Our Townsville Office is Moving- (18th and 19th September)
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Our Townsville Office is Moving- (18th and 19th September)

ATSILS Townsville Move🚛📢 Our Townsville Office is Moving! 📢 🚛

We’re excited to announce our ATSILS Townsville office is relocating to a new and improved space just up the road!

The new address is: 12-20 Wills Street, Townsville QLD 4810.

This location brings us closer to the Courts and will help us better serve our community.

Key Dates to Remember:
– Thursday, 18 September & Friday, 19 September 2025: Our Townsville office will be closed as we move.

– We will operate from our new location starting Monday, September 22, 2025.

Urgent client needs: Our dedicated statewide team will be taking urgent calls to our Townville office during the move to ensure you get the help you need. For urgent criminal law matters, you can always call 1800 012 255 (24/7).

We’re so excited for this next chapter and can’t wait to welcome you to our new office!

🌟Burdekin Community Legal Services Expo🌟
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🌟Burdekin Community Legal Services Expo🌟

Burdekin Community Legal Services ExpoThe inaugural Burdekin Community Legal Services Expo in Ayr marked a significant step in connecting more North Queensland regional and remote communities with vital legal support. Hosted by the Burdekin Neighbourhood Centre (BNC) and initiated by the North Queensland Regional Legal Assistance Forum (NQRLAF), the event brought together legal service providers from the Townsville region and local residents to raise awareness about the range of services available and to improve access to free legal services in surrounding towns. The strong turnout and collaboration highlighted the power of community-driven solutions in bridging the access to justice gap experienced by these communities.

Paige Ryan and Courtney Curnow from our Townsville team were proud to be among the many legal representatives present. In addition to ATSILS attendees from organizations like ADA Law, First Nations Women’s Legal Services Qld Inc, North Queensland Women’s Legal Service, Legal Aid Queensland, Townsville Community Law, and the Queensland Indigenous Family Violence Legal Service provided valuable information on a wide range of legal areas, including criminal, family, and civil law.

The event’s success was a testament to the strong support from the BNC staff and the dedicated stakeholders of NQRLAF, all of whom committed their time and energy to making it a positive and informative experience for the community.

 

Internet and Phone Service Disruptions 13/08/2025
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Internet and Phone Service Disruptions 13/08/2025

Several ATSILS offices faced disruptions to internet and phone services this morning. Services are now coming back online, but please keep in mind that intermittent issues may persist throughout the day. We encourage you to call again this afternoon. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your understanding.

 

Mt Isa Yarn Up event!
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Mt Isa Yarn Up event!

Last month, members of our Community Legal Education (CLE) Team (Kate Greenwood and Paige Ryan) participated in the highly successful Mt Isa Yarn Up (Licensing Muster) from July 22-24. Hosted by the First Nations Justice Office (FNJO), the event was the largest to date, attracting a record 418 community members who sought assistance from a wide range of essential services over the three days.
A major highlight was a visit from Queensland Attorney-General, Deb Frecklington MP. The AG attended the Yarn Up Event and also took the time to stop by our Mt Isa office to discuss key local justice issues with the team.
On a celebratory note, the team also had the pleasure of marking our own Kate Greenwood’s birthday with a well-deserved cake during the event.
The Yarn Up event was a powerful demonstration of inter-agency collaboration, allowing us to strengthen partnerships while engaging and enhancing access to services for the Mt Isa community. Other services in attendance, in addition to ATSILS included:
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AIDRWA
Australian Electoral Commission (AEC)
Blue Card Services
BUSY At Work – The Apprenticeship Community
Commonwealth Bank
Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ)
Indigenous Driver Licencing Unit (TMR)
Indigenous Support & Care
Mithangkaya Nguli – Young People Ahead Youth and Community Services Indigenous Corporation
Office of Fair Trading
Qld Screening
Qld Youth Services
QSuper
Red Door Community Services
Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages
Selectability
Services Australia
State Penalties Enforcement Registry (SPER)
Mt Isa Yarn Up Muster
Director of Civil Law Visits Wide Bay-Burnett Region
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Director of Civil Law Visits Wide Bay-Burnett Region

ATSILS Civil Law Team As part of our Workforce Development Plan and emerging leaders’ program, Simon Burgess, Director of Civil Law, recently visited our regional offices in Hervey Bay and Bundaberg.

In Hervey Bay, Simon engaged with the local team, including Civil and Family Lawyer Murray Nielsen, to discuss the unique challenges and complexities surrounding Wills, Estates, and EPOAs within the Wide Bay-Burnett communities.

The tour continued in Bundaberg, which marked a welcome return for Simon, who served as the office’s Regional Manager around 2004. He was delighted to reconnect with long-serving colleagues, including Court Support Officer Natasha Thomson, lawyers Ian Kendrick and Jennie Waldron, and Administrative Officer Cheryl Nuggin. The visit also provided an opportunity to meet with local Magistrate Mr. John McInnes, fostering crucial dialogue on community-based civil law issues.

These regional visits are vital for strengthening collaboration, connection and ensuring our services are responsive to the needs of every community we serve.

Community Event – Mt Isa – Legal Rights
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Community Event – Mt Isa – Legal Rights

Hey, Mount Isa! Come and enjoy a free Kup Murri at the Mount Is Recovery Services Centre (MIRS) and learn more about your legal rights.

