coast local NAIDOC Awards Ceremony!
Dianne was absolutely thrilled to receive the award and extended a heartfelt thank you to her team for all their ongoing support. We are incredibly proud of the work she does for community every single day—and so happy she has received this fitting recognition! 🙌🏾
📸 Pictured: Dianne proudly holding her award alongside Hervey Bay Regional Manager, Murray Nielsen
Congratulations to Tim Hishon on being appointed a Magistrate ⚖️🎉

Tim HishonATSILS extends its warmest congratulations to Tim Hishon on his well-deserved appointment as a Queensland Magistrate. Tim leaves behind a proud legacy of over two decades of dedication at ATSILS and will be very much missed by the entire team.

It has been a very big few weeks for (now former) Sunshine Coast Regional Manager, Mr Tim Hishon. After officially opening our new Maroochydore Office, the following week, Tim received the great news that he had been appointed as an acting Magistrate.

Tim leaves a proud legacy of excellence & community impact, and his appointment comes as no surprise to those who know his remarkable track record. Over his 24 years with us, his leadership and service have been consistently honoured by the profession and the community:

  • SCLA Life Membership Award (2025): Awarded at the Justin Crosby Memorial Gala Dinner for outstanding contributions to the local legal sector. Tim made history as only the 10th recipient ever, and the first from outside private practice.
  • QLS 25 Years of Service (2025): Honoured by the Queensland Law Society with a silver membership pin for a quarter-century of legal advocacy and mentorship.
  • ATSILS Regional Manager of the Year (2017): Nominated for embodying ATSILS core values of Care, Share, and Respect.

ATSILS Principal Legal Officer, Greg Shadbolt, wished Tim the very best and said:

‘I just wanted to say, as someone who has worked with Tim at ATSILS for his 24 years with us, that this is such a well-deserved appointment. We will miss you deeply, Tim – but we are so happy for you.’

‘ATSILS won’t be quite the same without Tim’s positive disposition, sense of humour, and outgoing personality – but we are so proud of him and the legacy he leaves.’

On behalf of the ATSILS Board, Chair Ken Georgetown MAICD, CEO Shane Duffy, and Principal Legal Officer Greg Shadbolt, the team at ATSILS expresses our warmest congratulations and wishes Tim all the very best for life on the bench! 🌟

Please join us in celebrating Tim’s incredible journey and wishing him the best in the comments below! 👇

#ATSILS #CommunityLegal #QueenslandMagistrate #Leadership #CongratulationsTimHishon #Maroochydore

ATSILS Sunshine Coast Official Office Opening

Milestone Moment on the Sunshine Coast 🏛️

Last week, we officially cut the ribbon on our brand-new Maroochydore Office! It was an incredible day marked by community, reflection, and growth, officially opened by our CEO Shane Duffy and Sunshine Coast Regional Manager Tim Hishon.

As guests entered the new space, they were welcomed by a beautiful and grounding Acknowledgement of Country, setting a meaningful tone for the celebration.

Both Shane and Tim delivered heartfelt speeches, looking back at the early days of ATSILS on the Sunshine Coast. They reflected on the great camaraderie in overcoming challenges and just how far we have come as an organisation—notably achieving wage parity with other legal assistance providers—and the vital importance of having a modern, purpose-built facility to better serve our staff and community. Tim also shared a deeply moving tribute to his staff, with special mentions for long-serving Legal Practitioner Rod Morgan and former Court Support Officer Trevor Draper, who, alongside Tim, have been the backbone of the proud legacy ATSILS has built on the Coast.

We were privileged to welcome a distinguished group of staff, stakeholders, and dignitaries from the local judiciary to mark this new chapter. Our sincere thanks to everyone who joined us, including:

Judge Long, Judge Cash, and their associates
Legal Aid Queensland
Suncoast Community Legal Service Inc
The DPP & Friends of the Court
Murri Court Elders
Youth Justice
UnitingCare Queensland

A massive thank you as well to Tahne and Donna for all their work in planning the event and for providing the exceptional catering that kept our guests energised throughout the celebration!

Our new office is located at Suite 3/115-117 Aerodrome Road, Maroochydore, QLD 4558 (Entry via Maud St).

This move represents our ongoing commitment to justice, equity, and high-quality legal service delivery to Mob on the Sunshine Coast. The new location brings us closer to the Courts, provides more space for our growing workforce, and will help us better serve our community across the region.

