What's Up You Mob? - May 2024

WHAT'S UP YOU MOB?

WARNING: This newsletter contains the names and images of Aboriginal people who have passed away.

BOARD BUSINESS

MEMBER ELECTION - 25 MAY

The ALS is going to an election on Saturday 25 May to elect members for each region, as required every three years under the ALS Constitution.

As one of Australia’s first Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, we have always been owned and governed by community This member election continues that very proud tradition

Applications for membership have now closed. Eligible Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults may vote for applicants in the region they reside at each of the following election meetings:

Northern Region: Tamworth

Community Centre, 3A Darling St, Tamworth

Western Region: Bushmans Motor Inn, 9/13 Peak Hill Rd, Parkes

Central South Eastern Region: Queanbeyan Showground, Glebe Ave, Queanbeyan

For further information and important details, please visit www.alsnswact.org.au/election.

ALS ANNUAL REPORT 2022-23

The 2022-23 ALS Annual Report gives a comprehensive overview of another busy year in the fight for social justice and equity.

Over the financial year, we: supported 21,162 clients attended 140 courts recorded 129,387 services

View the report online for much more information and case studies

demonstrating our impact: alsnswact.org.au/annual-report-2023

Above: Annual Report 22-23 cover L: Membership Election announcement on our social media channels

SERVICE DELIVERY

FACTS & FIGURES ON SELECTED SERVICES

Early this year we completed routine progress reporting on a number of our services. We are pleased to share some results with you:

Care&ProtectionLegalAdvocacyService

Last year for the first time, we received funding to deliver care and protection services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families in the ACT, supporting them to ideally keep their children safe at home within their own families and culture

Over the six months to 31 December 2023, 46 clients were supported through this program. The program continues in 2024.

IMPROVED SYSTEM FOR PRISON PHONE CALLS

In March, we introduced a new team for taking phone calls from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in custody

These calls were previously received by the Redfern ALS team, meaning they were sometimes fielding over 10,000 calls per month!

The new Inmate Referral and Advice Service is helping to ensure that prisoners are receiving prompt, effective support when they call us

FamilyViolencePreventionUnit

The ALS Family Violence Prevention Unit is funded to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on the NSW South Coast and in the ACT.

Over the six months to 31 December 2023, we supported 93 clients through this program. Additionally, 98% of clients who completed a survey said they were satisfied that their immediate needs were met and the service was well delivered. All surveyed clients said they understand their legal rights and needs after working with our service VisitingChildren’sLegalService

Our Visiting Legal Service provides inperson legal support in youth detention centres across NSW This model commenced in late 2022 and it is the first of its kind in providing regular, coordinated, face-to-face visits for detained children It provides an essential safeguard to ensure that children are informed and aware of their legal matters, have applied for bail where appropriate, are provided with referrals for any unmet needs, and can submit welfare concerns and complaints.

In the first year of the Visiting Legal Service, we made 618 visits to young people in custody. Our solicitors gave advice on 1,313 discrete matters

MentalHealthAdvocacy&ReferralService

We received funding to start this service in specific locations last year, meaning we can now provide greater support for some clients who come to us with mental health challenges or cognitive impairments as well as problems with the criminal legal system

In the second half of 2023, this internal service was able to provide non-legal support for 39 clients. This included actions like making referrals, providing court support, and facilitating access to diagnostic assessments and consultant reports from psychiatrists or psychologists.

SERVICE DELIVERY

ALS CORONIAL UNIT - SUPPORTING FAMILIES WHO HAVE LOST LOVED ONES

L-R: Timothy Garner, Brandon Rich, Mark Haines, and Jai Wright Rest in power

The ALS Coronial Unit is currently acting in 27 coronial inquest matters across NSW and the ACT, and across these matters we are assisting 81 family members

The team has grown significantly and new roles have been created that are specific to the Coronial Unit. The team currently consists of four coronial advocates plus the recent addition of two community advocates who support families and perform the important role of advocating for cultural safety throughout the coronial process.