Lawyers from ATSILS, Legal Aid Qld and the Central Queensland Community Legal Centre will be present to provide information to the community. This event is warmly supported by MIRS, Jimaylya Topsy Harry Centre and Centacare Mount Isa.

Community Services Yarn Up Day – Cherbourg
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Community Services Yarn Up Day – Cherbourg

Our CLE Team recently participated in the Community Services Yarn Up Day at Les Stewart Snr Sporting Complex in Cherbourg, on beautiful Wakka Wakka Country. The event was an initiative of the Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council in partnership with the First Nations Justice Office.

Pree Sharma, Legal Practitioner, Law Reform and Community Legal Education, represented ATSILS, providing free legal advice and/or referrals for community members who stopped by for assistance.

ATSILS joined other officers from the Indigenous Driver Licensing Unit at the Department of Transport and Main Roads, BlueCard Services, SPER, Births, Deaths and Marriages, Services Australia, QSuper, South Burnett CTC, Link Up, Murgon Aboriginal Family Legal Services Qld, Barambah Local Justice Group, Queensland Advocacy for Inclusion, and many others to provide essential services all in the one place for the community. It was a wonderful community event with much engagement, and we look forward to participating in the next one.

Our CLE Team in NQ participate in the ‘Everyday Legal Training for Frontline Workers’ event
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Our CLE Team in NQ participate in the ‘Everyday Legal Training for Frontline Workers’ event

ATSILS CLE Our Community Legal Education staff in North Queensland participated in the ‘Everyday Legal Training for Frontline Workers’ CLE event in May, coordinated by LawRight and hosted by James Cook University in Cairns.

This full-day event saw presentations from LawRight, ATSILS, North Queensland Women’s Legal Service, Cairns Community Legal Centre and Basic Rights Qld. Kimberly Thornley and Paige Ryan of ATSILS presented sessions to the group of 70 frontline support workers on the topics of ‘Rights and Respect in the Workplace’ and ‘Supporting families with child protection matters’. Other sessions included legal options for victim-survivors of violence, debt solutions for people in financial hardship, effectively interacting with Centrelink and legal protections for people who buy a lemon car.

The purpose of this CLE event was to provide a series of in-person presentations and smaller workshops designed to provide specialist, practical training to help frontline workers navigate the complex legal systems impacting the people they support. Attendees on the day included staff from local and nearby regional services such as various neighbourhood centres, Anglicare, Relationships Australia, DFV support workers and counsellors, social workers, homelessness support workers and JCU students seeking to broaden their knowledge. This event provided a great opportunity for services to collaborate through CLE delivery and facilitated active audience participation and discussion. The team had a great day and thoroughly enjoyed taking part and sharing knowledge with all in attendance.

ATSILS and QATSICPP partner to deliver Community Legal Education (CLE) Webinar Series
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ATSILS and QATSICPP partner to deliver Community Legal Education (CLE) Webinar Series

ATSILS CLEATSILS and QATSICPP are collaborating to deliver a Community Legal Education (CLE) webinar series to empower community-based staff supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families facing the Queensland youth justice system.
ATSILS’ Pree Sharma, Legal Practitioner, Law Reform and Community Legal Education and Rod Morgan, Legal Practitioner, Criminal Law (Youth Crime Specialist) recently delivered a webinar in partnership with the Youth Justice Peak body, QATSICPP, for staff of community-based organisations that support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, young people, and families, particularly those involved with or at risk of becoming involved with the youth justice system with a focus on the rights of children and young people when interacting with police.
ATSILS has a longstanding partnership with QATSICPP in delivering community legal education to its members. This particular webinar is the first in a three-part webinar series that is part of QATSICPP’s Knowledge Bites offering. It is designed to support the professional development of staff within community-controlled and community-based organisations and strengthen advocacy and service delivery in child protection and youth justice. Through these sessions, QATSICPP aims to equip frontline workers with practical, up-to-date knowledge that informs and empowers their critical work.
The first webinar explored several key topics including:
• Knowing Your Rights: Understanding children’s rights when stopped, questioned, or searched by police.
• Children as Victims of Crime: Knowing the steps to take when a child is a victim of a crime.
• Concerns about Police Conduct: Guidance on how to raise concerns or lodge complaints about police conduct.
If you are interested in ATSILS delivering community legal education sessions such as this, in person or online, please reach out to us on info@atsils.org.au.
Mabo Day 2025

Mabo Day 2025

Today, June 3, 2025, marks the 33rd anniversary of the landmark Mabo v Queensland (No 2) decision by the High Court of Australia. On this day in 1992, the High Court, in favour of Meriam man Eddie Mabo and his co-plaintiffs, overturned the legal fiction of ‘terra nullius’ – the idea that Australia was land belonging to no one before European settlement.
This profound decision recognised the pre-existing native title rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, acknowledging their ongoing connection to and ownership of their traditional lands and waters according to their own laws and customs.
Eddie Mabo’s relentless pursuit of justice, often against immense personal hardship, was instrumental in bringing about this historic change. His legacy continues to be honoured for the profound impact it has had on advancing the legal and human rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, laying the groundwork for native title recognition and ongoing reconciliation efforts in Australia.
To learn more about Mabo Day visit: