With the number of COVID-19 cases continuing to rise in Queensland, The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (QLD) LTD (ATSILS) will enact further service delivery adjustments to help protect our workforce and communities. As of the 26/03/2020, ATSILS advises that it will cease all face to face lawyer/client contact and workshops with community groups. Wherever possible, information and communication technology resources will be utilised to facilitate the continued delivery of essential legal assistance services to our clients.
ATSILS CEO Shane Duffy said, “we have a duty to protect our workforce and the communities we serve from the heightening risk of COVID-19 infection. This unprecedented measure has been made primarily in accordance with our duties under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, which requires our organisation to provide a safe workplace and a safe system of work to ensure the health and safety of our staff.”
“ATSILS has also advised the Chief Magistrate of the decision to cease face-to-face services.”
“ATSILS is well into enacting our contingency actions from our COVID-19 Response Plan. We are working daily with our Board of Directors, State and Federal Government, Queensland Courts and the organisations health advisors. Most organisations around the world are undertaking these steps to limit the threat to staff and their communities”, Mr Duffy said.
Earlier today Mr Duffy advised ATSILS staff of the additional precautionary measures that would be put into place. Staff have been transitioned to work from home arrangements where possible and will utilise telephone, internet, intranet and video-link options to facilitate the ongoing delivery of legal services to clients during this time of rapid change and uncertainty.
ATSILS wishes all staff and communities the best of health and encourages all to remain vigilant with self-care, social distancing, self-isolation where relevant, and to follow increased hygiene practices both personally and in the environments in which you live and work. As the impact of the virus in Queensland changes, advice will also change quickly, so it is important to get up-to-date health and safety advice from credible sources. We recommend following updates from: Queensland Health, Australian Department of Health, and the World Health Organisation.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service will continue to monitor the situation related to COVID-19 and update staff, clients, community and stakeholders of any further service delivery adjustments accordingly.
Download/Print Media Release (PDF)
For further information regarding access to legal services during this time please contact an ATSILS office in your region: https://atsils.org.au/contact/
Email: info@atsils@org.au
Call: 1800 012 255 – Free call 24/7 for urgent criminal law matters.
Media Contact for Mr Shane Duffy:
Joshua.herd@atsils.org.au
Current Access to ATSILS Legal Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic
ATSILS suspends the delivery of face to face legal services in response to the heightening risk that COVID-19 poses to staff and communities.
ATSILS CEO Shane Duffy said, “we have a duty to protect our workforce and the communities we serve from the heightening risk of COVID-19 infection. This unprecedented measure has been made primarily in accordance with our duties under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, which requires our organisation to provide a safe workplace and a safe system of work to ensure the health and safety of our staff.”
“ATSILS has also advised the Chief Magistrate of the decision to cease face-to-face services.”
“ATSILS is well into enacting our contingency actions from our COVID-19 Response Plan. We are working daily with our Board of Directors, State and Federal Government, Queensland Courts and the organisations health advisors. Most organisations around the world are undertaking these steps to limit the threat to staff and their communities”, Mr Duffy said.
Earlier today Mr Duffy advised ATSILS staff of the additional precautionary measures that would be put into place. Staff have been transitioned to work from home arrangements where possible and will utilise telephone, internet, intranet and video-link options to facilitate the ongoing delivery of legal services to clients during this time of rapid change and uncertainty.
ATSILS wishes all staff and communities the best of health and encourages all to remain vigilant with self-care, social distancing, self-isolation where relevant, and to follow increased hygiene practices both personally and in the environments in which you live and work. As the impact of the virus in Queensland changes, advice will also change quickly, so it is important to get up-to-date health and safety advice from credible sources. We recommend following updates from: Queensland Health, Australian Department of Health, and the World Health Organisation.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service will continue to monitor the situation related to COVID-19 and update staff, clients, community and stakeholders of any further service delivery adjustments accordingly.
Download/Print Media Release (PDF)
For further information regarding access to legal services during this time please contact an ATSILS office in your region: https://atsils.org.au/contact/
Email: info@atsils@org.au
Call: 1800 012 255 – Free call 24/7 for urgent criminal law matters.
Media Contact for Mr Shane Duffy:
Joshua.herd@atsils.org.au
COVID-19 Impacts on Service Delivery – Palm Island and Cherbourg
Update 3: 19/03/2019
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (QLD) LTD (ATSILS) advises that all pre court and court circuits into the Torres Strait Islands, Northern Peninsula Area, Gulf of Carpentaria and Cape Regions, and now into the communities of Woorabinda, Yarrabah, Palm Island and Cherbourg have been suspended immediately due to the potential health vulnerability of our people in remote communities.
ATSILS is committed to supporting efforts from all levels of government to reduce the spread of COVID-19 to communities. This decision to suspend service in these regions is a critical response that aligns with the Australian Government’s – National Indigenous Australians Agency’s advice, to carefully balance community needs with the public health implications of any travel.
In addition to travel restrictions to our remote communities, ATSILS will also be looking to limit travel by staff to and from communities in other regions of the state (including urban and regional) for non-essential purposes, where options such as tele/videoconference or postponement are reasonable alternatives. In addition, pre-arranged events requiring people to travel to or from communities will be deferred indefinitely. Several remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are also starting to restrict access to their community for non-essential travel.
CEO Shane Duffy said, “ATSILS will continue to provide essential services with increased caution to protect staff and the community of which we service from the potential spread of COVID-19. We have a response plan in place to increase protection for our staff, clients and communities and are continually implementing business continuity arrangements to minimise disruption to service delivery.”
In line with the advice from the Australian Government, the benefits of continuing delivery of services, needs to be balanced with managing the risk of potentially spreading the virus within the community.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service will continue to monitor this rapidly evolving situation related to COVID-19 and update staff, clients, community and stakeholders of any further service delivery adjustments accordingly.
For further information regarding access to legal services during this time please contact an ATSILS office in your region: https://atsils.org.au/contact/
Email: info@atsils@org.au
Call: 1800 012 255 – Free call 24/7 for urgent criminal law matters.
Media Contact for Mr Shane Duffy: Joshua.herd@atsils.org.au
MEDIA Release: COVID-19 Impacts on Service Delivery Woorabinda and Yarrabah
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (QLD) LTD (ATSILS) advises that all pre court and court circuits into the Torres Strait Islands, Northern Peninsula Area, Gulf of Carpentaria and Cape Regions, and into the communities of Woorabinda and Yarrabah have been suspended immediately due to the potential health vulnerability of our people in remote communities.
ATSILS is committed to supporting efforts from all levels of government to reduce the spread of COVID-19 to communities. This decision to suspend service in these regions is a critical response that aligns with the Australian Government’s – National Indigenous Australians Agency’s advice, to carefully balance community needs with the public health implications of any travel.
In addition to travel restrictions to our remote communities, ATSILS will also be looking to limit travel by staff to and from communities in other regions of the state (including urban and regional) for non-essential purposes, where options such as tele/videoconference or postponement are reasonable alternatives. In addition, pre-arranged events requiring people to travel to or from communities will be deferred indefinitely. Several remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are also starting to restrict access to their community for non-essential travel.
CEO Shane Duffy said, “ATSILS will continue to provide essential services with increased caution to protect staff and the community of which we service from the potential spread of COVID-19. We have a response plan in place to increase protection for our staff, clients and communities and are continually implementing business continuity arrangements to minimise disruption to service delivery.”
In line with the advice from the Australian Government, the benefits of continuing delivery of services, needs to be balanced with managing the risk of potentially spreading the virus within the community.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service will continue to monitor this rapidly evolving situation related to COVID-19 and update staff, clients, community and stakeholders of any further service delivery adjustments accordingly.
Download/Print Media Release
For further information regarding access to legal services during this time please contact an ATSILS office in your region: https://atsils.org.au/contact/
Email: info@atsils@org.au
Call: 1800 012 255 – Free call 24/7 for urgent criminal law matters.
Media Contact for Mr Shane Duffy: Joshua.herd@atsils.org.au
MEDIA Release: COVID-19 Impacts on Service Delivery
ATSILS (QLD) is committed to supporting efforts from all levels of government to reduce the spread of COVID-19 to communities. This decision to suspend service in these regions is a critical response that aligns with the Australian Government’s – National Indigenous Australians Agency’s advice, to carefully balance community needs with the public health implications of any travel.