ATSILS Statewide Court Support Officer Gathering 2026

Our Court Support Officers (CSOs) are the vital backbone of ATSILS frontline service delivery. As local people who deeply understand their communities, they bridge the gap between lawyers and clients—breaking down complex legal jargon, helping Mob navigate the justice system, and ensuring our services are truly accessible.
We recently brought together the first half of our state-wide CSO cohort for a powerful two-day conference in Meanjin (Brisbane) focused on key skill-building, teamwork, and better serving our communities! 22 delegates representing regional offices from Brisbane all the way up to Cairns dove headfirst into high-pressure role-plays, mastering everything from after-hours crisis management to complex courtroom dynamics.
A massive thank you to the facilitation team who did a phenomenal job leading the event: Andrew Palombo (Director of Criminal Law), Kate Power (Deputy Director of Criminal Law), and Senior CSOs Rob Hannam (Brisbane), Kylie Ross (Cairns), and Lauren Chilby (Townsville).
Special shout-out to Kate Power for her incredible work in developing this engaging and impact-driven training curriculum with the team. Once again, we extend a big thank you to Aiden Harrison and Angela Jacob for their work in planning the event and getting all the team to Brisbane.
We are so proud of the deep cultural knowledge, lived experience, and dedication our CSOs bring to the frontline every single day. Congratulations to our first group of deadly CSO delegates—who embraced the engaging content and excelled with every practical scenario and role-play thrown at them. We can’t wait to see our second cohort bring the same energy in August! 💪🏾
#ATSILS #CourtSupport #AccessToJustice #CommunityFirst #FrontlineHeroes #QueenslandJustice

2026 ATSILS Leadership Gathering
✨ Reflecting on an inspiring week of connection and growth! ✨
 

The 2026 ATSILS Leadership Gathering held last week in Meanjin (Brisbane) kicked off with inspiring opening remarks, and a powerful Acknowledgement of Country by our Chair Ken Georgetown, CEO Shane Duffy, and PLO Greg Shadbolt.

What followed at the Voco Hotel was an intensive and collaborative two days dedicated to elevating our strategic vision, sharing frontline insights, and driving organisational excellence. 💼✨

The core focus of this year’s conference was creating an invaluable opportunity for leaders from all corners of the state to come together and take a deep dive into the dynamics of workforce development and the key systems and processes that support their leadership.

The gathering served as an engaging forum for cross-regional ideas, collaborative problem-solving, and shared strategies.

Our teams engaged in a comprehensive training program specifically structured to enhance leadership capabilities—ensuring we continue to build sustainable, high-performing workplaces across Queensland.

A huge thank you to the fantastic internal and external presenters who delivered the program:

  • Jharna Mullins (LAQ) for crucial insights into grants training and support.
  • Our IT and Project Team for guiding us through the upcoming Electronic Record Management System updates.
  • Gretel Hunnerup for providing practical frameworks on maximising performance review discussions.
  • Tallena Johnston (ATSILS) for navigating complex case studies in WHS, conflict resolution, and staff transitions.
  • Adam Ross & Natalie Cranston (ATSILS) for their strategic session on optimising recruitment.
  • Dr. James Coleman (Elite Distance Runner) for an incredible guest presentation, translating AFL leadership and the 5R model directly into workplace success.

Once again, we extend our sincere gratitude to the our People and Organisational Development (POD) team and to Angela Jacob for their outstanding efforts in coordinating another highly successful event. Furthermore, we commend Aiden Harrison for his exceptional facilitation of the event throughout the two-day program.

Our leaders returned home to their regions equipped with enhanced leadership insights, fresh perspectives, and an elevated capacity to support our staff and advocate for our communities. 🌟🙌 💪🖤💛❤️💚💙🖤

 

📢QCOSS Human Rights Network: A Child’s Right to Education Webinar! 📢

When: 9 June 2026 – 11:30 am through 1:00 pm
Location: Online via Microsoft Teams

Every child deserves access to a safe, supportive, and inclusive education. Yet, too many young people are being pushed out of the school system and into the youth justice system. It’s time to change the story.

ATSILS’s very own Pree Sharma (Legal Practitioner, Law Reform and Community Legal Education) will be speaking this QCOSS event, joining other campaign partners to discuss the critical intersection of education, human rights, and youth justice, standing up for our children’s rights and advocating for systemic change.

If we want to build safer, stronger communities, we must start by keeping our children engaged in learning and out of cells.

Join the conversation and stand with QLD kids.
🔗 https://lnkd.in/ghj-HaPW

hashtagHumanRights hashtagEducationIsARight hashtagRaiseTheAge hashtagYouthJustice hashtagCommunityLegalEducation hashtagATSILS hashtagQCOSS hashtagARightToLearn