We recently concluded coronial inquests into the deaths of Timothy Garner and Brandon Rich, while an inquest into the death of Mark Haines has been adjourned until October so that the Deputy Coroner can hear further evidence. Meanwhile, our Coronial Unit successfully advocated for Jai Wright’s death to be referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions, which resulted in a police officer being charged with dangerous driving occasioning death and negligent driving occasioning death. Our thoughts and solidarity are with all families who have lost their loved ones in custody, police operations and other suspicious or distressing circumstances.

NEW PILOT PROGRAM KEEPING WOMEN AND CHILDREN OUT OF CUSTODY

The ALS Bail Advocacy Program is a pilot funded by the NSW Government under Closing the Gap until 30 June 2026. A new multi-disciplinary team embedded within our Criminal Law Practice, including criminal lawyers working with civil lawyers, Aboriginal community connectors and social workers, are working to provide Aboriginal women and young people with early intervention and wrap-around supports throughout their contact with the court process The aim is ultimately to avoid or reduce time unnecessarily spent remanded in custody.

The Women’s Bail Advocacy Program pilot will run at our Redfern and Newcastle offices. The youth pilot is currently operational and servicing the South Sydney area The pilot is intended to serve as a proof-of-concept for a statewide model for all Aboriginal people and will be evaluated by Kowa, a First Nations-led impact measurement and evaluation organisation, that focuses on centering cultural knowledge and Indigenous data sovereignty according to the principle of self-determination

POLICY & ADVOCACY

An independent review was recently completed that considered how future funding arrangements could better provide access to justice for the community legal sector, which includes the ALS and other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services across Australia The independent reviewer, Dr Warren Mundy has given his report and recommendations to the Cth Attorney-General and his state and territory counterparts and will be publicly released very soon

In late March the NSW Government enacted changes to the Bail Act designed to force more children into custody on remand.

We are deeply disappointed in this betrayal of the Government’s Closing the Gap commitments Locking up more children will only make communities more unsafe and more fractured

We have promised to fight against these new laws until they are repealed. The fight so far has included a press conference outside NSW Parliament on 12 March, and a petition that has gained over 3,500 signatures plus the support of more than 60 organisations.

Watch this space as more campaign actions will be coming soon.

POLICY & ADVOCACY

Over the past few months, the ALS has played a leading role in the fight against punitive youth bail law changes, among a range of other advocacy areas

We have published the following media releases to date in 2024:

5Apr:36 years after his death, Mark Haines' family to seek answers at inquest

28Mar: State governments turn away from Closing the Gap and blindly implement failed ‘antiviolence’ strategies that increase violence

22Mar: Aboriginal Legal Service welcomes internal Labor pressure against Premier's efforts to put more children in jail

22Mar: Passage of dangerous bail laws marks start of major campaign

14Mar: Aboriginal Legal Service kicks off board renewal process

12Mar: ALS CEO Karly Warner responds to "dangerous changes" to bail laws

11Mar: Aboriginal and legal groups horrified at secret plan to throw more children in jail

20Feb: Police officer charged on 2nd anniversary of Jai Wright’s death

7Feb: Aboriginal Legal Service celebrates the life of Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue

6Feb:Aboriginal children bear the brunt of ‘protection’ system failures

1Feb: Hanging points remain in prison where Aboriginal man took his life

30Jan:Coroner to deliver findings in death in custody of Aboriginal man Timothy Garner

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

From late 2023 to early 2024 we’ve been at a range of community events including the Deadly Connections Christmas Party, the ‘It’s On!’ summer splash event for young people at Raymond Terrace, and more. Here are a couple of highlights

YABUN FESTIVAL 2024

YABUN was a scorcher this year but that didn’t stop mob in attendance from coming over, having a yarn and cleaning us out of ALS merch in no time Thanks to everyone who dropped by our stall!

BAIL ADVOCACY PROGRAM WORKSHOPS AND PICNIC

We joined with Kowa to host co-creation workshops designing our Bail Advocacy Program in Redfern and Newcastle during March It was also great to hold a pop-up BBQ picnic in Redfern Park

The consultations and workshops provided a wonderful opportunity to spend time with community members and stakeholders in both Redfern and Newcastle. We thank everyone who came along to share their stories about their experience with bail and contact with the criminal legal system, and to provide ideas for how we can be working differently

(See page 5 for more info on the Bail Advocacy Program.)