In addition to travel restrictions to our remote communities, ATSILS will also be looking to limit travel by staff to and from communities in other regions of the state (including urban and regional) for non-essential purposes, where options such as tele/videoconference or postponement are reasonable alternatives. In addition, pre-arranged events requiring people to travel to or from communities will be deferred indefinitely. Several remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are also starting to restrict access to their community for non-essential travel.
CEO Shane Duffy said, “ATSILS will continue to provide essential services with increased caution to protect staff and the community of which we service from the potential spread of COVID-19. We have a response plan in place to increase protection for our staff, clients and communities and are continually implementing business continuity arrangements to minimise disruption to service delivery.”
In line with the advice from the Australian Government, the benefits of continuing delivery of services, needs to be balanced with managing the risk of potentially spreading the virus within the community.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service will continue to monitor this rapidly evolving situation related to COVID-19 and update staff, clients, community and stakeholders of any further service delivery adjustments accordingly.
For further information regarding access to legal services during this time please contact an ATSILS office in your region: https://atsils.org.au/contact/
Email: info@atsils@org.au
Call: 1800 012 255 – Free call 24/7 for urgent criminal law matters.
Media Contact for Mr Shane Duffy: Joshua.herd@atsils.org.au
Download/Print ATSILS COVID-19 Media Release
Partnerships enhancing access to superannuation services in the remote NPA region
Break down some of the barriers to access and bring your services to them!
That’s what QSuper did when it spent a week with community peoples up in the Northern Peninsula Area (located at the top tip of Cape York, Queensland), on January 20th-24th, in partnership with ICAN financial counsellors, the Indigenous financial inclusion team at Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand and lawyers from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (ATSILS).
View Article:
https://ican.org.au/ican-teams-up-with-qsuper-for-npa-community-week/?utm_source=ICAN+E-News+February+2020&utm_campaign=E-News&utm_medium=email&fbclid=IwAR1niFiZ6Z0cE78jO0W4eZFYdBUvkYpf9qbQrQsSsXtRDoS8xOIA7ce7p-M
Community Legal Education Network Workshop
Hosted in our Brisbane office training room this month, a network of community legal education professionals from Legal Aid Queensland and Community Legal Centres Queensland joined the discussion on how they structure and deliver their brand of legal education services to the community with Kate leading the discussion on how to produce podcasts.
Sharing knowledge and expertise with colleagues on a regular basis is critical to building capacity and enhancing services delivery in line with the needs of the community and it was great to host this inspiring group this month.
QUT Indigenous Pre Law and Justice Program visit to ATSILS
The students were welcomed by our Director of Sector Engagement and Communications – Graham White, and members of our Legal, Court Support and Prevention, Intervention and Community Legal Education teams enjoyed sharing insight into the key roles they undertake in delivering legal services to the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.
Increased representation from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the legal sector is an important element in addressing the ongoing disadvantage our people experience in the justice system. AT ATSILS we are committed to fostering partnerships with progressive academic institutions like QUT (Queensland University of Technology) and welcome the opportunity to play our part in inspiring the next generation of legal practitioners along their career paths.
Photo Credit: (QUT Indigenous Pre Law and Justice Program)
CLE outreach in the NPA breaking down barriers to superannuation services
Five communities (Seisia, New Mapoon, Bamaga, Umagico and Injinoo) all received a full day visit from a range of service providers that included QSuper, ICAN, the Office of Fair Trading, Good Shepherd Microfinance, NPA Community Justice Group and of course ATSILS.
Helpful information and resources were provided to community members on a range of topics including, superannuation, No Interest Loan Schemes, and StepUp personal loans, bills, budgeting, saving and banking, consumer rights and responsibilities and civil law advice.
The NPA is one of the most remote regions of Queensland and access to help and information on these topics greatly needed. A big thank you to QSuper and ICAN for planning such a successful event designed to respond to the local needs of these communities and we look forward to collaborating again in the future.
QUT Research MoU signed.